Safari Update Day 4 (29 Sept 2013) – Ngorongoro Crater

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Safari Update Day 4 (29 Sept 2013) – Ngorongoro Crater
16 degrees C rising to nearly 30
Sunrise at 615-ish, partly cloudy clearing mid-day

Today was all about the Crater. With great anticipation, we began our decent from 7450 feet to the Crater floor. We photographed lions mating, cerval cats, buffaloes, landscapes, and all that the Crater had to offer. The highlights just keep coming. Everyone is super pleased and looking forward to more adventures in the coming days.

Nikon D4, 200-400 f/4.5 @ 400, ISO 320, 1/200 sec at f/8.

Cheers and happy photo’ing.  Blogging live from the Serengeti.

Safari Update Day 5 (30 Sept 2013) – Crater to Serengeti Plains

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Safari Update Day 5 (30 Sept 2013) – Crater to Serengeti Plains
18 degrees C
Sunrise 615, clear skies

Today we moved from the rim of the Crater to the central Serengeti with a stop at Oldupai Gorge for a little lesson about Lucy in the sky. Soon after crossing the Nobi Hill entrance, we started picking up game almost instantly. Lion cubs next to the road and a great sub-adult leopard. Before you knew it, Wildebeests were all around us. Making our way to our camp at Robanda, we were treated to a classic African thunder storm all around us. After a wonderful dinner, its off to bed for an early rise tomorrow as our journey continues.

Nikon D4, 200-400mm f/4.5, @ 400mm, ISO 250, 1/200 sec at f/8.

​Cheers and happy photo’ing.  Blogging live from the Serengeti via AT&T

Dad and Daugther on Safari

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It’s always very special when family members join one another on safari.  I told both of my daughters some time ago that I wanted to take them on one of my safaris.  This May safari I was lucky enough to have Coogan join me in between her MBA graduation and the start of her new job.  Coogan, thanks for finding time to join me and really making this safari very special to me.   Love you lots, Dad.  Thanks to Scott for taking time to snap this photo of us on the overlook deck at Mbaligiti Lodge.

Nikon D4, 70-200mm @ 135, ISO 250, 1/100 sec at f/13.  This image was taken here.

Cheers and happy photo’ing

Time to say goodbye ……..

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Time to say goodbye to my wonderful safari crew from my last safari.  I’m wheels up in 6 days for another fall safari into Tanzania.  I am so excited…… Looks like another great bunch of photography enthusiasts are about to start their travels to join me.

Safari Update Day 10

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On our final days of our safari in and around Mbaligiti, we spent time working on landscapes and composition.  As we approached our camp for the last time, the the clouds were building in the distance giving us some wonderful landscape opportunities.  In the truck that I was riding in, I demonstrated the importance of having an anchor point in your landscapes.  In the two images below, one has a simple tree in the lower corner and the second image, the tree has been removed.  Which is more pleasing to you?

Cheers and happy photo’ing.

From 10,058 meters aloft, Turkish Airlines TK10

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Sorry, but I just had to do this. I’ve never been able to generate a blog posting while in flight.  Currently, flying an ‘over the pole’ route, just passing over Butte Montana, with an altitude of  1o,o58 meters  , and 1,022 km/h for airspeed (ground speed indicated), time to Istanbul will be 10.24 hours (remaining).   Total distance, this leg, is 11,045 km.  Once I land in Istanbul, another 6 hour leg will place me in Tanzania.

As luck would have it, I was upgraded to Comfort Class on Turkish Airlines TK10, LAX to Istanbul. This class is a wonderful mix of super economy plus (United), and normal business class. The seats are normal US business class seats except with lots of wonderful pluses. These include 120 volts, two USB charging ports, 12 volt ports, and FREE wi-fi. This blows the United business seats totally away.

I just completed field processing of this image below only seconds before they turned on some kind of soothing red-amber-ish lighting, so there goes my color management. Oh by the way, the chiefs were at the aircraft entrance greeting the passengers while the stewards were off doing their steward stuff. Yes, there are two chiefs dedicated to business class (first class in the normal US) and two dedicated to the Comfort Class. You gotta love it.

Another Golden Monkey shot from Rwanda posted from aboard Turkish Airlines TK10, just because I can. These monkeys were really difficult to photograph. Fast moving, on the ground and flying thru the air, coupled with this bamboo and heavy overcast skies, my camera of choice was the Nikon D4. With it’s high speed capture rate and virtually noise free imagery, it was just what the situation called for.

 Nikon D4, 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm,  ISO 12,800, 1/125 sec at f/5.6.

Cheers and happy photo’ing

Back Home from Namibia

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Well, it has been about 15 days since I have returned from a killer landscape workshop that I led in Namibia. While I was gone, lots of things changed in my photo world. While it is always fun to return to Seattle and discover what little things changed, but man, change was everywhere around me upon my return. The big changes included:

1.  Nik Software is now available for $149.00 for the entire suite. Normally HDR or Viveza would cost this much alone. I use Nik products in just about every image that I process. I would suggest that you get it now, as we have no idea what Google will do with the product line.  You can get this software here.

2.  Nikon released a new, and much needed, 80-400mm Zoom. Still at an f-stop of 4.5-5.6, it sports a much faster focusing system, and Nano-crystal lens coating, making this a great safari lens for those that can’t justify the much more expensive 200-400mm.

3.  Nikon released the D7100, which returns another full stop or two more sensitive than the D7000.  Built as a pro-consumer body, this is a great camera for those interested in a 1.5 crop sensor.

4.  Posterious died with short notice. Posterious, the posting service that I used to post to my blog from the bush, was absorbed by Twitter about a year ago.  With 5 days notice, they folded their doors and left me searching for alternatives to support live blogging from the bush while I’m out on safari.

