Tag Archives: photographic equipment

The excitement of competition

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Hi everybody,

For those of you who follow me on FaceBook and/or Twitter, you may have seen that 2 of my entries made it into the finals of the 2012 Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition, which this year received over 48,000 images from 98 countries. That means that two very intensive sessions of critical review by the judges have been survived, now remaining 1 final selection round.

When I received their message that they were pleased to tell me that at least one of my images has made it through, my heart rate went up and no way I could get back to my daily chores. The feeling this gives is amazing, pumping adrenaline in much the same way racing a fast car does, or going down a hill on your mountain bike, …

I have no idea how many shots make it to the finals (does somebody know?), yet by mid May the winning images will be known. And as has been said many times before, it is impossible to predict what the judges will go for. Going through the portfolio’s of past years definitely helps (I’m trying to get them all), and when selecting your images don’t go for your personal favorites only. On the contrary, get out of your comfort zone and enter some shots of which you’re not at all sure, for whatever reason, …

And oh yeah, to bring the point home that you don’t need the latest equipment to enter these competitions, my 2 shots that made it to the finals were taken with my old 350D and standard kit lenses!

For now, I leave you with 1 of my personal favorites that did not make it. Liking simplicity in a shot and fully realizing it has become close to impossible to surprise with a lion shot, I looked for an image that would portray a lion, blending into the environment, portraying it’s grandeur by ignoring vehicles passing by. This shot is the result of that search: blending in, turning the back, looking of into the distance, ignoring and frustrating the visitors and photographers who are craving for a nice portrait, … yet what they get is ‘The Royal Cold Shoulder’

Canon 350D, Canon 75-300 @ 150 mm, 1/640, f/5.6, ISO 1600

Happy Easter and warm regards,

Guy

 

Means to an end

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Dear all,

Before getting to the actual topic of this post, I’d want to point out that you are free to react to posts and/or to interact via the contact us page, or by clicking ‘leave a reply’ at the bottom of each post. I am looking forward to your feedback, tips, …

Now, without wanting to move into a material debate, I do feel it fair to share with you some information on the material I’m using, why I opted for it and what assisted me in making that choice.

In my first post I mentioned to have made the decision to invest in some new material. My 350D, although still good, has delivered its services and I felt that it was time to look for a replacement.

At first, I started checking out the web to inform my decision. A site that has been instrumental in doing so, has been The Digital Picture (as you may have noticed, links mentioned in my posts are also taken up in the side-bar for easy reference at any time). I decided to go for a new body and second hand glass (more about the glass in my next post). As far as a body was concerned I wanted a considerable upgrade from the 350D and this without having an unlimited budget to spend. This very quickly limited my choice to the 60D and the 7D. Proper weather sealing and my prime interest being wildlife photography (and not filming, meaning I wouldn’t be using the moving screen too often), the verdict fell for the 7D, a choice I haven’t regretted till now.

I will put my 350D up for sale soon and look for a 2nd body to be used with a wide lens for shooting landscapes and wildlife in their general environment, currently I’m hesitating between a 50D or 5D Mark I. I’m sure both of them will do a good job, yet once again, tips/opinions are welcome.

As per why I’m shooting Canon, well I happened to start off with a Canon and being used to the controls, … I stuck to Canon, debate closed, the material we use is a means to an end, a tool that needs the right vision and skills to create nice images.

Meanwhile I’ve been doing some work on the first PicsfromtheWild guest blogger as well, more about that soon.

For now, I will leave you with 2 pictures, shot last WE, something different this time, pictures from the urban jungle. The first one shot during a theet brushing session at St Paul’s orphanage, just outside Nairobi, the second one from an urban culture festival in Nairobi (had my camera with me, so might as well play around a bit ;-) )

Canon 350D, Tamron 17-50 f2.8 @ 50mm, 1/13, f/5.6, ISO 400

 

Warm regards,

Guy

Canon 350D, Tamron 17-50 f2.8 @ 17mm, 0.6s, f/2.8, ISO 1600