One of the key functions of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom (hereafter referred to as just Lightroom) is its database and the capability for users to store and manage tens of thousands of photographs. Key-wording is an integral and core component of the database management. For those who might be unfamiliar with the concept of key-wording: Key-wording enables you to very quickly find a specific photograph or a specific series of images that have been tagged with one or more keywords. I know a great many photographers who use key-wording to various degrees in their work-flows. Personally, I keyword extensively on import so that I can effectively manage the more than one hundred thousand images in my Lightroom Library.
When it comes to wildlife I like to keyword with with the species type (Mammal, Crustacean, Reptile etc.) and then break this down by individual animal in each category. Its a hierarchical keyword structure that works well for me in my work-flow. Once set up in Lightroom its very quick for me to keyword my wildlife images on import. But what about key-wording for Birds?
Birds can be problematic to keyword for several reasons. Firstly, there are more than ten thousand different species across the globe which can make identification difficult, and secondly its massively time consuming to create keywords for them as you import your photographs (especially if you want to add Latin names and appropriate synonyms). I ran into this problem head-on on my recent Falkland Islands workshop where I spent a concentrated week photographing many different species of birds. I shot over 5000 photographs of birds that week and subsequently nearly gave up trying to identify them all, let alone create keywords for them all (and forget synonyms). Thankfully, there is now a solution to at least the second part of this problem….
Good friend and expedition partner Ole Jorgen has recently completed the herculean effort of creating a complete hierarchical list for Lightroom of all of the birds of the world (yes – all ten thousand four hundred plus of them). Not only has he put them all into a suitable structure for Lightroom and made it available for photographers to purchase, but he has also offered a number of different versions depending on your needs. You can check them out in his Web Shop or by clicking on the image below.
Over the last few days I have been extensively testing the Birds of the Word UK Latin Edition and have found it absolutely invaluable in key-wording the many thousands of bird photographs in my Lightroom library. Integrating the list into your existing keyword structure is as simple as importing the list in the Meta-Data drop down menu of Lightroom. The lists are built in a hierarchical structure which makes them easy to manage as well as easy to understand. The UK Latin Edition I have been testing also contains synonyms for added granularity and detail. One of the added benefits of using a complete species list such as these is to actually see how many of a given type of bird you have photographed as well as what other types might be similar. Wether you are a keen bird photographer, or want to save time with your key wording of birds (as well as increase your accuracy and add finer granularity), or just wanting to increase your knowledge of birds I believe you will find these keyword lists to be extremely useful in your work-flow.
Anyone up for creating a complete list of the Mammals…?
Day 3 – 9.11.2015 In the morning of day three we passed Shag Rock (which was hidden in fog) and soon after we spotted Bird Island and the north western point of South Georgia. After lunch we headed to shore in Right Whale Bay for our first landing of the trip. On the beach we were welcomed by a good number of Fur Seals, Elephant Seals and King Penguins. With some snow still on the ground several of us took the opportunity to photograph the Kings against a white backdrop. During the afternoon it started to snow lightly and the clouds covered the dramatic mountains. The last Zodiac left just as it was getting dark. A Great start.
Addendum: This was in my opinion our best landing during the expedition. The opportunity to photograph King Penguins in snow was something I and many others aboard had really been hoping for. I personally spent my entire landing with the King penguins in the snow and made several photographs that I am extremely happy with.
Day 4 – 10.11.2015
Day 6 – 12.11.2015 St. Andrews Bay is possibly the best wildlife destination in the world and after detailed planning and a bit of luck with the weather we were able to land everyone on the beach long before sunrise. The operation started before 2am and by 3 o’clock everyone was ready to shoot. 15 minutes later, when the sun washed over the beach, thousands and thousands of King penguins and seals were covered in golden light. The photography was out of this world and we were only back for breakfast 5 hours later.
After a well deserved rest mid day we landed on Moltke Harbour after lunch. This small beach is a peaceful place compared to St. Andrews, but the many Elephant seals kept everyone busy until the night.
