Jaydid Photo, Katoomba (2026)

18/05/2026

🚨 Less than 2 weeks to go until 📷🔥 and now is your chance to grab a discount for the remaining places on my workshops.

Working with Sony Australia, digiDirect and .co, we have some great sessions lined up for you. There will also be some special offers on Sony Cameras and Lenses from DigiDirect.

I’ll be running three very different workshops:
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🌌 Introduction to Astrophotography
If you’ve ever wanted to learn the ins and outs of Astrophotography—this is the session for you. Small intimate group ready for all your questions.
👉 https://scene.sonyanz.com/events/introduction-to-astrophotography-nightscaping-%E2%80%94-scene-house-sydney-(nsw)
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🌇 Camperdown Sunset Photowalk
A wander through one of my old haunts Camperdown—sunset, people, pets, scenes, light, composition, and a few hidden gems along the way.
👉 https://scene.sonyanz.com/events/camperdown-sunset-photowalk-scene-house-sydney-(nsw)
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🖥️ Mastering Adobe Lightroom and Mobile Workflows
Learn how to get the most out of your edits using Adobe plus tips on mobile workflows straight from your Sony Alpha setup, Imaging Edge and Creators App.
👉 https://scene.sonyanz.com/events/mastering-adobe-lightroom-scene-house-sydney-(nsw)
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Spots are limited so if you’ve been meaning to jump into a workshop, this is your sign. And you can get a discount 35% up to a maximum of $30 - using the code "letslearn" at checkout.

👉 Lock in your spot now before they’re gone.
Let’s learn, shoot, and create something epic. 💥
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18/05/2026

What a night up at the lighthouse!!

Full House for an Astromeet, and all well and truly up for the march up the headland,.

Expecting to find it jam packed, but I’ve always been able to work with others up there. But strangely, for one of the clearest evenings yet this year, there were only 2 other photographers up there. One was in my group, who headed up early thinking we were meeting at the top.

So we ended up with the place pretty much to ourselves for the evening.

Spectacular conditions, amazing night skies from Sydney’s Urban Dark Sky Reserve.

With very high interest this year, and with every event published already booked out (with big waitng lists building!) I am putting on a few other Astromeets into the calendar for the year with another trip up to Barrenjoey Lighthouse and a few other special locations around Sydney.

Event run under EcoPass license with NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service.

07/05/2026

– Queenstown Day 7 ☹️📷
And just like that… the final day.
A cruisy finish to an epic week - starting with a drive up to Coronet Peak, lunch at Ayrburn Woolshed, and a wander through the early autumn colour around Arrowtown.
Then the perfect finale… crossing Lake Wakatipu aboard the historic TSS Earnslaw for dinner at Walter Peak High Country Farm.

A pretty spectacular way to wrap up the trip.
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What a week it’s been.

Not just Queenstown, but Wanaka, Glenorchy, Milford Sound, Arrowtown. Helicopters, mountains, astro, waterfalls, photowalks, sunsets… and an alarming amount of food 😂

Massive thanks to Sony for turning a cancelled Europe trip into an unforgettable adventure.

A couple of decades after picking up a camera again, trips like this still remind me why I love photography in the first place: the stories, the places, and the people along the way.

Now… where to next? ✈️
Sony Australia Sony Alpha AU & NZ 100% Pure New Zealand

06/05/2026

– Queenstown Day 6 🚐🌧️📷

Queenstown → Milford Sound → Queenstown… in one day.

Not ideal. Absolutely worth it.

Massive shoutout to our driver Inger—I’ve done this drive before and it’s no joke. Tight timing, winding roads, and the occasional campervan doing its best to test everyone’s patience 😅

I’ll admit… I spent a fair chunk of the drive catching up on sleep (thanks to my brutal laryngitis), but every time I opened my eyes—boom—another ridiculous scene rolling past.

Quick stops along the way:
📍 Te Anau Downs
📍 Mirror Lakes
📍 Hollyford Valley

Lunch at Pio Pio Restaurant (with a surprise visit from a cheeky weka—the only one of the trip… and not a single kea in sight 😂).

Then into the main event… Classic Milford Sound conditions:
🌧️ Pouring rain
🌊 Waterfalls absolutely everywhere
📷 Constant battle to keep the lens dry

And yes… we got very close to Stirling Falls—close enough to question life choices—before cruising past the always impressive Lady Bowen Falls.
By the time we rolled back into Queenstown, it was dark, we were wrecked… and it somehow felt like it all happened in fast forward.

Big day. Long day.

Would do it again in a heartbeat.
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06/05/2026

Autumn this year has been… let’s say challenging.

Between road closures, weather, and timing, it’s felt like the colours have been one step ahead the whole time. So before I completely missed the show, I carved out a day to revisit a couple of my go-to accessible spots in the mountains.

Normally, Mount Wilson would be top of the list—but with access limited this season, it was time to adapt.

First stop: the Golden Poplars at Sunny Corner…

which, unfortunately, had other plans.

A solid hit of rain and wind the day before had already stripped them bare. Leaves everywhere—just not on the trees. A slightly poetic reflection of how this autumn has gone so far… great intentions, slightly undone by reality.

But all wasn’t lost.

On the way back through the mountains, pockets of colour started to reveal themselves—those quiet little moments where autumn still shows up, even if it’s not quite how (or where) you expected.

Sometimes you don’t get the grand display…

but you still come home with something worth capturing.

