The Greatest Show on Earth

Oh my word! Oh! My! Word!

I really am one of the luckiest guys in the world with the best wife ever! That's for sure! 

On August 28th 2010, I am going to go and see "The Greatest Show on Earth"; the migration of thousands of Wildebeest and Zebra across the Mara river into Kenya's Masai Mara National Park. This great migration takes place around August/September each year as the wildlife migrate through the Serengeti and into the Masai Mara in search of fresh grazing.

I'm going to have the opportunity to spend 7 days on Safari with C4 Images & Safari and our knowledgeable guide and great photographer Shem Compion from the 28th August until the 4th September.

"10" plus "10 More" equals "Great Value"

A great photographer David DuChemin (author of "Within the Frame" - which is a must read!) has recently released a couple of e-books on his blog and they're great value for money at only $5.00 each.

These tidbits of information about the creative craft of photography are a great read and don't just offer up more fluff that is readily available on the web elsewhere. David has a unique insight into what makes good photography great and the books also contain some wonderful photographs as eye-candy for good measure.

As David says:

“So, what can I do to make better photographs now? I have the basics but want to take my images up to the next level. Where do I go from here?”
10 is not a bunch of cheezy tips cranked out to make a few bucks. It’s an effort to move us collectively towards better photography without feeling the need to contribute to the growing pile of Quick Tips to Shoot Like A Pro."

A Few of my Favourite Things

Inspired by a great artist and photographer Gilad Benari on deviantArt the other day I decided to also share some of my photography via a freely distributable slide-show for all to enjoy.
Gilad relates how one day he received via email one of those many mails that go around and this one in particular was titled: "The Best Pictures You Will Ever See".

Lo and behold he discovered one of his photographs in that slide-show without any credit whatsoever. So instead of getting mad, he decided to get even and put together his own slide-show with his own unique perspective of Israel.

Photo-A-Day Feedback

On the 1st of August 2009 along with a few friends we started the Picture-a-Day exercise and it's been a fun ride to say the least. There is one day left and one more photo to take (of who knows what?) and then the month's challenge is over. I'm really looking forward to the end because it has been tough on occassion and the will and motivation to get just one more photo has waxed and waned over the month much like the lunar cycle I suppose?

However I will also definitely miss the challenge and I will miss the strong motivation to pick up the camera and just shoot - that has been the truly fun part. I need to try and hang onto that! Along the way I have learned several things about myself and my photography and after all that was the outcome that I hoped to achieve. I am sure you can come up with your own list and I would love to hear from you as well. So, without further ado:

In a Flap

I was really pleased today to see that one of my recent photographs of a Yellow-Billed Duck from the Marievale Bird Sanctuary was recognised with a Daily-Deviation on the deviantArt web site.

In a Flap was actually quite fortunate as the weather that day was not particularly great and the bird sightings were on the slim side. It just so happened that the duck was facing me directly as I photographed him and that makes for a much more powerful image. Slow-Speed Yellowbill is actually a good example of how misty and miserable it was.

Deke's Top 40

Do you want to learn about some of the best features of Photoshop CS4 and focus on what will really get the job done? Well then head on over to Lynda.com's Photoshop Top 40 presented by Deke McClelland.
Every Tuesday on this Lynda.com blog, Deke will discuss one of the top 40 features in a video blog and so far it's been really interesting. You just know, watching these snippets that Deke really knows his way around Photoshop when you look at his layered PSD files!!
Check out the video blogs so far: