Hi folks!    A few days ago I posted some lion shots and indicated that I might take a different approach in presenting further lion shots.  Well here's what I came up with.   As I was processing the first image,  I thought,  wonder what this would look like in monochrome?   Well here's the answer!   Once in black and white, I almost immediately wanted to go to a toned effect with the focus very much on the animal itself and isolating it from the background.  I also went with a fairly subtle vignette on the image.  Having adopted this approach with the first shot, I realized that I liked the effect,  and have set about creating a whole series of lion images in this style.     See further notes below the images.

       I also indicated in a recent post that I would have some worthwhile links for you.    The trip that I did through Tanzania was led by top US pro photographer Bruce Dorn.   Bruce has a blogsite of his own,  and is in the process of publishing a selection of images submitted by members of our group.   It's interesting to see the different results and approaches adopted by different photographers travelling through the same region.  Bruce has just published several images of mine which I invite you to check out at;    http://idcphotography.com/blog/bruce-dorn/kevin-sends-a-few-down-under%E2%80%A6     most of the images haven't been published before and,  of the images I submitted,  it's interesting to see which ones Bruce chose to display.    Whilst you're at the site,  check out the other blog entries as well,  some of my safari mates got some great shots.

cheers KD  www.kevindowie.com

        Photographed in Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania,  this buffalo has a single oxpecker bird on it's back.   A few days later in Serengeti National Park,  we saw numerous buffalo,  including on one occasion a herd numbering probably 300 plus animals.  In many instances the buffalo were carrying dozens of such birds which would ride on their backs feeding on ticks and other parasites that attach themselves to the animal's hide.   It's a symbiotic relationship,  the bird gets to feed on ticks,  the buffalo gets to rid itself of the pests.  

        I'll be publishing further buffalo shots in the coming days/weeks.   I also expect to have some interesting links for you to explore,  so stay tuned!     KD   www.kevindowie.com

                          Canon 5D  500mm lens at F4.0  shutter speed 1/125 second   ISO 200.

       Photographed in Tanzania.   One of the things that surprised me on my trip to Tanzania was the number of giraffes we saw and the relaxed attitude they had to safari vehicles.   Prior to going there,  I'd heard or read somewhere that giraffes were weary of humans and would avoid getting close but this was completely at odds with what I found.   On a light note,  I wonder how much money women have spent on mascara over the years,  check out the eyelashes in this first photo.   

                            Canon 5D  500mm F4 lens at F5.6  shutter speed 1/250 sec  ISO 200

               Canon 5D  500mm F4 lens at F5.6   shutter speed 1/500 second  ISO 400.

Website update

     Following the publication of my essay/article relating to my use of Canon's recently released 800mm F5.6 super telephoto lens,  there has been some discussion on the internet regards the sharpness or perhaps more correctly,  the softness,  of some of the images I posted.   Prior to the posting of any images,  to this blog or indeed to the image galleries on my main site,  I carefully consider the sharpness of the images and what digital processing/sharpening is suitable.    The images posted in my article about the 800mm F5.6 were deliberately published without sharpening,  however this discussion got me thinking about the role of digital sharpening and has prompted me to compile a further article on that subject.   The article can be viewed at http://www.kevindowie.com/digital%20sharpening.html and may be informative to those not familiar with this aspect of digital imaging.

         enjoy  KD.

   From the recent Tanzania trip,  photographed in Ngorongoro Crater.    Lions generally hunt at night using the cover of darkness to stalk prey and tend to be fairly lethargic,  conserving energy,  sleeping,  during the day.   Often they are difficult to see because of long grass in some of the reserves/national parks.  A pride of lions could lay in the grass,  concealed, camouflaged and only draw attention to themselves when one of them sits up to take a look around.   In Ngorongoro Crater,  the grass on the floor of the crater was quite short and so sighting lions and other animals was reasonably easy.   Many of the animals seen were quite unperturbed by the presence of safari vehicles and went about their business as though the vehicles and their occupants weren't there.

