Archive for the 'news' Category
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A night of reflection
I have recently been asked to assist a student by sharing some of our travel experiences to help her with a college project. The result being that I have spent a good two hours this evening re-living some of my most favourite travel memories and experiences from my most beloved destination…Africa. I cannot think of a nicer way to spend a snowy Saturday, housebound evening.
I will be sharing some of these reflections via our Taraji Blue blog over the weeks to come, in the hope of whisking us all away from this British Winter into a far more exotic and alluring destination.
I hope you enjoy the journey…watch this space.
Posted at 7pm on 02/04/12 | no comments | Filed Under: Africa, Kenya, Kruger National Park, news, South Africa, Travels, Wildlife read on -
And here’s a few photos you might not have seen
Late in 2011 we spent some time at the South Lakes Wild Animal Park . They had a open weekend when it was free to visit, so along we went. We’ve been before and do appreciate the open layout of the park. Macaws fly free, lemurs roam in huge open areas alongside tourists and emus watch you from a distance, approaching you at their leisure. It’s a good and reliable environment to test new photography equipment. It was, therefore, one of the locations chosen to test my new Canon 7D and our new 70-300mm Canon L lens.
I spent a lot of time with the Macaws which perched high in the trees towering above the park. That’s when I captured the shot above. I managed to frame the concealed macaw through a gap in the branches and chose my moment.
The image below is a close up of a lemur. It was as curious about me and I was of it. The mutual trust between human and animal allowed me to capture this portrait.
We do find that taking picture of animals in captivity is a good way to hone skills and practise ahead of any big photography trip we’re planning. Other test shots taken in captivity are available in our on-line ’captive gallery’.
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BBC’s Frozen Planet – it’s dangerous stuff!
We waited with bated breath until BBC’s Frozen Planet came out on blu-ray and we have now watched a couple of episodes, but I have had to lock it away for a wee while – it’s dangerous stuff! The credits had barely rolled for episode two and Ali and I were knee deep in Antarctic brochures that had conveniently landed on our doorstep that day
The footage is powerfully jaw dropping and immensely beautiful, it transports you to a simpler but more beautiful place…one which challenges the senses and sets your adrenaline going – how can you not be tempted?!
For us, it brings back memories of a very precious trip to Antarctica in 2006 and stirs a longing for the Arctic which is entirely the fault of an opportunistic and half price trip to Greenland in 2010. I have shared some of our favourite polar region photos in this blog today. Others are available in our Antarctic and Arctic photo galleries.
Above: A monochrome of a mountain in Lemaire Channel (AKA Kodak Channel) Antarctica.
Below: Icebergs in RØdefjord, Scoresbysund, Greenland.
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New Gallery Now Available: Movement
You know me – I am never happy unless the next project is on the go, and with my love for macro photography becoming a constant obsession I have started to wonder what the ‘next big challenge’ is. I have settled upon the theme of movement.
As noted in a previous blog post it’s been a popular theme in a lot of competitions recently, and it is something that seems relatively easy, but takes considerable skill. With my new Canon 7D I decided it was just the challenge I needed, so I swotted up on my camera manual to learn about the settings available to me, set my camera to TV (shutter priority) mode and off I went.
A steady hand, favourable light and bountiful wildlife at local wetlands proved just the right mixture of education and inspiration. When focussing on waders, geese and swans I was utterly surprised to see a rabbit hop out of the river bank and dash across a low stone wall. I barely had time to register its presence, let alone steal a shot. So I was quite happy with the above result.
After years and years of attempting pin-sharp shots, it’s not easy to forget what you have learnt to try and capture movement. It requires you to re-think settings, composition and focus. But it’s fun!
The image above was taken with a Canon L 100-400mm lens at 400mm, f5.6, ISO 250, exposure bias +1/3 EV.
Several more movement images are available in our dedicated online gallery. I hope you enjoy them and welcome your feedback.
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TarajiBlue Wishes Everyone A Very Happy Christmas!
Happy Christmas from TarajiBlue. We hope Santa stuffs your stocking full of photography treats
We hope you all have a well deserved break and enjoy the festive period with your nearest and dearest.
See you in 2012 for more photography and travels.
