From the original article:
“Two harvester ants (Pogonomyrmex rugosus) from adjacent nests engaging in ritual warfare, pushing in a display of force but not actually harming each other. It is thought that colonies use these mock battles to gather information about their neighbors. Knowledge about the strength of competing colonies helps ants set territorial borders without loss of life.”
Need I say more? Click the image for an extremely entertaining and informative world of ants!
Love animals. Go through life trying to get that perfect shot of your favorite big cat? Have you trekked the Masai Mara and the Serengetti in search of that “it” shot. Did you regret not putting up camera traps in the wild after reading the last article.
The title picture you see is one taken by Stephen Oachs and was the Viewer’s Choice Winner in National Geographic’s 2008 International Photography Contest. Unlike the Snow Leopard photo by Steve Winters in one of my earlier entries, this one wasn’t taken in the middle of the surreal Karakorum wilderness, but at a private reserve in Montana. So I decide to go to the all knowing Google and start searching for Snow Leopards in Montana. Suprisingly, there aren’t too many of them there. I soon found myself viewing Animals of Montana A private reserve, a veritable playground for any wildlife photographer. A place where animals of your choice can have a “photo session” with you. Yes you now have the ability to play the nagging and high strung photographer to an animal who is also a model, just don’t put them in any dresses please. The long list of redcarpet stars includes Grizzly Bears, Black Bears, Mountain Lions, Siberian Tigers, African Lions, Bobcats, Snow Leopards, Lynxes, Siberian Lynxes, Gray Wolves, Raccoons, Badgers, Pine Martins, Skunks, Red Foxes, Minks, Porcupines and Cross Foxes. If you’re Camera trigger finger isn’t twitching by now, then you aren’t a wildlife photographer (Either that or you are Art Wolfe and you can safely say been there done to most of my photographic dreams). Read more…
Lions of the Masai Mara, photographed using a remote camera. Just love their inquisitive expressions on camera. Can’t wait to try that with my new Mumford Time Machine 
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North Korea is a place you hear about often in the news, but never see. This is a powerful collection of photographs which gives an insight into this reclusive country.
Click on the photo above to see the entire series.
My Mumford Time Machine arrived today. Is this programmable controller and intervalometer as awesome as it sounds? Unfortunately, I am missing a cable to connect it to my camera, so I will have to wait to test this. Check back later to see Moto the dog test the time machine, IR sensor and the sound sensor.
If you are a camera junkie like me, the temptations of specs is all around. Just the other day I read the rumor that the next 1D Mark IV will have 18.2mp Full Frame 12fps 65 zone Metering 48 AF Points. Numbers can be beautiful can’t they? As long as they aren’t followed by a nasty dollar sign, they are to me. Such a body (now I really sound like a geek) would be a great addition to my humble equipment collection. It would take my photography to the next level. Ladies will swoon at my portfolio while the millionaires would run their coffers dry in an attempt to own a piece of my work. The initial price would be a drop in the ocean, an investment to release my creative potential that will awe the entire world. If at first this doesn’t work, the lack of L lenses would be the only logical reason and that could easily be overcome, by some smart investment. Or so it goes in one side of my head.
The question always lingers, do I need to upgrade my equipment. Would that lens or new camera body provide a benefit to justify the cost? I still shoot with my true and trusted Rebel XT, its old school LCD and lack of spot metering is so retro that it will be all the rage next season. But below all the fluff and candy it is an extremely good DSLR. 8 megapixels are sufficient for most of my needs. Yes the ISO performance could be better, the frame rate could be better, and the auto focusing could also use some work. But if I had a 5D, I am sure I would come up with similar excuses to hide my own flaws. Don’t get me wrong, there have been many occasions where that extra frame rate might have helped me catch that photo that my XT refused to take as it’s buffer was a little full. But then again I can only say “might” with certainty.
Here is my list of questions which will help you decide whether you should upgrade your camera or not.
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Don’t let spring showers give you a reason to stay in. This was taken shortly after such a shower at central park. I have never seen so many varieties of birds there as I did after the rain. I guess the free worm buffet sign is a big crowd pleaser. Its a magical atmosphere with the rain causing the color saturation and the thinning of the crowds 
Its Spring, and that means color and life every where. I’ve been using my canon 100mm macro as my walk around lens. It helps fill the frames, while avoiding the harsh sun.
DSLRs are quickly crossing boundaries into the realm of video. Almost all new cameras announced by Canon and Nikon have support for HD video. Its only a matter of time when the next Oscar winning movie will be shot using a medium format DSLR built into a cell phone.
But even before your camera could take that 1080p video, you could still make a video using time lapse. Video is just 24 pictures per second. Check out Keith Loutits approach to time lapse using it with a tilt shift lens to create a video about the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service, to the tune of Megan Washington’s “CLEMENTINE”. I have probably seen this video dozens of times and it still mesmerizes me everytime.
Planet Earth is the best documentary I have ever seen. The cinematography is just breathtaking. It also served as a great inspiration for my wildlife photography. When I heard about “Earth”, by Disney Nature Films, with the same creative team as Planet Earth, I was ecstatic. I don’t know how the narration of James Earl Jones will compare to David Attenborough, but I will find out tonight.
update: Ok “Earth” was not what I expected. I went in expecting footage inspired by Planet Earth, newer, better, cooler. But what I saw was Planet Earth itself. Almost the entire “Earth” movie is a collection of clips from Planet Earth with an updated soundtrack and narration. Seeing the footage on the big screen was amazing, but I was understandably disappointed.
Bear Jump
click link below for the trailers
Update: Lots of recycled footage from Planet Earth (about 90%). David Attenborough in my opinion was better than James Earl, but that might be because this movie’s narration was catered more towards kids. In anycase, the footage like always was breathtaking and well worth it.
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