5.  The Hasselblad H5D series is now shipping to the US. After tons of trouble with the H4D series, this new release is the one that I have been waiting for. Better lens / body connections, new menu systems and weather-proofing make this a solid medium format camera that will last well into the future. I cant wait to get my hands on one.

6.  Last and certainly the least, is the big Adobe announcement for LR5. If the past trend of releases continues to be true, we might see a LR5 release by the end of June or July.  Looking at the LR5 Beta, the big improvements include:

  • Very powerful advance healing bush that allows for non-circular click and drag corrections
  • New Radial Filter for off-center vignetting and elliptical local adjustments
  • Upright in the Lens Corrections to automatically straighten photos and fix perspective
  • Smart Previews supporting off-line editing of photos
  • Grid and guide overlays for library, develop, and tethered captured
  • PNG file support
  • True fullscreen mode
  • Page numbering and layout saving in the Book Module
  • Videos can be included in slideshows
  • Windows HiDPI support
  • New smart collections criteria

I hope to release the final details on the Mountain Gorilla and Massai Mara safari (scheduled for early March), a June trip to Botswana, and Iceland in August, just as soon as I possibly can. If you are on my mailing list, you will receive advance notice of these safaris before they are posted on the web. As usual, space will be limited across all safaris, so start thinking about your desires.

I’ll post a few notes from Namibia before I depart for Tanzania again on the 12th of May, including Martini Madness. Meanwhile, I’m on the road heading to Atlanta to see my youngest daughter graduate with her second Masters. Rumor has it that she will soon be employed with a top notch consulting company in Washington DC.

Cheers and happy photo’ing

Fog Fall Over The Crater Rim

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Early morning in the Crater treated us to a wonderful light show as a huge cloud bank moved over the top of the crater rim and finally onto the lower elevations of the rim.  Although the photography was a bit slow in the crater, it was still enjoyable with Rhino sightings, huge male elephants and the grand landscapes that the Ngorongoro Crater has to offer.

Nikon D3s, 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII at 200mm, ISO 500, f/9 @ 1/125 sec

This image was taken here (Google Earth required)

Cheers and happy photo’ing

Me and the D800

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Well folks, the long awaited and source of many rumors, the D800 is finally out.  Available with and without the anti-aliasing filter; consumers should start to see these cameras late March or April, depending upon who you are listening to.  No doubt in my mind that this camera, along with the D4 will be a game changer for Nikon, it is not for me.  While the 36 mega-pixel is of some interest to me, let me summarize what is going through my mind in regards to this camera and why I am not going to jump on the bandwagon – at least for a while.

  • I already own a D3x, and at 24.5 mega pixels (mp), and jumping to 36mp is not that much more of a jump when everything is considered.
  • From everything I have read and the photos that I have looked at, it appears to me that the low ISO is no better than the D700 (already own one of those) or the D3.
  • With my current Nikon kit being made up of D3x, D3s, D700, D300, I have been able to standardize on cards, batteries and chargers.  When comparing the D3x and D3s, the menus and controls are nearly identical, thus less mental hoops for my old brain when shooting in the heat of the action.  Furthermore, when on safari, standardization means less equipment to bring (weight can be a challenge), and less equipment involved in creating redundant systems.

For those wanting to grab one, Nikon Rumors reports that production is in full swing.  Referencing a new release from the Malaysia International News Agency, Berma.com, production from the Sendai facility is set to produce 30,000 D800 and 5,000 D4 bodies per month.  This is great news for everyone that has been waiting in the wings for several years for the next generation Nikon.

One question that lingers in my mind:  Will the increase in mega pixels drive the medium format (Hasselblad and Phase One) prices down a bit?

Just my thoughts on the matter…….

Cheers and happy photoing.

Safari Update – What Worked Well On My Last Safari

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After each safari I consult my travelers and make a list of what went well, as well as those things that need improvement.  For this post, I will highlight what worked well for us or those things that made our lives on safari just a bit better (or a lot in some cases).  Before we get to the list, I would like to share the photo below.  I seldom have my photo taken, but Steve was able to capture my sheer joy of being in the bush.  If I had my way, I often wonder if I could find a way to simply live there.

That Safari Grin

The top fifteen tips or observations of what worked well on the last safari:

  1. Ramadan did not pose a problem while in Dubai.  Before you go, spend time learning to work around cultural events in foreign countries.
  2. While Fairview was nice and always my first choice for lodging in Kenya however, you need to stay in the main building (rooms 3 and 5).
  3. Transfers with additional camera equipment between Kenya and Tanzania with Precision Air, was relatively painless.
  4. All coordinated transfers were painless.
  5. Packing and planning well in advance for differing conditions reduced shooting stress.
  6. Mobile camp at Senera (unit) was really special – fast response by Thomson’s to alter location to better support photography clients (BIG PLUS – these guys are simply the best).
  7. Mobile camp at Kekogona was perfect for northern work and river crossings.
  8. Inverters in the trucks are great support.
  9. Amod tracking device was flawless, and worked well on rechargeable batteries.
  10. Hyperspace worked great, less the combat card issue and having one of the units dropped which fractured the hard drive connection point.
  11. Jerimah Beach Hotel in Dubai is THE place to stay (not cheapest)
  12. The maps that Thomson’s provided was used often buy all of the travelers – great resource.
  13. Difficult but rewarding hike up the side of Mount Meru.  This was an optional trip for some of my travelers.  Great to do if you are in shape.
  14. English-Swahili ‘Useful Phrases, TMP Book Department – TABORA’ – the best book I’ve seen thus far.
  15. A visit to Shangaa, was rewarding as usual.

Cheers and happy photo’ing