Taken in Imfolozi Game Reserve,  South Africa,  late afternoon,  one zebra keeps watch whilst others drink at the waterhole.   

        Canon 5D with 70-300 DO lens at 300mm and F5.6,  shutter speed 1/60 second at ISO 400.

Wild vs Captive debate.

      One website which I check out frequently is naturescapes.net.  The site features some excellent nature and wildlife photography and consistently publishes interesting articles relating to the craft as well.   Just recently on the site,  the issue of "game farms" was debated by some of wildlife photography's leading exponents,  it makes for a fascinating and thought provoking read.  

      Game farms,  where "wildlife" species are kept in captivity for the purpose of filming and photography,  have been in existence for many years.    Exotic species,  including large carnivores such as mountain lions and snow leopards,  are kept and bred in captivity and then taken under controlled conditions and posed in a landscape for the benefit of film makers and photographers.   Need,  or want,  a picture of a mountain lion sitting on a boulder and having trouble actually finding one in the wild?    Well for a fee you can hire an "animal model" from a game farm.  The handlers will transport your lion, (leopard,  grizzly bear, whatever) in a cage on the back of a flatbed truck if necessary,  and place it on the boulder in front of your camera so you can get the shot.  

      So what are the pros and cons of this practice and where do you stand on the ethics of it?    The differing views are put forward intelligently by two of wildlife photography's heavy hitters Thomas D. Mangelsen and Joe McDonald.    Mangelsen was awarded the BBC's prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year award back in 1994, whilst McDonald received the North American Nature Photography Association (NANPA) Outstanding Service Award back in 2002.    Check it out at  http://www.naturescapes.net/docs/  recommended reading!

      To view the award winning photography of the protagonists,  take a look at;       www.mangelsen.com   and   www.hoothollow.com.      

      For what it's worth,  all wildlife shots displayed on this site are of truly wild animals in uncontrolled circumstances.     Enjoy  KD.       

     Another shot from my boat trip on the St Lucia Wetlands,  South Africa,  this Fish Eagle had just caught itself a huge mullet and flown to a nearby tree branch with it.  Unfortunately I didn't get to see the bird actually catching its prey,  that could have been a really nice picture!    I won't pretend this is one of my better shots,  I would have preferred a less cluttered background for one thing.  But this is nature,  not a zoo,  and just sighting one of these birds in the wild was a thrill.   I think there's something quite majestic about the raptors and I'm sure I'm not alone in my fascination with them.     Enjoy KD.

          Canon 20D with 500mm lens at F8.0, shutter speed 1/800 second at ISO 400.   (cropped image)

     Today's picture,  a Cape Glossy Starling photographed in Hluhluwe Game Reserve, South Africa.   The image is very much as nature presented it,  the only post processing on this shot was a slight cropping and digital sharpening.   I took several images of this bird but like this one most,  the breeze just ruffled up a few of its otherwise perfect feathers.

         Canon 20D with 500mm lens at F6.3,  shutter speed 1/1000 second at ISO 100.

Buyers Beware.

       For those who've considered a new camera purchase and have scoured the internet looking for the best price,  worthwhile having a read of the following article.

http://blogs.computerworld.com/camera_scams    There are some good deals to be had over the internet but it's so important to deal only with people/companies with sound reputations.   Fortunately I haven't been caught out by the shonky outfits mentioned in the article,  I have seen them online but doubted their credibility/integrity,  correctly it would seem.   The article relates to the US market but the caution advised is appropriate anywhere.   cheers KD.    

    Early in the 20th century there was a US president (Theodore Roosevelt) whose approach to international relations was supposedly summed up with the phrase 'walk softly and carry a big stick'.    Well I'll paraphrase that as 'walk softly and carry a camera!'     Today's image was captured in the St Lucia wetlands area of South Africa during a slow walk along a nature trail.   The trail was on the edge of town and meandered through scrub and brush which proved to be a haven for numerous species of small birds which flitted from branch to branch and twig to twig.   I kept the kit light,  just the 20D with the 70-300mm DO zoom and a spare battery and memory card in my pocket.  

    In that environment I found that the best way to sight these birds was to walk very slowly and quietly,  no sudden movements,  even completely stopping and standing still for extended periods and just listening.   More often than not I would hear the birds long before I would see them.   Once sighted there was the chance to smoothly raise the camera to the eye and get the shot before the bird flew off.    The slower I moved,  and the quieter I was,  the more I was able to hear, see and ultimately photograph.   Sometimes the birds would land on a twig and look at me as though they were curious about this slow moving,  non threatening,  presence.    In the end I managed to get nice shots of at least half a dozen species,  but it would have been a worthwhile exercise even without the camera,  just to completely relax and "tune in" to nature.

