I was honoured to be invited by Nikon Australia to attend the Walkley Awards last night. The Walkley Awards honour the work of Australia's journalists in all fields of the Australian media.The room was filled with renowned journalists, presenters and TV personalities.
Photographer David Gray was awarded the Nikon-Walkley Press Photographer of the Year Award. Gray went to extensive lengths to photograph and capture the pain and devastation after the crippling earthquake in China's Sichuan Province, contrasting that with some incredible images of the more triumphant moments during the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The Daily Telegraph's photographer Phil Hillyard won the Walkley Award for Sports photography, and Craig Greenhill, also from The Daily Telegraph, won the award for Daily Life/Feature photography. I spoke briefly with a very gracious Craig Greenhill after I saw him being photographed with his Walkley by a fellow Walkley winner.
I simply walked over and asked which compact a Walkley Award winning photographer uses to take his snaps with! It turns out he had only just purchased his Leica D-Lux 2 that day.We spoke about his love for the Nikon D700, which of course is my new baby, and the Nikon D3 - which is a camera built more with the photojournalist in mind. He has fine taste in cameras even though he has to use Canons...It was an interesting evening for me, I must admit. You see, it was April 9th, 1980 when I walked into Fletchers Fotographics, 59 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne, to enquire about a secondhand zoom lens for my pride and joy - my Minolta SRT 101. It was my 17th birthday. I didn't buy the lens, but I was given a job. Its funny where life takes you. One week you are leading a photo tour through Patagonia and the next you're in a suit at the invitation of Nikon Australia to attend the Walkley Awards as a fellow journalist.
Its an interesting ride...
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