Overnight, Sol killed a Guanaco, the lama-like camel relative native to the area. So on day two, we sat on the kill as a gorgeous cat, Pataka, her two grey kittens, and Sol and her kitten each came to feed on the kill, to rest and to groom one another.

Astounding

A final thank you again to Rob Barbour and Robynne Flemming at Epic Private Journeys for arranging this amazing trip, and for helping us deal with complexities of covid testing in the bush (think helicopters and small fixed wing aircraft). These guys are the very very best  -

Both are run by Natural Selections, though are quite different. We generally felt that the facilities at Mapula were a bit tired, though the staff and the available wildlife viewing were exceptional. Taludi, on the other hand, is brand new and quite swanky, though it did have a bit more of a "canned safari" feel (one of our party called it the Hyatt of safaris.)

In the images, you'll see three blocks of images interspersed with individual images. The first is a series of the Wild Dogs at Mapula, both closeups and some rather graphic images of a hunt and a kill. The second is of a sibling pair of male and female lions (also at Mapula) who allowed us to spend some time with them as they followed the zebra and antelope herds. The last is a series of a gorgeous female leopard at Taludi who allowed to spend the better part of an hour with her as she moved through the low brush in beautiful afternoon light. I have a soft spot for leopards, and she's in the center of it.

A note on photographing on this trip. For much of it we had challenging light. In the Pans Nt'l Park, we were out in full bright midday light against baked white landscapes. In the Delta (then again later in Zambia) there were fires burning in the fields surrounding the park making for white, featureless skies. All the richer then, when we got some early morning or late afternoon light with some contour and/or warmth.

Again, thanks to Rob Barbour and Robynne Fleming at Epic Private Journeys (Epic) for coordinating such amazing adventures (and helping us navigate the various covid testing protocols along the way.)

Thanks for stopping by -

Jeff

This collection is the first of three from that trip. These images are from our stay at Meno a Kwena Safari Camp (https://naturalselection.travel/camps/meno-a-kwena/.) This camp is on the border of the Makgadikgadi Pans National Park in Botswana. The rhythm here is different from other safari camps in that the game drives are in the middle of the day to match the animals' pattern of descending from the protection of the bush down to the Boteti River, then back into the bush at sunset. And it was hot! Hovering around 105F (approx 45C) in the heat of the day. But it was extraordinary. One day, we counted 100 elephants in our view of the river, all bachelor males behaving badly!

Thanks to friend Rob Barbour of Epic Private Journeys (https://epicprivatejourneys.com/) who once again choreographed an amazing African journey.

Thanks for Looking

Jeff

As always, if you play the slideshow with your computer sound turned on, there is an accompanying soundtrack (some computers and mobile devices won't play the music - regrets.) The music for the slideshow is "the Song of Auspiciousness" from Sacred Feminine Voices of Bhutan (used by Fair Use Rules, no additional rights claimed)

To look into the eyes of these individuals is to see clear intelligence and, fortunately for us, tolerance of our presence. A gift.

The sound track for the Collection is "Improvisation" from Season of Changes by Brian Blade and the Fellowship Band (used under fair use rules with no claim to any rights...)

Enjoy

Jeff

The soundtrack is "Yesu Olchori Lai (choir)" from the album Rhythm of the Maasi, available on iTunes (used here under fair use rules, no rights inferred nor intended.)

Start the slideshow with your computer's sound on and your browser set to allow automatic music/sound -- step into the Serengeti, enjoy

karibu, karibu*

Jeff

swahili for "welcome, welcome"

Special Note: a number of browsers are shutting down automatic music. If you want  to hear the soundtrack and it won't play, go to "Preferences" on your browser, scroll down and allow automatic music to play.

Walk with us, enjoy...

                     Jeff

The first half of the collection is in color; the second in black and white. The soundtrack is from a CD we bought from the singers in the Diocletian Palace in Split. The specific song is a traditional Croatian Hymn entitled "Blize, O Boze Moj"; in English, roughly, Come Closer, Oh My God."

As usual, click the Slideshow button with your sound on (toward the louder end as the original recording is not terribly loud); click the small icon in the upper right to view the images fullscreen.

I hope you enjoy it...

Peace

Jeff

The soundtrack for this collection is "If No One Marries Me" by Natalie Merchant from her album Leave Your Sleep. I have no commercial rights to the song and use it under the "fair use" rules...

This was my first time in Yosemite, and it surely will not be the last. Somewhat disappointing was the amount of smoke in the air from both a sizeable fire in the park itself as well as drifted smoke from the massive Santa Rosa fire. On the other hand, this pointed us to smaller details which are beautiful, if not of the scale of the "Grand Landscape" (though we did our best to sneak in a couple of those as well!)

