Just wonderful. This is the fourth morning we have awoken to a winter wonderland covered in Hoar Frost. Local photographers are making lots of pictures with this phenomenon. This is not a rare occurrence here. But for four days in a row at the beginning of February. It certainly is a gift from Mother Nature.
I made this photograph in 2008 while flying above the Sossusvlei dunes in Namibia. Micro-light is a whole different way to see the dunes. Especially in the early morning.
I have been gone back several years and revisited several photographs. I have gone to the original .NEF file and reprocessed them in my current software workflow. This one, I also changed the crop on it.
Take Care and Be Safe
This photograph was made from a small gondola while gliding through the canopy of a rainforest in Costa Rica earlier this month. I was drawn by the slight tint to the fog/rain from a sliver of sun peeking in from somewhere.
Recently a local forum I belong to asked for us to share with it’s members our favourite shot from 2011. When they asked for us to show OUR favourite shot. I took it that they did not want. The most popular shoot. My best selling shot, My shot that was my best WOW. BUT……..MY favourite.
This picture was made during my 6th trip to Africa, my second to the Masai Mara in Kenya. I have lots of various shots with a cheetah(s) as the subject. However I was miss a full body shot. Standing on a mound. With a nice clean background. The animal look right at me. That picture was on my “bucket list” for shots to get on that trip.
That is way it is my favourite shot from 2011.
Take Care and Be Safe
It has been a long time since I pulled out a long lens, flash, Better Beamer, Wimberly mount and headed off to FortWhyte Alive. FortWhyte Alive is an amazing nature reserve right in the middle of the city. When you are concentrating on getting a wonderful bird portrait, you are liable to be bumped by a passing white tail deer. They are truly ghosts of the forest, moving silently through the bush.
Nothing is rushing you at FortWhyte so you have plenty of time to make those photographs that you want to.
This picture I made of a “Hairy Woodpecker” working away on a block of frozen suet was one of the results. It took about an hour and about 50 exposure before I got what I wanted. Nice even body motion with a sharp eye. The only thing more I would have liked was the suit cage being sharp. But it was hanging by a chain and was powered by the bird motion.
I had a great day at the reserve. Made a few different pictures. Oh yeah the zero degree weather was a welcome bonus.
You never know when trying something new, will help with what you really like doing. Animal Portraits are/where not high on my list of things to try. But I have this wonderful model at my call all weekend.
I was granddog sitting, Oliver my sons 3 1/2 year old Silver Lab. So armed with treats my wife Glenda set to work to make a portrait of Sir Oliver. We assembled an array of Nikon equipment, backdrops, light stands, umbrellas. With my head full of instructions from, Joe McNally, Strobist , Dave Black and David Ziser. We set to work. Not sure what we ran out of first. My nerves, treats or Oliver willingness to co-operate.
Well if the final result makes it to a frame and resides on my sons desk. I guess it was not only an afternoon filled with laughs but a success.
For those that have visited Monument Valley. You are aware that the Valley Loop is closed to the general public until after sunrise. So unless you take one of the special guided tours you have to find other ways to get your mittens in the rising sun.
My one day visit to the valley, sort of a scouting trip as I had never been there before, was how I made this image. Arrival was just at sunset, a 3rd floor room was booked at The View hotel. This was the view from the rooms balcony. Shot the sunset, then a few shots during the night and was set up in the morning to get this wonderful sunrise. The rest of the day was spent driving around the Valley Loop road marking places for photography on a return trip.
The Miami station, built in 1889, is a rare surviving example of a Northern Pacific and Manitoba Railway station which was used for many years by the Canadian Northern and the Canadian National Railways.
Silver Efex Pro 2 by Nik Software is very quickly becoming my favourite way to convert my images to Black and White or variations of greyscales.
Yesterday seemed like a good day for the just over an hour drive to Miami, Manitoba and the station. Weather was around zero Celsius lots of dramatic clouds. So 3 1/2 hours later I finally got to the station. Took lots of images from all sorts of angles before moving on to the next unknown location.
The tutorials on the Nik site make learning Silver Efex Pro 2 relatively easy. Like most of the Nik Software when it come to sliders only a very little is needed. Well for me anyway. It is short of putting salt on your food. It is a matter of taste.
You should visit the Nik site and download the trial version. I am sure you will like it.
Take Care and Be Safe
Christopher Robin
This fantastic news was taken from my buddy Marsel,s blog this afternoon:
“The 2011 International Photography Awards have announced the winners of this year’s competition, and we are proud to announce that Marsel won 1st Prize in the Nature/Wildlife category for his series “Japanese Macaques”, for which he was also awarded the title Nature Photographer of the Year 2011.
All winning images are available as Fine Art Prints. If you’d like to order the whole series, you get one print for free! Email us for pricing.”
