Well 2008 has been a big year for me as far as blogging goes,  and as the year comes to a close,  it's tempting to look back and see what's been covered.    If I've counted right,  this is my 83rd blog entry for the year,  I've published well over 100 original photographs with,  in most cases,  detailed comments about the circumstances and techniques involved.   Part way through the year I made the decision that where ever possible I would publish details regarding camera settings and equipment used with the images.   This was well received by other photographic enthusiasts and became the subject of some comments and queries. 

    I compiled some articles and essays relating to photographic subjects and my experiences,  that's something I'll endeavour to continue.   They're viewable at www.kevindowie.com   I don't claim to be the font of all knowledge on this stuff,  but perhaps can help the inexperienced in their efforts to get more pleasing results.  

    One of the highlights of the year for me was certainly my adventures in Tanzania and South Africa during the middle of the year.   This led to a growing interest in wildlife photography and resulted in some of my favourite,  and best received,  images.   

    I also delved into book publishing with the production of 2 editions of "Tanzania,  a photographic collection"  which can be previewed at Blurb.com.   

    In summary,  I've concentrated throughout on providing plenty of original,  and I think,  quality content,  and am reasonably pleased at how it all looks.    

2009,  Looking Forward.

     Looking to 2009,  I'm planning (finances permitting),  to do some more travelling and I'm already excited about the prospect of some more great photographic opportunities that may provide.   I'm thinking about some further articles and essays to be published on my main site and have a couple of topics in mind.    A further book project?   Maybe,  if the images justify it.    Delving further into fine art printing and offering prints via an online ordering system kind of appeals as well,  dependant,  like so many things,  on the costs involved and the possible demand.  

     Recent camera developments include a move towards the integration of video capability into still cameras which looks really interesting.  I haven't to this point had any experience with video but maybe the changes in technology mean that's becoming more accessible.   

Suggestions.

     As I have frequently said in the past,  I welcome feedback,  inquiries and suggestions.   If anyone has any suggestions about future articles,  topics,  presentation etc,  I'd love to hear them.

Ending the year with a bang. 

     Finally to finish off the year,  I'm offering a free video download.   I recently became aware of a website called animoto.com.   This site offers video slideshow presentations of your photos set to a music soundtrack.    Having tried out their free 30 second video,  I felt motivated to fork out just a few dollars to set up a 4 minute video.   Animoto claim that their software spells "the end of the slideshow",  I hope not,  otherwise half the content on my main site just became redundant!    

     The video is based on my Tanzania shots,  some of which have been published in other forms previously and 1 or 2 which haven't been published previously.   In order to view the video,  click on the image/link below which will take you through to the download page.    The file is 39 megabytes,  has an atmospheric instrumental soundtrack and is full High Definition,  DVD quality.    It's groovy baby!   (apologies to all Austin Powers fans)                    Enjoy KD.

http://www.kevindowie.com/hd-video-slideshow.html

     Photographed in Hluhluwe Game Reserve,  South Africa,  this brown hooded kingfisher sat unconcerned on a reasonably low tree branch long enough for me to get several shots. 

        Canon 20D with 500mm lens at F5.6,  shutter speed 1/800 second at ISO 200

       Given that this is likely to be my last posting before Christmas,  I extend my best wishes for the festive season to all my readers and spaces.live friends.    For those of us in the emergency services,  this unfortunately tends to be a busy time of year.    Please don't become a statistic,  remember drinking and driving don't mix and I hope to catch up with you all in the new year.      cheers KD.

     Well folks,  it's time for the launching of my much anticipated book,  "Tanzania,  a photographic collection".   Well much anticipated by me anyway!    Being my first ever publishing effort,  it's been an interesting process and I'm really pleased with the final product(s).   I say product(s) because as previous suggested,  I'm presenting two different versions of the book.    The first version (with the giraffe cover),  is a full on large format coffee table book.  13x11 inch hard cover with dust jacket and 120 pages in total and,  if I do say so myself,  is fully the equal of "coffee table" type books you would expect to see in a conventional book store.    It has 112,  one image to a page,  photo plates each with a simple caption. 

     The second version (with the zebra cover),  is the "soft cover" version.   10x8 inch format with 110 photo plates.    My reason for producing this version is that being soft cover and smaller format it is more affordable than the hard cover version.   Both editions include a 300 word introduction and a 1000 word essay discussing some of the photographic details and thoughts relating to the safari experience.    After ordering books with both the regular paper and the "premium" paper,  I decided to go with the higher quality,  heavier paper.   This has added a little to the final price of the books but I believe is worth it given the clear difference in quality.    

     At some point,  I'll try and compile an essay relating to the book production process and offer a few ideas to others who might be considering such a project.    In the meantime,  anyone wishing to see more can check out a 15 page preview which is set up at Blurb.com and can be accessed via the links that follow.   Anyone who'd like to purchase a copy of one of these books can also do that via the blurb.com page where full pricing details and shipping/postage conditions are explained.  

     Thinking out loud,  I'm now considering other means of publishing,  possibly offering fine art prints of some of my images.   I've also hinted in the past at the idea of conducting some form of give away,   maybe a copy of the book?   The idea kind of appeals to me,  maybe that's for the new year,  obviously depends on whether there's sufficient interest to warrant it.   Let me know what you think.       Cheers KD

hard cover 13x11 version

soft cover 10x8 version

Addendum:   For further details regarding ordering,  pricing,  shipping etc,  click on the above book cover images to link through to blurb.com.    KD. 