At a time when our National Parks and Public lands in general are under assault by those charged with protecting them, it was great to see so many people enjoying this unique place. While crowded, if one is willing to walk as little as a mile, the solitude is great and the scenery sublime. John Muir was right that this place is sacred...

The music for this slideshow is "Crystal Silence" from the album No Regrets by Randy Armstrong. As always, I claim no rights to the music and use it under Fair Use guidelines - if you like it, you can purchase it here from Randy's website (randy armstrong) or on itunes.

Peace

Jeff

The music I've chosen for this Collection is "Wishful Thinking" from the Album Chiaroscuro by Ralph Towner and noted Italian jazz trumpeter Paulo Fresu. (I claim no rights to this music, and use it here under "fair use"...)

This is the second Collection I've posted, the second "anti-instagram" post. Please come in, relax and allow the images to pass as they will. I hope you enjoy every one as well as the experience overall.

This collection is best viewed, I think, in full screen (there's a button in upper right after the slideshow button has been pushed)  I've also added a piece of music that I admire, "On the Nature of Daylight" by Max Richter from his album The Blue Notebooks.  There is a sound button in the lower right corner of the slideshow (I claim no rights to the music and use it here under "fair use"...)

March 30, 2016

Anyway, I'm always interested in how my attitude affects my images. If I feel immediately drawn to a scene, I tend to make better images, "fresher" as my miksang buddies would say (http://miksang.org/m/index.html)  If, on the other hand, I feel like I'm outside of the space or place, the images can seem forced.

On Morroco

As I said, we were in country only for a week, not a lot to cover the geography of a place as diverse as Morocco. From the ancient quarters of the medinahs in Marrakech and Fes (each quite different from the other), to the bright whites and blues of the ocean-side Essaouira, to the Atlas mountains to the emptiness of the black desert and the boundary dunes of the Sahara (in rain of all things, and a "minor" sandstorm.) Most of the locals don't care to have their photos taken (excluding those who see it as a career opportunity, like the snake charmers, etc.) This was more true in Marrakech than elsewhere, and as a consequence, my images of Fes are more "populated" than the Marrakech pics.

On balance, a trip I'm glad we made. Not all adventures "feel good", not all important trips are "fun." I couldn't shake the feeling that "Morocco" is a very layered place and that seeing anything close to the true country beneath the veneer is nearly impossible (as it is, I suppose, in any place with a distinctive and somewhat "alien" culture as witnessed from my western perspective...)

On Cameras

A short note on gear. I carried two cameras on this trip. Most of the images were made using the first generation mirrorless system, the Fuji E-X1. This allowed me to carry multiple lenses in an easier format than a full bodied DSLR. This was really very handy in doing candid street photography as I was able to "shoot from the hip" without garnering undue attention (see "Angry Man" in the gallery.) I love the image quality of this camera, though I find there's a lot of white balance shift in each image (I shoot raw, generally aperture priority.)  By this I mean that the whites are underrepresented in the raw file and need a consistent adjustment frame to frame. I hate the autofocus of this camera though -- it doesn't permit single point focusing and, as a result, there's a loss of a certain number of photos each time to missed focus points (I want the face, the camera selects the flower...) I'm told by the local camera shop guys that is being fixed in the next generation of the X-series, so we'll see.

I also carried a Canon G16. I bought this camera as a replacement for a G12 that I used and loved until the software glitches accumulated and made it unusable. Unfortunately, the G16 is a worse camera than it's ancient predecessor. It's still very slow to fire (slow shutter) a problem reputedly fixed in this camera. Of greater concern, I find at any ISO above about 400 or maybe 800, the files are really grainy. In an era of super fast point and shoots (see the latest Sony point and shoots and the mirrorless A7), this is really unacceptable. This is the first camera I've owned that I really wish I hadn't bought. Poor job Canon....

The BLM monitors the herd and many carry brands, both as identification and as aids to one of several research studies that have been done on the herd in recent years. Even though they've been handled some, they are still quite wild. The body of the group was composed of a mix of mares, stallions and colts, some as young as a couple of days old. There was also a group of "bachelor" stallions that move with the group, but stand off a bit, either by choice or by force. The young bachelors all have numerous bite marks on their hides and they constantly harrass one another, a lot like a pack of high school boys, but with more intensity.

It was a joy to be near these animals, and a bigger joy to photograph them.

Hope you enjoy them as much as I did

peace

Jeff

I was using an old Canon Rebel first generation digital camera. I have no idea if this camera could shoot raw since in those days I had no idea what "raw" meant. So these were taken directly as JPEGs. This makes any post production difficult, so these are pretty much straight from the camera.  Overall, I think they turned out rather well....

