A 15-minute video (and advertisement) by Tony and Chelsea Northrup which does give a good introduction to different-sized lenses, different maximum apertures, teleconverters, and so on:
Now, get a large cup of coffee and get comfortable for a two-hour video sponsored by Canon, taking a different, in-depth view of the same topic:
The case for this apparently very successful approach is outlined in a press release dated March 5, 2014, as follows:
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe today announced the agency will expand hunting and fishing opportunities throughout the National Wildlife Refuge System, opening up new hunting programs on six refuges and expanding existing hunting and fishing programs on another 20 refuges. The rule also modifies existing refuge-specific regulations for more than 75 additional refuges and wetland management districts.
The Service manages its hunting and fishing programs on refuges to ensure sustainable wildlife populations, while offering traditional wildlife-dependent recreation on public lands.
“For more than a century, hunters and anglers have been the backbone of conservation in this country and a driving force behind the expansion of the National Wildlife Refuge System,” said Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell. “By providing more hunting and fishing opportunities on refuges, we are supporting a great recreational heritage passed down from generation to generation, creating economic growth in local communities and helping to ensure that conservation stays strong in America.”
Under the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997, the Service can permit hunting and fishing where they are compatible with the refuge’s purpose and mission. Hunting, within specified limits, is permitted on more than 335 wildlife refuges. Fishing is permitted on more than 271 wildlife refuges.
“Hunting and fishing are time-honored ways to enjoy the outdoors and teach people to value nature,” said Director Ashe. “Our National Wildlife Refuge System has millions of acres of public land and water to provide quality hunting and fishing experiences. We hope these expanded hunting and fishing programs will allow more Americans to experience this connection with nature.”
Hunting, fishing and other outdoor activities on national wildlife refuges help stimulate the economy and generate funding for wildlife conservation. Banking on Nature, a Service report released in November, showed refuges pumped $2.4 billion into the economy. Across the country, refuges returned an average $4.87 in total economic output for every $1 appropriated in Fiscal Year 2011.
Other wildlife-dependent recreation on national wildlife refuges includes wildlife photography, environmental education, wildlife observation and interpretation.
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The press release also contains a list of the refuges affected by the above policy change, one of which — Shawangunk Grasslands National Wildlife Refuge — is here in New York.
One of my recent posts was about Paul Nicklen’s National Geographic presentation on Tuesday, March 4th, at Kleinhans, in Buffalo.
Today (March 2), I’ve spent quite some time looking at his excellent wildlife photography book: ‘BEAR — The Spirit of the Wild’
The cover of Paul Nicklen’s book, ‘BEAR’
The introductory description of the book, inside the dust jacket, reads: “…a powerful visual journey that reveals the private world of the great denizens of the wild north. National Geographic photographer and biologist Paul Nicklen takes readers on a special journey to some of his favorite corners of the planet’s northern latitudes, providing rare and intimate glimpses of bears and portraying them as noble ambassadors of the wild. Through his unforgettable images and personal narrative, Nicklen strives to show us a different side of bears…” Initially, when I first opened to the book to flick through the photographs, I was a little cautious because some of the first half-dozen images have been pushed to the very limit in terms of printing very small sections of the original file and/or filling a double-page spread, but despite some visible ‘noise’ on those images as a result of this, it cannot be denied that they are still very powerful. And the good news is that such issues are confined to those initial images; from that point on the quality gets higher and effectively stays there. Indeed, many of the subsequent images are nothing short of jaw-dropping. Introductory small images of Mr. Nicklen himself, on pages 20-23, show just how close he is prepared to work to bears and — quite literally — the validity of his approach is put into words by the start of his introduction, on page 19, where he writes: “If you have picked up this book hoping to read about a near-death experience with a bear, you will be deeply dissappointed. As you will witness through the images and the stories from these great authors, none of us has a terrifying story to tell. Instead, we have all been greatly inspired by the last true nomads of North America…”
My own favourite images? Well, I’m going to list the page numbers but there’s a very high chance that your favourites would be different to mine, as they undeniably should be, because we all have different likes.
There are some excellent none-bear photographs, too, including several environmental shots — mostly from planes — as well as:
Whether or not you are going to Paul Nicklen’s talk in two days’ time — which is not all about bears — you might want to check this book out. (Barnes & Noble on Niagara Falls Boulevard has a copy in the ‘Nature’ section, by the bow window.) It is $35.00 but for any keen wildlife watcher or nature photographer it would be a fine addition to one’s library.
The other book by Paul that I know of is called ‘Polar Obsession’, which clearly will be more closely related to his imminent talk (click for further details).
Eddie Wren
Following the trend for magazine publishers to include more pages, call the result “bookazines” and charge quite a lot more money for the result, I was looking at a so-called bookazine just yesterday, in our local Barnes & Noble bookstore.
It was called “WORLD of WILDIFE — The World’s 100 Most Amazing Wildlife Encounters,” and its 162 pages contained a lot of useful ideas for anyone trying to decide where to go to enjoy some unusual or outstanding bird/animal sightings.
The main part of the magazine (I dislike the affectation of the new, bookazine name!) is split into global regions, with the number of recommended trips to each as follows:
30 other international destinations were shown in a section devoted to the months of the year…. for example “What’s the best thing to go and see in September?”
Was it expensive for a magazine? At $15.99, yes. But is it good value? Actually, that’s also a yes, if you are hoping to plan a trip of this type at some point in the foreseeable future.
Wild Travel (monthly magazine)
Finally, Barnes & Noble has also recently started carrying the British ‘WILD TRAVEL’ magazine each month (see cover photo, above). It’s imported status results in a price of $7.99 but the articles are excellent and come from around the world. I recommend it strongly! Check it out at: http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/world/wild-travel/#cr
[incidentally, this isn’t in any way a paid advert for either of the above publications. I’ve posted only in case it is of interest to any of our readers — Eddie.]
You don’t have to travel in order to find good subjects for wildlife photography and competitions!
By pure chance, I found a page on a British wildlife photographer’s blog, showing his award-winning shot of what was, to him, an unusual species of dragonfly but to us in Western New York is a common species. So if — as he writes — he was only able to grab two photos of the ‘halloween pennant’ in question, imagine how much advantage we “locals” have when we can see it and photograph it up close, every summer!
Richard Peters’ photo was taken in Florida but there are certainly plenty “Halloweens” here in Erie County, and by happy coincidence one of my own shots of this species is currently the ‘feature photograph’ at the very top of the ‘Site Index and About Us‘ page on this blog.
This winter has brought some tough snow and cold conditions to much of the country. A lot of people not only quit going outside, but also quit taking photos of nature. Nature is still around in winter, and if you keep your camera from hibernating, you will find some great photo ops around you.
WHEN NATIONAL WILDLIFE INAUGURATED ITS ANNUAL PHOTO CONTEST 43 YEARS AGO, contestants submitted just a few hundred images, all of them documenting the harmful impact of pollution on wildlife. That year’s Grand Prize winner portrayed a dead, oil-soaked cormorant. This year the editors received more than 32,000 entries in seven categories ranging from Backyard Habitats to Baby Animals. Yet despite their greater diversity, many entries still mirror NWF’s conservation priorities. This year’s Grand Prize winner, for instance, features a polar bear, a species severely threatened by climate change. On the day this bear was photographed, the temperature on northern Canada’s Hudson Bay soared above 90 degrees F during a record-breaking heat wave.
View a slideshow of the winning images here and the stories behind each image are available here.