     Photographed in Hluhluwe/Imfolozi Park,  South Africa, this is one of a pair of Egyptian geese that I observed at a water hole late in the afternoon, very late in the afternoon actually (as I'll discuss in a moment).    In the park there were several water holes where permanent hides had been erected.   I made my way to this location about half an hour before sunset and found that I was the only one there,  no other people (not a problem,  actually an advantage) and no animals or birds either but I figured that if I was patient I might get lucky.  So I set up my gear and waited....    After a few minutes a family turned up,  stayed for just a few minutes and seeing no activity,  smiled and left.   I smiled and stayed.

    A few minutes later a pair of geese landed and started feeding on waterweed that was growing on the bottom of the pond.  If you look closely at the photo you'll see a strand of weed hanging from the side of the bird's beak.   I had the opportunity to get some nice shots, with some nice late afternoon reflections on the surface of the water.   Generally,  compositionally,  it's not a great idea to have the subject animal or bird smack bang in the middle of the frame,  but in this case with the bird surrounded by water ripples,  I felt it worked.

    In the minutes that followed this,  several more bird species arrived at the waterhole,  as did some zebras and kudu,  so my patience was rewarded.   As the light was falling,  I was aware that the park closed its exit gates at a set time so I packed up,  got back in the car and made my way towards the exit.

Exit Strategy

     As I was driving back,  dusk turned to evening and I came to the realization that I'd misjudged the time required for me to get to the exit.   After about 20 minutes of driving,  I checked my watch and saw that the gates were due to close in 10 minutes time.  I thought,  I must be getting close.  I stopped briefly to check the map and to my horror saw that I was less than half way.  If they followed their policy and closed exactly on time I'd be facing the prospect of spending the night,  in the park, in the car, unprepared and potentially surrounded by wild animals unseen in the darkness!  

    Time to talk to myself about the options,  drive faster and hope to get out on time?  no,  bad idea,  firstly there is a 60 km/hr speed limit,  the road is windy and narrow and at night animals walk along or,  without warning, across the road.   There is enough elephant dung along the edges of the road to illustrate the point.    The last thing you need is to come quickly around a corner and hit,  or startle,  an elephant standing in the middle of the road.  A startled elephant is more than capable of destroying a car and it does happen.   No option but to continue at a sensible speed and hope for the best.

    By the time I get to the exit,  I'm 30 minutes late and the gates are locked.  Shit!    Now what?    I see that there's a small cottage down a pathway next to the fence.  I think I can see a light on,  maybe there's a security guard or gatekeeper on duty.   I park the car and walk carefully to the cottage,  knock on the door,  no response.   I look inside and yes there's a light on and there's a kettle on a cook top.  There's got to be someone here.  Knock again.   Now I hear some movement inside and the gatekeeper comes to the door and looks at me in bewilderment.   I explain my predicament and he explains that he doesn't have keys but maybe the park director does.  So off we both go walking along another dimly lit path to the director's house/office and we get the keys.

     Keys in hand we go back to the gate,  the gatekeeper gets to a certain point,  nervously hands me the keys and doesn't walk any further.    I wonder why?   He waves his hand vaguely towards the darkness of the nearby scrub and mutters "lions".   I'm sure he didn't see any but.....     I quickly open the gate,  hand the keys back together with a few rand by way of thanks and leave the park.    As I stop to close the gate behind me,  the gatekeeper gives a nervous wave goodbye and walks quickly back to his cottage.    Back in the car,  I breath a deep sigh of relief and drive on to my lodgings for the night.   What a day!  

Summary

     We all have our strengths and weaknesses.   Mine?   photographic skills:  pretty good.    time management skills:  needs improvement.     Hope you enjoy today's image,  I went through a lot to get it!   (chuckle)  KD.  

          Canon 20D with 500mm lens at F4.0,  shutter speed 1/400 second at ISO 400.

Something different today,  an expert's guide to Sushi!    The Goliath Heron as its name suggests is the largest of the heron species found in South Africa and is the subject of today's sequence of shots taken in the St Lucia Wetlands of Kwazulu-Natal Provence.   This stately bird was unconcerned by the presence of our boat and was happily seeking out a feed of fresh mullet.       All photos were with the Canon 20D with 500mm lens at F5.6, shutter speeds around 1/1600 second at ISO 400.

Step 1:  Sight your prey.	Step 2:  Catch it.	Step 3.  Make sure you've got a good hold of it.

Step 4.  Swallow it head first.	Step 5:  Hold your breath as dinner makes it's way down your gullet.	Step 6:  Rejoice!

Changes to Spaces.live.

     I was taken by surprise,  as probably were many others,  by the changes to this system.   My first reaction is,  "if it ain't broken,  don't fix it".   The new user interface might take some getting used to,  it seems to me that I have to go through more steps to get to the things that I frequently check,  with everything seemingly directed through the user's profile page.   At this point,  it just doesn't strike me as being terribly intuitive.  In addition,  the fonts seem to have changed and I don't know why we need those little picture frames around profile images,  unnecessary.   On the positive side,  they seem to have done away with the banner adverts at the top of the page which is good.   I guess we shouldn't grumble as it is a free service.             cheers KD

     This shot, a study in gold and blue, was taken just a couple of minutes after the image in last Friday's post "golden pool".    My eye was drawn to the seed heads of these tall grasses along the creek bank and I got a couple of shots.   I regret that I was in a hurry at the time knowing that I had to be out of the park a few minutes later and still had some distance to walk.   I wish now that I'd spent a little more time to study the subject matter and get the most out of it,  as it stands,  I think it's an acceptable but not great shot.   One of the keys is the colour combination of the golden yellows set against the blues of the background water.    In addition there is the detail in the grasses against the blur of the background which I enjoy.

     I guess this is a bit different to some of the stuff I've been showing,  sometimes little things are worth a close look.    I'll be interested to get reader's opinions on this one! 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     cheers KD          

      Canon 5D with 24-105mm lens at 60mm and F11,  shutter speed 1/250 second at ISO 800.