My last post for a while as I'm due to fly out to South Africa shortly.    I thought today I'd recall a couple of shots from my trip to Tanzania last year,  a great trip which was partly the inspiration for my next adventure.    I don't believe I've published the tawny eagle shot here before although it appears on my mainsite and is also in my book.    The sunrise shot is one I haven't published anywhere before.   I took several sunrise and sunset shots but this is one that has been sitting idle on my hard drive till this morning.   The colours were pretty much as you see them,  I did some contrast control work in Photoshop to arrive at a realistic image.   (Afterthought:  the processing may be worthy of further explanation,  that'll have to wait.)

Wildlife and landscape,  Africa offers both.    The Tawny Eagle was perched in a bush about 3 metres above the ground and fairly close to the road.   He/she was devouring a monitor lizard, quite unconcerned by our presence.   We sat and watched for 10 or 15 minutes which was more than long enough for him to finish the meal.   This was the best bird of prey photo opportunity I got.    The shot below was also taken in the Serengeti, the light made the early morning wake up call worthwhile.    Both shots were with the Canon 5D and the 500mm lens at ISO 400.

Off the air!

     I'm not sure if that's the right term,  maybe offline is more appropriate.    My next blog entry will be in about 4 weeks time (roughly).   For the next few weeks I will have little,  if any, internet access.    It sometimes happens that while the cat's away the mice do play,  so if any spammers are active during this period,  please treat them with the contempt they deserve,  I'll delete them ASAP on returning.   Also for those using Twitter,  there is a spam issue there as well.   Sometimes I end up blocking people who appear as "followers" due to objectionable content.   If anyone visits my Twitter page,  you can safely click through to those that I follow and find some good content on their websites.

     Now if you don't mind,  I've got some packing to finish.    Stay safe everyone.    (humming..."I'm leaving,  on a jet plane.....")    KD        

    In recent days I've been seeing images and television footage from Xinjiang Provence in western China where tensions are running high between different ethnic groups.   China is not as racially and culturally homogenous as some outsiders may believe.   Officially there are 56 different "national minorities" in China including about 13 in Xinjiang Provence.   Historically the region was scene to numerous struggles between different ethnic groups with "Chinese" influence alternately waxing and waning from the 1st century AD onwards.   The most numerous of these "minorities" in Xinjiang Provence are the Uighur numbering around 7 to 8 million.   In the mid 1950s they represented about 90% of the provence's population, however since that time there has been a determined effort by the government in Beijing to develop the region with the building of rail links and so on,  and with it an influx of new residents from the eastern seaboard of China.   The result is that today the population of Xinjiang is in excess of 15 million with the Uighur now representing less than 50% of the total. 

    I am not going to enter into any debate about rights and wrongs here,  simply provide this as a very brief historical background to what's going on there.  

    The Uighur,  and several other groups in the region follow the Islamic faith.   One of the things that surprised me when I visited China was how widespread the Islamic influence was,  extending through central Asia (including western China) and being obvious as far east as Xian where today's photo was taken.      

Original capture on colour negative film with Pentax SF7 and 28-80mm lens.

Website update. 

    I have recently updated my mainsite,  www.kevindowie.com  with a new homepage image and linked explanation of it.   I've also included some links on my homepage to some of my other internet activities,  Facebook,  Twitter, etc for those who may wish to find me there,  exchange ideas and so on.   Whilst on the subject of my mainsite,  if you haven't visited for a while and are interested in the photographic process and the thinking and technique behind some of the images,  you'll find that my "past homepage images explained" page has steadily grown.    Together with the essays I've got online,  it's developed into a pretty good resource,  even if I do say so myself...(grin).    

Preview,  the month ahead.

     My next blog entry,  early next week,  is likely to be my last for several weeks.   I've dusted off the passport,  booked some flights,  cleaned my lenses,  and am now counting down the days till I leave on another adventure.    That China slideshow I've been meaning to put together might have to wait a little longer.   I'm going back to Africa,  Botswana and South Africa to be exact,  it should be fantastic.   The focus of the trip will be,  as you may have already guessed,  photography and plenty of it.   I anticipate that the Botswana leg of the trip will be very much wildlife intensive whilst the South Africa leg will be a little more landscape oriented.

     I need to make some decisions shortly about just what I'm going to take with me in terms of equipment.    I'll be limited to 20 kilograms of check in luggage and 7 kilograms of carry on luggage.   I will of course be taking two digital SLRs,  several lenses and at least one, and possibly two,  tripods.    Obviously I'll take still images galore but I need to consider if,  and to what extent,  I pursue video footage as well.    I readily admit to being a novice with video,   (I always had trouble setting the clock on my VCR!) but the opportunity may be unrepeatable.

     Whilst travelling I expect to have limited,  if any,  access to the internet,  so the blogging will be on hold.   The upside is that when I get back I should have some great new content to post.  ..... KD.

    The city of Xian In China is best known for its amazing terracotta warriors,  however there are other interesting things to see there including the bell tower (zhonglou), pictured here, in the city centre.   Built in the late 14th century,  it was relocated/rebuilt in its current location in the early 1700s.    As you can see,  the building is floodlit at night which makes for a very nice evening shot.    As can be seen by the light trails,  a slow shutter speed was used necessitating a sturdy camera support.    Photographed in 1999,  the image as presented here is virtually straight out of the scanner,  no digital enhancement required.   

     The Bell Tower, Xian.   Original capture on colour negative film with Pentax SF7 and 28-80mm zoom.  

     Apologies to my spaces friends if I've been a bit slow with blog entries or comments just recently,  lots of demands on my time presently and likely to be busy in the next few weeks as well.   Lots of things on the "to do" list and never enough time!   I'm planning some new adventures,  which I'm excited about,  more about that later.   Have a great weekend everyone.   KD.