July 31, 2009
G’day Everyone,
When Isaac whispered “leopard” and pointed to a lone acacia tree on the horizon between the waving expanse of tall, golden oat grass and the pastel backdrop of purple hills and pale blue sky, all I saw was the arborescent outline of a tree. Isaac brought the Land Rover to a full stop and picked up the binoculars and immediately handed them over the back of the front seat. I took them but I continued to stare at the tree through the open window of the middle seat for another several moments before resigning myself to the binocs. Isaac hardly ever used them. I have 20/15 vision but, even through the binoculars, all I could see was the silhouette of the tree against the bright sky and perhaps a slight bulging on one of the thicker branches extending horizontally from the left side of the short trunk and something that looked like an enormous wasp nest suspended from a branch on the opposite side of the tree. Isaac leaned over the back of the front seat as I, in turn, passed the binoculars to Peter, my only client on this Kenya photo safari and who, like me, was starring vainly at the acacia tree from the back seat.
“I can put us right under that tree without scaring off the cat.” grinned Issac. “But you must be patient; it will take some time. OK?”
Masai Giraffes and Burchells Zebra, Masai Mara
Canon EOS 1-D Mark II N
Canon EF 300mm f/2.8 IS L IS USM lens
1/1000 @ f5.6 at ISO 200, +.5 exposure compensation
evaluative metering, aperture priority
handheld
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Posted by Gustav under Kenya,Workshops & Tours | Comments (0)
July 6, 2009
G’day Everyone,
For those of us sufficiently aged to remember the music of the seventies, you might recall the tongue-in-cheek song by Dr. Hook, “The Cover Of The Rolling Stone”. Whether you’re a “big rock singer with golden fingers” or a nature photographer with a keen eye, a cover shot, in particular, on a national publication, is about as good as it gets. You’d think, being a professional and all, getting one’s images published loses its allure after a while. Not for this pro. What with the competition these days, it’s more important than ever to stand out and there’s not much that spotlights one’s work better than a national cover. Well, ok, there’s winning the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year Award and the Pulitzer Prize, but let’s keep it real.
My image, “Sunrise at Otter Rocks” (below), appears on the front cover of the current issue (Summer, 2009) of Nature Photographer magazine. I’m offering a signed 18″ x 24″ print, matted and framed in solid oak of the cover image, along with an autographed copy of the magazine with free shipping to all Sojourns In Nature subscribers for $195.00. Simply email me at gustav@sojournsinnature.com if you’re interested. You might also consider joining me in Maine on the Tom Jordan Memorial Boreal Coast Tour next summer. Who knows, if you stood right next to me….. 
Sunrise at Otter Rocks
Canon EOS 1-D Mark II N
Nikon 24mm f/1.2 with Canon-Nikon Adaptor Ring
f/22 @ 1.5″, +1 exposure compensation, ASA 100
Cokin -3 GND filter
Gitzo 2220 tripod with Manfrotto 3047 head
cable release, mirror lockup
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Posted by Gustav under Filters,Maine,Publications,Shows & Exhibits,Summer,Technique,Vermont,Workshops & Tours | Comments (5)
