Photographer: Don Hildred – Self Portrait
About Don…
With 30+ years in the industry and 20+ years teaching, I’m dedicated to guiding amateur photographers on their journey to discover and learn to love photography.
I am based in the beautiful city of Toowoomba, but I happily travel around Queensland and New South Wales for workshops and teaching in school classrooms.
What and where did I learn during my journey…
My early years
For the love…
My love of photography started long ago when my parents gave me a camera for my twelfth birthday…
Then, I enjoyed photographing landscapes, macros (particularly flowers), street scenes, and abstract subjects with 35 mm B&W film.
Nowadays, I love to photograph micro shots of bugs and time-lapse videos of street scenes, forests, streams, and flowers!
I also really enjoy organising the Toowoomba Shutterbugs MeetUp Group, which anyone can join from the Toowoomba region.
Now a days
As a professional
I have 30+ years of experience since graduating from QCA Morningside (now Griffith University, Southbank Brisbane) in 1988.
I also teach online Photography and Photoshop courses for the Bachelor of Communication and Media – Professional Photography (8-unit major) at the University of Southern Queensland (UniSQ).
Teaching photography workshops and guided tours have taken me to many Queensland locations (see below), including far North Queensland, the Blue Mountains in New South Wales, and the South Island of New Zealand.
Membership
Education
Affiliations
- Contributor (Shutterstock) library
- Blue Card – Expiry 19/10/2026
- DoorDash Food Photography
- Uber Eats – Food Photography
- Snappr Photography – Any event
- McGregor School held at UniSQ
Where my teaching began!
My first teaching role began with Flying Arts in 2001 with a week-long 35mm B&W film photography workshop in Blackall for Queensland Flying Arts Inc. in combination with Arts West Queensland.
Students photographed Aboriginal cave paintings, the Qantas Museum and Stockman’s Hall of Fame. They produced a B&W exhibition in a temporary darkroom on location as a result.
Since then, I have travelled around regional Queensland, New South Wales, and New Zealand, teaching guided tours, conducting week-long workshops, and speaking as a guest at symposiums.
I also organise a small Meetup photography group (Toowoomba Shutterbugs), running classes and field trips in and around South East Queensland.
Past workshop Locations
Queensland | New South Wales | New Zealand
- Augathella: One River: Centenary of Canberra
- Babinda: Flying Arts
- Blackall: Heartland festival
- Blackall: Experience The Arts
- Blue Mountains: TAFTA: Contextart forum
- Brisbane: Experience The Arts
- Brisbane: Flying Arts
- Brisbane: Textile & Art Academy
- Bundaberg: BRAG Photoshop
- Bundaberg: Symposium photography presenter
- Charleville: Bouncing Back
- Harvey Bay: USQ McGregor On the Bay
- Ipswich: Meetup Group lessons
- Lismore: Art Gallery photographing artworks
- Longreach: Arts West School of Creative Arts
- Longreach: Heartland Festival
- Millmerran: Photography & Photoshop
- Mittagong: Sturt: Winter School
- New Zealand: Autumn in New Zealand workshop
- Redcliffe: Cultural Centre photographing artworks
- Richmond: Community Centre
- Roma: Santos GLNG Project Press & PR
- Toowoomba: Photography Meetup classes
- Toowoomba: U3A Photography Classes
- Toowoomba: TAFE: Graphics & Photography
- Toowoomba: U3A Digital Photography Classes
- Toowoomba: USQ McGregor Summer/Winter Schools
- Toowoomba: USQ Student Guild
- Winton: BHP Billiton Photographic Judge
- Winton: Workshop presenter