Viewing Earth from Mars

In my younger days I was very interested in astronomy, quantum physics, the law of relativity and the space time continuum and other far out theories. I used to speculate what the earth looked liked from other planets. Through the magic of Photoshop I now am able to show you my rendition of what that may look like. The above image is a composite of 4 different shots, all combined to give you dear reader a theoretical look at the earth from Mars.

I has been said that our eyes don't reveal what we see, but rather what we believe. And in the absence of any other theory, the above is what I believe.

Live well and prosper
Dennis

Tribute to The Falklands

I have been reviewing my images from the Falkland Islands which I took about a year ago (I think!, maybe 2 years???). I intend to take the best of the best and develop a "Falkland Collection". I am in the process of doing this will all the areas in the world I have visited. The first one out of the box will be the African collection, followed closely by the American Southwest, and then the rest. While browsing through the Falkland images I came across this Striated Cara Cara. I found him making a "pest" of himself (or herself) by the Black Browed Albatross colony. This character was trying to divert attention so that a nest with egg would be vulnerable. The bird also provided good entertainment for me and my camera as it let me come with 6 feet and showed no fear of me whatever.

Until next time, live well and prosper

Dennis

Wait Until They Come To You

One of the tenets of wildlife photography is that it is difficult to determine the specific behavior of animals. While I knew that the Magellanic Penguins are very timid and skittish, I also knew that they are curious little guys. Unlike other penguins they burrow in the ground and raise their young in their dens. The moment they see you coming, down they go! I saw this guy head for cover as I approached even though I came slowly and quietly. So next, I decided to lay quietly on the ground with my camera ready for action and wait and wait. After about 20 minutes I saw a head, and then finally the rest of the body start to emerge cautiously. Fortunately for me a couple of King Penguins decided to walk into the background to finish the image nicely.

Till next time, live well and prosper

Dennis

To Travel or not to Travel

In past years I have always travelled extensively in pursuit of interesting and provocative images to share. This has given me a good insight into the world at large, often at the expense of learning about my own city, province and country. I have said in the past that I am going to become a tourist in my own country, but then I see a photoworkshop being held in Spain, Eastern Europe, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar and any number of other exotic locations to which I think, "wow that would be great" and off I am again!!!!

For the balance of 2010 I only have two trips scheduled, Arizona in April and Utah in May. Very modest by my past practices I admit. Perhaps this is the chance for me to head to Tofino on Vancouver Island, or Prince Rupert up the coast for bear photography, or simply walk out my front door and head into Stanley Park and photograph birds, racoons, ducks and squirrels??? The above image was taken about a 5 minute walk from my front door. How easy is that? But in fact it seems more difficult for me to schedule time in the park that going off to Europe for 2 weeks of "shooting". Sound ridiculous even to me! I really must make an effort to take the easy road.

Until next time, live well and prosper.

Dennis

An Image I Like!!

I read somewhere that a study has proven that a "paradox" of our senses is that our eyes don't show us what we see, but what we believe. Hmmm, maybe that is why supposed "eyewitnesses" to a scene can have totally different versions. In some ways it reminds me of the situation in the above image. I recall being totally in awe of the scene on the Serengeti plain as we approached the five giraffes. It was dramatic and vivid in my mind's eye. When I looked at the actual image that came out of my camera, it seemed to lack the lustre that I remembered. I went to work in Photoshop and replaced the sky with one a little more dramatic and also increased contrast (both tonal and edge) and rendered the image more to what I had seen (or believed I had seen).

I am doing some online courses on Photoshop, so stand by for more funky and wonderful images.

Live well and prosper.

Dennis

The Question Is Not What You Look At, But What You See!

The above statement was originally attributed to Henry David Thoreau if my memory serves. I was thinking about the upcoming summer and the many flowers which will be available for experiencing, both visually with my eyes and through my camera lens. For me a flower is not just a flower, but an expression of life that I try to capture with a camera. That expression I hope has not only a visual expression, but an emotional one as well. That I believe is the essence of a great image.

The other day I was editing an image that I took in Tanzania a couple of years ago. A lion had just completed and unsuccessful attack on a zebra, and the herd was on the move. It was hot and dry and the dust cloud was think from the panicking zebras. It was amazing to me when I realized I had to get a drink of water, as I was suddenly very dry. Just editing the image took me back mentally and emotionally to the scene a couple of years before.

As summer approaches, I anticipate a great year of capturing the flowers of my area.

Live well and prosper,

Dennis

Spring Cleaning Time!