Mid day we arrived in Cooper Bay. The area is exposed to the weather and since the conditions were favourable we went for a mid day landing at the Macaroni penguin rookery. This is one of the easiest places to see this flamboyant bird at the nesting place. A short climb over snow and tussock grass we found ourselves pretty much in the colony. Heading out some of us were also treated with a Chinstrap penguin on the nearby rocks.
Day 9 – 15.11.2015 We did try for our fourth sunrise landing, but the weather was grey and wet when we got up. Therefore we waited until after breakfast before landing at Salisbury Plains. Its was still wet, but after a couple of hours the clouds lifted and we had some very nice moods as the mist and clouds covered the nearby mountains. Just as we packed up and started bringing clients back, the katabatic winds came falling from the mountains and within minutes we had 60 knot winds offshore. It did make our departure difficult, but with a sturdy expedition leader everyone was relaxed on the beach.
Why should it be any different for photographers?
Enter, BenQ who now have a solution for photographers on more modest budgets in the form of the 
Key Features
Like the Eizo, the BenQ SW2700PT is a hardware calibration equiped monitor. Hardware calibration allows you to adjust the monitor’s image processing chip without changing graphics card output data. Calibration keeps images consistent with originals without being affected by graphic card settings. Two monitor preset modes allow calibration results to be saved directly into the monitor. As discussed in the review on the 
In terms of both sheer colour range and accuracy of colour reproduction, the BenQ’s performance is excellent. Testing shows superb SRGB performance and approximately 99% of the Adobe RGB gamut range is successfully displayed. The much larger Adobe RGB space is much harder to reproduce and most monitors don’t reach even 80% of it. At this price point the BenQ sets a new standard in my experience.
REAL WORLD USE
This expedition has been designed from the ground up to provide the very best possible opportunities to Photograph Polar Bears in their natural environment. With the reduction in Arctic sea ice the Polar Bears in Svalbard are dwindling in number and the number of years left to photograph them is unfortunately now extremely limited. Late July and August are the ideal times to photograph Polar Bears north of Svalbard due to the dwindling ice around the archipelago. On this expedition we will be carrying a naturalist/biologist who specialises in locating Polar Bears and an expedition leader and captain who have years of experience in placing us in the ideal position to make the best photographs. Their expertise will allow us to approach the king of the Arctic as closely and safely as possible and make incredible photographs under the spectacular midnight sun.
Our intention is to sail directly north from the small town of Longyearbyen in Svalbard to approximately 80 degrees North to the very edge of the permanent pack ice. At our northerly most point we will likely be less than 600 miles from the North Pole.
We will be using the ice hardened expedition ship M.S Origo which will enable us to skirt the edge of the pack ice searching for and photographing Polar Bears. M.S Origo is widely regarded as the best ship in the Arctic for Polar Bear Photography and has been my ship of choice for this expedition for the past three years. With its super low decks we can photograph at eye level with wild Polar Bears. Our expedition ship is also equipped with sufficient zodiacs and crew for all photographers to be shooting simultaneously with plenty of room to spare for camera equipment – So bring what you need! On this expedition we will also likely photograph Walrus, Seals, Whales, Arctic Foxes and the many Arctic sea birds including the rare and angelic Ivory Gull. To get an idea of the sort of wildlife photographs you can take on this expedition please visit the 
I also gave away more than a dozen fine art prints over the course of the year that have gone around the world and that have found their way onto the walls of homes and offices. The chance to give something back in 2015 has been something I have very much enjoyed and the feedback I have received from those who have won a print throughout the year has been incredibly fulfilling. I would very much like to continue this series going forward, but due to a very heavy travel schedule next year I will just not have time to regularly make and send out the prints. I will return to this print giveaway at a future date however.
