In the morning I will be taking off in the 4Runner with my Nikon gear on my “Red Rock, Snow and Critters Journey”.  Will be gone from February 11th to March 5th.
Scheduled stops on the Journey:

• Badlands National Park, South Dakota
• Arches National Park, Utah
• Canyonlands National Park, Utah
• Monument Valley, Arizona/Utah
• Horseshoe Bend, Arizona
• Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona
• Wupatki National Monument, Arizona
• Joshua Tree National Park, California
• Zion National Park, Utah
• Animals of Montana, Montana
• Theodore Roosevelt National Park,  North Dakota

Everyone Take Care and Be Safe,
Will share the journey with you when I get back.

On the weekend I went with some photo friends to an antique car museum.   Apart from cars, trucks and motorcycle.   They had various automotive service brands highlighted in various displays including full blow service stations from bygone days.

There also was a General Store with a post office.   That is what caught my eye.   Since everything in the building was from long ago and even further back than I can remember.   I decided my post processing would have to reflect that point in time.

Enjoy the result.

Take Care and Be Safe

I was able to secure two places on Squiver.com’s  Ultimate Bears Workshop in September, 2012 at Clark National Park, Alaska.  A seven day photographic adventure I will be sharing with my son Geoff.

Like most of Squivers Workshops lately they sell out very quickly.

Geoff came with me to the Masai Mara last August, he purchased a new D7000 and we exchanged long lens during the trip.    Geoff learned that on photographic adventures like this it is best to carry and use two camera bodies.    This time I will be adding tripods and mounts to the mix.      My hope is that he gains an interest in my Nikon D3 about the same time as the anticipated Nikon D4 hits the shelves.    Time will tell on that one.

I am very excited to announce that National Geographic’s – Vision of Earth  has now hit the book selves worldwide.  Best of all I can now officially say I have been published in National Geographic.  My photograph of Zebra Eyes can bee found on pages 240 and 241.  This is a highlight in my photographic journey.  It as been great so far, to-day it just got better.

What National Geographic has to say:

Visions of Earth raises a curtain on the wonders of the world and thrills us with nature’s opulence and humanity’s splendor. Each image alone exposes a nugget of our planet’s magnificence; the totality of the collection goes beyond our imagination. Turning the pages, viewers are struck by the richness of life on Earth. One photograph is more awe-inspiring than the next—chosen by veteran National Geographic magazine photo editors to present what is visually incredible. The photographs are drawn from the popular “Visions of Earth” feature in the magazine, (rated Number 1 by readers), from our own storied Image Collection, and from renowned photographers throughout the world, many never-before published.

Last weekend my son (the human) and Oliver came to visit for a final weekend at our lake house.  With all the flooding and related damage this year we had a,    to put it blunt a rotten summer.  I wanted to get a picture of Geoff and Oliver on the beach.  BUT…………we had no beach anymore.    So the next best thing since our beach was replaced with approx. 1900 sand bags.

So here they are on our 2011 version of the Beach at Maui North.

This morning here in Winnipeg.  1,500 plus runners and 100′s of volunteers turn out for the Annual Winnipeg Police Service Half Marathon for the benefit of “Cops for Cancer”.  But this year was a little unusual.  At 7:30 am, and the race started at 8:00 am Mother Nature greeted everyone with sub zero temperature and near blizzard conditions.  The cold, snow and blowing snow did nothing to dampen the spirit of all that were there.    Everyone was upbeat and the event turned out to be very successful.

As you can see be the photos I have attached some of the runners had no problem in conveying how they felt today.  The gang from Urban Tactical who were manning two “refreshment” stations said that they went through normal amounts of water and Gatorade.

Not to worry, before the crew moved to the next set up at the Finish Line.   All the cups and garbage was disposed of.

Some of you may have read my good friend and award winning photographer Marsel van Oosten’s blog about the African Moose.  http://squivernews.blogspot.com/2011/04/sand-storm.html He went on about it great size and weight. here are some snippets he had to say: The name “Eland” is derived from the Dutch word for moose. When Dutch settlers came to the Cape Province they named the largest wild herbivore they met with the name of the huge northern herbivore. In Dutch the animal is called “Eland antelope” to distinguish it from the Moose, which is found in the northern boreal forests. The eland has a mass of about 650 kilograms, which is the double of the kudu. Elands are said to be one of the slowest antelopes, but they can jump over a height of 2.5 meters or above.
I am here to tell my friend that the real KING of the Moose’s resides here in North America. The North American Moose can weigh in at over 750 kilograms and the male can have antlers that spread 1 – 2 meters in width. Moose in North American have a population around 1,000,000 animals.

I will give Marsel credit, his photograph of the Eland is much better than mine of the Moose. It is unlikely that I could find a herd of bull moose in a sand storm here in North America. As well the Eland is a much more striking animal than the moose