   Apparently the females,  who do most of the hunting,  can live to about 18-20 years of age whilst males live to about 12.   Look out for some further lion shots in the days ahead,  I'll present some with a different processing treatment which I think should be quite effective.    See below images for photographic details.    Enjoy  KD  www.kevindowie.com      

            Canon 5D with 500mm telephoto lens and 1.4 tele extender,  effective focal length 700mm F5.6 1/500 second ISO 400.

               Canon 5D with 500mm lens F4.0 1/500 second ISO 400.

     One of the memorable things I saw on my recent Tanzania trip,  was a troop of baboons,  including numerous juveniles,  playing on a fallen log.    Whilst the adults were happy to sit and groom themselves and each other,  the youngsters were chasing each other,  wrestling,  pulling someone's tail, playing leapfrog and generally frolicking about.   I was about 40 to 50 metres away and watched them for about half an hour,  it was great fun and would have been worthwhile even without having the camera on hand.

     All these images were taken with the Canon 5D with the 500mm F4.0 telephoto and the EF II 2x tele extender (so an effective focal length of 1000mm) at F8.0, 1/320 second at ISO 320.   With the doubler on,  you lose auto focus and so you're left to manually focus the lens,  not easy given the shallow depth of field at 1000mm and the fact that these little fellows were constantly moving!    Enjoy  KD  www.kevindowie.com

    Another couple of shots from my recent Tanzania photo safari.    Zebras and impalas are among the more common animals seen in the national parks of Tanzania.   These shots were taken in the Tarangire National Park and fortunately,  although it was early afternoon,  the light was fairly soft.    For the technically minded,  both shots were taken using a Canon 5D with a 500mm F4.0 telephoto lens fitted and are presented here full frame with very minor post processing.     The Zebra shot was 1/400 second at F5.6 and ISO 200.   The Impala shot was 1/250 second at F9.0 and ISO 200.          Enjoy  KD   www.kevindowie.com        

    Well folks,  I seem to be making more work for myself!    Prior to my recent trip to Africa I was preparing a Latin America gallery which is still in the pipeline (I'll finish the bloody thing even if it kills me).    Now,  after my recent, rather exciting,  African adventure,  there is the impetus to get some of those pictures online as well!    A Tanzania gallery and slideshow is on the agenda and I have updated my main website to reflect this.    Here are a couple of pics to get things started.   They are shots taken in Tarangire National Park and show a Dik dik,  the world's smallest species of antelope.

    Apart from being cute little fellows,  there is an important note regards the making of the images.   See below.   Enjoy KD    www.kevindowie.com  

        For more details about these pictures check out the homepage image and explanatory article at my main site.

     The Canon 800mm F5.6 supertelephoto lens is in the process of being released to the public.   Whilst in Tanzania I was fortunate enough to get to use this lens prior to it being released to the public.   Talk about being in the right place at the right time!   I believe I'm probably among the first half dozen or so people in the world to get the opportunity to use one in the field.    In addition to the Dik dik images shown here,  I also got to shoot some other wildlife with the lens.   For those of you who are interested in my experience,  the image quality achievable in the field with such equipment and also for a discussion regarding travelling with and using such gear, I have written what I believe you'll find to be an informative article.  

     I won't reproduce the article here due to it's length.   To view the article,  go to my website www.kevindowie.com and click on the link on the homepage.   If anyone has any comments,  questions or suggestions arising from the article please let me know.     Enjoy  KD.  

   Hi folks,

I've just returned home after 3 weeks or thereabouts overseas.    Jet lagged,  duffle bag full of dirty laundry, can't get the hot water system fired up and just checked my email for the first time since leaving, over 1500 emails,  about 90% of them spam!     I've been travelling through Africa,  Tanzania and South Africa to be exact.  Saw some terrific things and of course took plenty of pictures as well.   I'll display some of the shots in due course and probably compile an essay on the whole experience as well,  there are several things about the adventure that I think are worth sharing.

   If anyone's considering travelling to that part of the world,  I'll offer a few ideas based on the experience I've just had.    Given that I haven't started processing my shots as yet and that I've hardly slept in the last 36 hours,  (I'm flat out just typing this note and hoping it's coherent!)  I'll leave the details for another post, probably in a couple of days time.

   Thanks to those people that left comments and guest book entries on the site during my absence too,  I appreciate the feedback,  but for now....sleep....zzzzzzzzzz.

KD.