After Yellowstone Daniel Bergmann and I ran our annual Winter Iceland workshop (
After Iceland I travelled to Svalbard where I participated in a small group snow mobile expedition for Polar bears and other wildlife in the winter landscape of Svalbard. This exploratory expedition resulted in some remarkable photographs and is something I hope to repeat early in 2017. I will also have a new offering in 2017 to photograph from small ship in the middle of winter – Details to come soon.
After Svalbard I returned to Iceland and continued work on my Arctic Fox Project. I am getting close to completing the project now and hope to finish the project in 2016.
After Iceland, I ran my annual two week New Zealand South Island workshop which saw us circumnavigate the South Island via private 4-wheel drives and that included significant helicopter time over the spectacular southern Alps as well as the Teanu region. We visited Milford Sound, Queenstown, Fox Glacier, Mount Cook and a great many other off the beaten track locations during the workshop. We also visited the now very popular Moraki boulders area where I was able to make this image that for me really captures the essence of these amazing rocks. (
After a short break, I then travelled back to Svalbard for my Wild Polar Bears expedition (
After the Falklands I travelled to Punta Arenas in Chile where I boarded a Soviet Ilyushin jet (The Russian equivalent of an American Hercules) and flew down to Union Glacier in Antarctica where we landed on a naturally occurring blue ice runway just 500 nautical miles from the South Pole. The purpose of this scouting trip was in preparation for the Emperor Penguin expedition next year. This was a truly remarkable experience and I will have a lot more to say about this experience in future posts.
I then lead one final expedition to the Antarctic peninsula to finish up the 2015 year before arriving home two days before Christmas. All up I led a total of ten separate international workshops and expeditions in 2015 spread across the globe (not including some local private workshops to the Great Ocean Road as well as one-on-one Print workshops). A brief count tallies up more than thirty five international plane rides and well over thirty thousand exposures (wish they were all keepers!) and a lot more than thirty hours of lost sleep. It was a fantastic year and I just want to thank all of you who I was fortunate to meet, travel and photograph with throughout the year. It was real privilege to share in such remarkable destinations with so many fantastic photographers – thank you.
After the Weddell Sea I will travel directly to Iceland where I will spend ten days in the remote north working on my project on the Arctic Fox. This will be my third year working on this project and I hope to gather the final images from this trip and complete the project in 2016. A portfolio of prints celebrating this remarkable animal will be available early in the new year, followed up by a book in the later part of 2016.
After I finish in the north of Iceland I will lead my annual 
After Iceland I will travel to Lofoten in Norway where I will lead a brand new workshop for winter landscapes in this spectacular part of Norway. The Lofoten Islands have long been on my wish list to visit and photograph and I am very excited to be travelling to these spectacular islands in winter with a small group of photographers.
After Lofoten I am heading straight to Namibia in Africa for a private small group overland safari. We are planning to visit a number of different areas for landscape photography including the ghost town of Kolmonskop as well as the incredible sand dunes of Sossusvlei and the salt pan of Dead Vlei. This safari has long been sold out, but due to a recent cancellation there is now one single place available. Please drop me an 
In May I am going to make the short hop across to the South Island of New Zealand to co-lead a 
In November 2016 I will travel deep into the interior of Antarctica where I will lead a small group on a dedicated expedition for photography of Emperor Penguins (Sold Out). This expedition has been several years in the planning and I am extremely excited to be taking a small group of passionate and dedicated photographers on this trip. The opportunities for photography in this incredibly remote part of Antarctica are nothing short of breath taking. 
In late November I will travel to the Falkland Islands (our departure point) for a photographic expedition to South Georgia Island and Antarctica. Unlike the expedition I led in 2015; which visited only South Georgia, this expedition will also take us down to Antarctica. Its going to be a very busy and hectic year and I am keen to make a start in Antarctica in the Weddell Sea in just a few weeks time.
Congratulations Rachel (and thank you for the wonderful comment!), your print will be sent to you next week. This was the final print giveaway for 2015 – my congratulations to all the winners throughout the year. Remember the best way to get instant updates is to subscribe via email.
Holko's Test 