     I remember another experience I had many years ago whilst hiking along a bush trail closer to my home.    I didn't have suitable camera gear with me at the time but,  as in this case,  I slowed right down and listened and looked intently as I walked.   As I did so I became aware of some movement in the undergrowth and stopped.    I was then able to observe a male superb lyrebird carrying out his courtship dance complete with elaborate use of his wonderful tail feathers and listen to the extraordinary vocal performance for which these birds are famous.     It was a memorable encounter which lasted 10 to 15 minutes,  I wish I had a worthwhile photo of the incident to post.    Once the performance ended and the bird moved out of sight I walked on and encountered a group of 4 or 5 foreign tourists walking in the opposite direction.    They were stomping along, talking and laughing loudly amongst themselves and were obviously enjoying their day out.   I imagine that if at the end of the day they were asked about their visit,  they might well have concluded,  that it was an enjoyable walk but there wasn't much to see!    If only they'd known.       

        Canon 20D with 70-300mm DO zoom lens at 300mm and F5.6,  shutter speed 1/3200 second at ISO 1600.

   Unfortunately I don't know what species of bird this is,  I think it's probably a species of robin.  If anyone can identify it for me I'd love to hear from you.

Video Slideshow download.

    As mentioned in previous posts,  I have a FREE downloadable video available at my mainsite www.kevindowie.com    Annoyingly when you right click to select the "save target as" command,  the file wants to download as a "video streaming" file which then proves difficult to open in QuickTime.   This has only started to happen in the last 48 hours and at this time I don't have an explanation for it.  I'm trying to sort the issue out,  meanwhile if you're trying to download the file (it's worth the effort) and you encounter this problem,  please add the file extension .mpg4 to the file name in the "save target as" dialogue box.   You'll then find the file saves and plays just fine.    Thanks for your patience and thank you Carrie for bringing the issue to my attention.

The laptop computer of the future! 

     On a lighter note,  for those of you wondering about the future of computer technology check out the following link.  http://www.theonion.com/content/video/apple_introduces_revolutionary?utm_source=embedded_video

     This remarkable innovation in laptop computer design has just been announced ahead of schedule,  I believe it was originally intended for release in early April.  Clearly word got out,  forcing the designers into the early announcement.     cheers KD

PS:     remember RSS feeds,  they're the way to go!   So subscribe.

    My first post for 2009 so let me start by wishing readers best wishes for the new year,  happy blogging and good health to all! 

Today's image is of a Giant Kingfisher sighted at St Lucia Wetlands in South Africa during my visit there mid 2008.   As it's name suggests,  it is one of the larger kingfisher species,  this bird was perched on a branch overlooking the water's edge.   Doing some research on this species I've found that there are 2 sub species,  one that inhabits forested areas back from the water and a second that inhabits the waterways.   Additionally,  there is a difference in the plumage colours of the male and female,  I believe this bird,  with it's red-brown belly and speckled chest,  is a female.   Whereas the male has a red-brown chest and a speckled belly.   (Just in case you were wondering!)   

    This image has had very little post processing done to it,  the colours of the bird are very much as you see here.

            Canon 20D with 500mm lens at F8.0,  shutter speed 1/250 second at ISO 400.

Signature Brush.

     As you can see,  I've changed my signature brush in Photoshop to reflect the new year.    I was about to post this image when I realized my existing brush was out of date,  so I quickly created a new one.    My policy on dating the images is to apply the brush to show the year of processing and initial publication rather than the date of image capture.    If anyone's using Photoshop and are curious about the process,  let me know.  

Changes to Spaces.

     I'm sure I'm not the only person using the spaces system who finds the recent changes a bit annoying.   One of the things that I find frustrating is that I used to be able to quickly access the spaces of friends directly from their icons on my friend's list.   Now I have to go through several steps to get to the same place.   I've noticed also that the number of people visiting my space has dropped off a bit since the change,  probably for the same reason.   (Good grief,  it can't be because I'm not posting interesting content!  chuckle)  

      When I go to the "recent activity on my network" page,  if that's what they're calling it,  I can only immediately see changes that people have made over the last few hours.    So if it's been a couple of days since I've checked,  then several friend's may have posted new blog entries and I'm just not aware of them.   I think others are probably finding the same thing with my site,  I'm posting entries but people just aren't aware of them.   Another unfortunate change is the apparent abandonment of the previous "new or updated spaces" page.  I found that to be of interest as a way of exploring sites that were unrelated to my existing friend's list or network.   As it is now,  if there's someone out there that's not in a friend's network,  who has a fabulous site,  chances are I'll never become aware of it.   We're in danger of becoming cliques,  isolated little islands in a vast ocean.... sigh!  

RSS feeds.

      Whilst it's not a cure all for the above issues,  subscribing to RSS feeds may be worthwhile.   I'm currently going through my friend's list and subscribing to the RSS feeds of those that allow it.  The advantage is that in Internet Explorer,  I can go to my feeds list and quickly see which sites have updated since I was last online.  This way I don't miss the updates.   If you wish to keep up to date with what I'm doing,  consider subscribing to the RSS feed for this site,  you'll find the subscribe button underneath my profile.

HD Video feedback.

      As indicated in my last post,  I've made available a High Definition DVD quality video slideshow as a FREE download via my main site at www.kevindowie.com   If you haven't checked it out already then take a look.  It runs for about 4 minutes and is a 39 meg file,  if you have broadband internet access it'll take about a minute or so to download.   Thanks to those who've already commented,  the feedback I've received so far,  both on this site and elsewhere,  has been excellent.        KD.