The energy of India, the smells, sounds, noises, the colors are overwhelming.

But the people are astounding.

Immediately, I regretted it. I'm still pretty insecure about photography, and being in a "workshop" setting sounded like a prescription for competition to me. Pressure for every exposure to be museum worthy. The only guy there who doesn't know what he's doing. I was having coffee a few days later with a friend who's a serious Buddhist teacher- Ken McLeod (http://www.unfetteredmind.org/) I shared my misgivings with Ken, and his advice was to start every day by taking the worst picture I could ON PURPOSE. After that, everything else would be downhill!

Well, I didn't take his advice, but it was all good anyway.  The group of 13 was all over the photo map, from folks with only a point and shoot, to serious guys with elaborate rigs. I was pretty much in the middle of the pack. Willie was terrific once he warmed up. A quiet guy, his initial role was to get the group to good spots in the canyon, which he knows well. It took a day or too for both Willie and for me to loosen up, after which he offered a me a lot of good specific advice on how to approach each location. A really pleasant surprise was how willingly helpful some of the better photographers in the group were, sharing ideas and techniques freely. Oh, there were a couple appearances of the "photo hog"- the critter who runs to every view point and set their rig up fast to make sure they get "the shot"; who can be so preoccupied with their own deal, they'll walk in front of your shot and set up their own gear. I don't think I was ever the "hog" myself, but when I get caught up, I do know I can develop tunnel vision myself, so it's possible I did and was unaware of it...

But as I said, the VAST majority of the interactions were really terrific and useful.

So, what did I take away from a technical perspective?

First, i had to get over my resistance to the fussiness of using a tripod. Especially for landscapes; even if it looks like the shot can be hand held, set up the pod. This way, you can be darn sure the image will be sharp, and I know from experience that NOTHING SUCKS MORE than getting home from a trip and seeing that my "Money shot" image(s) are not truly sharp.

Second, again for landscapes, use LIVE VIEW. This feature (available on the Canon and Nikon pro models) uses the back display as an electronic viewfinder. A lot of old school photogs (Willie included) don't like this much, but I thought it was really helpful This was especially true with the lens flipped to manual focus and then using the magnify button to zoom in on my focusing target (5x or 10x.) With my fading vision, my odds of getting a nice super sharp image sky rocketed.

Third, use the lens lock feature on those intermediate length exposures (like 1/8 sec to 1/2 second.) This locks the internal mirror up so when the shutter is flipped, there's no movement of the mirror to introduce dreaded camera shake. On really long exposures (2sec. or more) the movement of the mirror probably gets lost in the longer exposure, but still...

And from a personal perspective?

First, if I don't initially respond to a place, I'm unlikely to take very good images. This is part of the conversation aspect of taking photographs.

Second, the vast majority of exposures are gonna be flops relative to the handful of true winners. I took close to 1400 exposures for the week. In my personal files, I've kept about 250. For public sharing, it's down to 30-50. Of these, maybe 10 are really great (in my own view.)

Third, I'm not the kind of guy who can just shoot and shoot. I hit a wall several times on the trip and just needed to put the camera down. Others could shoot, seemingly, 24 hrs a day, but for me the joy died if I tried.

Finally, I really enjoyed the format of a field based workshop. What a place to take pictures!! I have a ton to learn, and that's terrific. My mind and heart were fully engaged pretty much every day all day.

This is the first of what i hope will a really direct commentary on taking pics, on wrestling with the technology and the emotions around creating and sharing. I need your help with this- If you disagree with something I say here, throw it in. If you agree, jump in as well. We all need encouragement.

As and old boss of mine used to say, "none of us is as good as all of us"

Cheers

Jeff

For starters, as I've shared photos in recent years, a lot of my friends have said "these are great- what are you going to do with all of em?" Don't know about the "great" part, but leaving them in the electronic drawer doesn't make much sense. At the same time, I wrestle with the self-promotional aspect of a photo site, and blogging in general. I do have a poetry/photo blog already (oldbonesnewsnow.com) that grew out of an email poetry list, but I don't like the way images work on that site.  

So what's the big deal with a photo only site? Like a pro photographer friend of mine says, "the world really doesn't need another photographer..."  And then there's the other question - "are you gonna sell your pictures?" Maybe, I haven't decided. I know that if I shift gears from the making of images to trying to think about selling them (promoting, marketing, etc...) I lose interest pretty quickly.

So for now, this is a cooking site. A gallery for each place/topic I shoot or have shot and a blog on making photographic "sausage."

Back to the kitchen.....