As spring arrives, I feel the need to do some organizing. I am going through all my photos and discarding the ones I will never use and processing the ones I like or think might sell into collections. I was in Arizona almost a year ago and took many thousands of images of which I maybe processed and edited a couple of hundred. The time has come my friends in which the 25,000 or so images I have in my data bank must be reviewed to see if I have previously overlooked the odd gem or two. The above image I came across yesterday and liked it a lot even though last year I am not sure I even noticed it. In any event I did not edit it then, so I share it with you now. This was taken at Canyon de Chelly in Navaholand in northern Arizona.

Live well and prosper

Dennis

I Don't Know, What Do You Guys Want To Do??

I was reviewing some of my images and came across this image which was taken in Namibia recently. I watched these 3 seals survey the scene for quite a while. One guy eventually decided to have a "snooze" while the other two continued to "look for action" among the thousands of other seals in the area.

Looking at this image, I just decided that a "nap" would feel good right now. Too bad I am at work!!!

Live well and prosper

Dennis

What to Write About Today????

Today I was surfing the internet looking for ideas that might trigger an idea in my mind on what I could write about today. I ran across an article about the local acting scene that mentioned the name Danielle Stott-Roy, a local actor and model. Actually it was the photo that made me look twice as I was sure that person looked familiar. As I read the article I determined that I had actually photographed Danielle some time ago. I am not sure why I was meant to write about her today, but here she is and the image I took of her some time ago.

Have a great day, Danielle!

To all readers, live well and prosper

Dennis

My Photography Will Never BeThe Same Again!

I think I am becoming a Photoshop junkie. Now that I am starting to master the art of really manipulating images, reality will never be the same. Recently I have placed people in scenes where they actually didn't physically appear, placed transparent images of people in a scene which made it very ethereal and dream like, and changed background scenes and clouds to better portray the feeling I wanted.

As an example, the above image was actually taken on two different days. The foreground is a long exposure of ocean and rock outside my hotel in Kauai, while the background was taken from my hotel room a day or two later. The ocean is given its "silky" appearance due to an exposure time of 2 to 3 minutes, and then the image is composed with the rain clouds and rainbow taken a day to two later.

Creating an image rather than documenting a scene is becoming more prevalent in my workflow, so that the horizons of my "reality" have expanded. Even I am looking forward to see what the future brings.

Live well and prosper
Dennis

A New Sheriff In Town

Well the Olympics are now over here in Vancouver. The main theme for me at work was "security" for the past one month. As I was reviewing images this evening, I came across this one of the unnamed sheriff outside of a Gastown establishment. I am not sure whether he had a name or not, but I think I will call him "Sheriff Dave".

So I have nothing profound to say with this post, so I will leave you in good hands with Sheriff Dave.

Wishing you all the best of love, peace and joy.

Live well and prosper.

Dennis

A Special Relationship

I had often heard that a special relationship exists between grandchild and grandparent. As I grew up without grandparents in my life, I always accepted this idea on an intellectual level, but never really experienced it emotionally. Then a little over 3 years ago, I became a grandfather and then my life changed. The above image was taken recently in Hawaii and it reminded me of the wisdom to be handed down from grandparent to grandchild. I am not sure how much wisdom I impart to my grandson, but I do try and answer all of his endless questions. He visited me this morning and he and I had a great time jumping on my bed, looking at photos on my computer, reading books and having a snack together. Our snack food today was fresh pineapple, seaweed, ginger crackers, nectarines, and rice crisps. Then the questions started arriving: "Grampa why do we have to wait until Christmas to go back to our Hawaii Home?", "why do Alaska Airlines and WestJet have "winglets" on their wings?", "why are the Olympics over?" and on and on. I am not sure my answers were adequate, but he seemed happy with them at the time.

I am one of the most fortunate of grandparents as I live close to my family and get to be part of his life on a regular basis.

I am definitely living well and prospering.

Dennis

It All Depends How You Look At It !!!!

It has long been a belief of mine that "if you change with way you look at things, the things you look at will change". To me this is true of all phases of life. Whether it be the outlook for a day, your relationship with significant other or family or co-workers etc. In my photography I occasionally experiment with trying to demonstrate certain beliefs or paradigms of mine. In the above image, I have tried to see the world not in form or lines or conventional color, but to see the world in temperature!!! How can one possibly do that you ask? Well you apply a thermal infrared filter to your images. The above is a good example where the reds and oranges are warmer temperatures, and the blues are colder temperatures.

What does all this prove? Beats the heck out of me, but I did have fun doing it.

Live, love, laugh and be happy.

Dennis