28/04/2026

– Skyline Queenstown 🌄📷🚡

Wrapped up Day 5 with a ride up Skyline Queenstown—Queenstown’s famous gondola—climbing high above town to Bob's Peak for dinner with a view. Having driven cable cars at Scenic World for a long time, I can say it was pretty exciting for me to ride another famous Doplmeyer built ride, especially since its very recent refurbishment. 🙂

Construction of the new viewing platforms was still underway, but the new side of the deck really didn’t disappoint. What a view.

From the terrace overlooking Queenstown and Lake Wakatipu, it was clear early on this one had potential…

High cloud, soft light, and that feeling the sky was about to do something special.

Then it just… kept going. Colour building. Light shifting. Safe to say—we got the sunset. And a cracking buffet dinner to boot 🤣

Not a bad way to finish another epic day.
Sony Alpha AU & NZ 100% Pure New Zealand Skyline Queenstown

28/04/2026

🚨 SYDNEY – This one’s for you… is coming 📷🔥

I’m pumped to be teaming up with Sony Australia , digiDirect and .co for Scene House Sydney—and there are some seriously good sessions lined up. There will also be some special offers on Sony Cameras and Lenses from DigiDirect.

I’ll be running three very different (and very fun) workshops:
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🌌 Introduction to Astrophotography (Intimate – only 5 spots)
If you’ve ever wanted to shoot the night sky properly—this is your chance. Small group, hands-on, no fluff.

👉 https://scene.sonyanz.com/events/introduction-to-astrophotography-nightscaping-%E2%80%94-scene-house-sydney-(nsw)

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🌇 Camperdown Sunset Photowalk
A wander through one of my old haunts—light, composition, and a few hidden gems along the way.

👉 https://scene.sonyanz.com/events/camperdown-sunset-photowalk-scene-house-sydney-(nsw)
---
🖥️ Adobe Lightroom Workshop
Learn how to get the most out of your edits—plus tips on mobile workflows straight from your Sony Alpha setup.

👉 https://scene.sonyanz.com/events/mastering-adobe-lightroom-scene-house-sydney-(nsw)
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Spots are limited (especially Astro 👀)—so if you’ve been meaning to jump into a workshop, this is your sign.

👉 Lock in your spot now before they’re gone.

Let’s learn, shoot, and create something epic. 💥
---

27/04/2026

– Queenstown Day 5 🍂📷🚶‍♂️

Day 5 = photowalks, good vibes, and a lot of steps.
photos and I split duties—morning and afternoon sessions—with my wander through the Queenstown Gardens, and Craig throwing out some creative challenges around town.

Autumn colour everywhere.

Bees doing their thing. Pine forests, lakefront strolls, a bit of street… and a few suspiciously competitive lawn bowlers.

And of course… the main event:

🍔 Fergburger. Worth the hype. Every time.

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Simple day. Great company. Plenty of photos.
Sony Australia Sony Alpha AU & NZ 100% Pure New Zealand

26/04/2026

– Queenstown Day 4 🏔️📷🚐

Day 4 saw us hit the road north to Glenorchy, perched right at the top of Lake Wakatipu.

Along the way we stopped at Seven Mile Recreation Reserve, Bob's Cove, and Bennett's Bluff Lookout… which, as expected, were not quick stops at all.

Lunch was handled at Mrs Woolly's General Store (highly recommend 👌), before heading deeper into full cinematic territory.

We spent the afternoon exploring Middle Earth, chasing down The Lord of the Rings filming locations—looking out along the Dart River, and visiting Paradise.

Photographically? Brutal light. Harsh, contrasty, not playing nice.

Visually? Completely ridiculous. One of those places where you’re constantly torn between shooting and just standing there and enjoying the breathtaking scenary.

We wrapped the day around sunset at the iconic Glenorchy Wharf, before heading out to Glenorchy Lagoon.

As the light dropped behind the Humboldts and Tooth Peaks, the wind eased, the water glassed off, and suddenly everything just… clicked. Reflections, colour, calm—one of those perfect finishes to a very full day.

.anz

26/04/2026

🐧 World Penguin Day ❄️📷

Alright, technically this was yesterday… better late than never.

Originally established at McMurdo Station, World Penguin Day marks the start of the northerly migration of Adélie penguin—and it’s a great reminder of just how incredible (and resilient) these little characters are.

If you’ve ever spent time around penguin colonies, you’ll know, they’re equal parts chaos, curiosity, and comedy. While you are busy capturing the constant calls, the nesting habits, or the seemingly chaotic procession up and down the snowy slopes, and of course, depending on the time of year, lots of penguin s*x!!! Its hard to know where to look next!!!— And then, you become their subject, as you are forced to dodge their incoming curiosity as they waddle over to check out your camera, and you wonder which way to go to keep your prescribed distance.

Photographing them in Antarctica is an absolute privilege, and an experience that sticks. Not just because of the images, but because of the environment they thrive in—and the reminder that we’re very much visitors in their world, and must do everything we can to protect it.

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So if you want to hear a few stories (and probably a few questionable decisions) from time spent photographing these guys on the ice…

I’ll be joining Brett Lobwein, Clyde Vaughn, Nick Fraser & Michael Kosok for the “Path to the Poles” panel at Ted's Cameras with Sony Australia in Sydney on May 1.

🎟️ Tickets are $10 – https://events.humanitix.com/path-to-the-poles

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A few of my favourite penguin moments here… enjoy the chaos 🐧

Jaydid Photo

18/05/2026

18/05/2026

07/05/2026

06/05/2026

06/05/2026

28/04/2026

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27/04/2026

26/04/2026

26/04/2026

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