Andy Rouse 'Vanishing Worlds' London Exhibition

Andy Rouse has an exhibition in London starting next Monday (19th October) - 'Vanishing Worlds'. It is at the National Geographic store on Regent Street.

I never miss an Andy Rouse book. I attended his talk at the Royal Geographic Society a couple of weeks ago - an excellent evening. Great images and a very good presentation - he is very passionate about his subject.

Full press release here.

(Further talk dates in the post from a few weeks ago here.)

Contribute to the ARKive via Flickr

ARKive now have a group on Flickr which allows users to submit images directly to ARKive:

"ARKive is leading the ‘virtual’ conservation effort, gathering together films and photographs of the world’s threatened animals, plants and fungi into one centralised digital library to create a unique audio-visual record of life on Earth.

ARKive is making this resource accessible to all, from scientists and conservationists, to the general public and school children, as a valuable educational resource and conservation tool.

It is ARKive’s immediate aim to compile audio-visual profiles for the world’s threatened species. In order for us to achieve this, we need help from as wide a variety of donors as possible and we would like to be able to add Flickr users to our growing list of contributors."

Find out more at the ARKive Flickr group and the main ARKive website.

Andy Rouse Talk Dates

Andy Rouse has scheduled a number of talks to mark his 10th year as a professional wildlife photographer:

• September 30th - Royal Geographical Society, London
• October 30th - Hartlepool
• November 11th - Stafford
• November 29th - Glastonbury
• December 5th - Wadhurst

More details on his blog.

WildPhotos 2009

The dates have been announced for WildPhotos 2009: Friday 23rd and Saturday 24th October 2009. Like 2008, it's at the Royal Geographic Society in London (an excellent venue.)

I always meant to write up WildPhotos 2008 as it was a fantastic two days with great speakers and superb images. However I never got around to it. Fortunately they did, and here's their writeup.

If you're a student, a professional wildlife photographer or just a wanna-be like me, you should go. Registration opens in June - you can get on their mailing list by visiting the site linked below.

• Wild Photos

Online UK Species Mapping

There's a fantastic resource for checking out species distribution in the UK, the National Biodiversity Network. It aggregates data from many different organisations to provide maps of species distribution throughout the UK. It's free to access and well worth a look - this map below was generated with their online tools, and shows the recent records of brown hare sightings in the UK. 

• The National Biodiversity Network

(For some reason I can't get this image into Blogger without it getting compressed massively. The original 30k PNG file looks perfect.)

Natural World: The Mountains of the Monsoon

Check out this excellent documentary about Indian wildlife photographer Sandesh Kadur. His shots are outstanding. The iPlayer link works until 13th March. It's definitely worth watching - he's a great photographer and it's a very well produced programme.

"Indian environmentalist and photographer, Sandesh Kadur, has traded a comfortable career in the family business to explore the natural wonders of the Western Ghats mountains. 

Just a few hours drive from the commercial bustle of his native Bangalore, Sandesh could be a world away. The monsoon pours six metres of rainfall each year on the remote peaks and isolated valleys of the Ghats. Alongside familiar Indian species like elephants, tigers and peacocks are more mysterious creatures that are not found anyhere else - a purple frog with a face like a shrew and a monkey with a lion-like mane and tail. 

Most intriguing of all, there is a chance sighting of a grey big cat, unlike anything scientists have seen before. To find out whether this enigmatic cat-in-the-ghat really is a new species, Sandesh must climb to the summit of these mountains. His journey is a reminder that in fast-track, modern India, this cloud-wrapped wilderness is more precious than ever."

• Natural World: The Mountains of the Monsoon on iPlayer
  

Free Photos?

If you've got an account on Flickr or on any other large photo-sharing site, you'll probably have been contacted by people asking to use a photo of yours for nothing. Thomas Hawk blogs about it here: Should You Give Away Your Photos For Nothing To People Who Can Pay?

I totally agree with his post. Here are some examples of mine:

• Eurostar: wanted it for nothing, didn't even reply when I enquired what they would pay
  
• Watford Museum: as this is non-profit, and I live in Watford, I agreed. This led to work from Watford Council. Watford Museum were absolutely brilliant to deal with.
  
• Construct Ireland: didn't offer to pay but when I brought the subject up, agreed to it without a problem.
  
• Numerous wildlife charities and research organisations: These all get them for nothing.

I urge you - even if you're agreeing to give it away - to make clear the terms of your license. If they have asked for it for a leaflet, make it clear that you are granting a license just for that one usage.

Leica Safari

If you've got a spare £6,700 and for some reason don't want to spend it on a DSLR with a very long lens, how about this?

It's an olive drab version of Leica's M8.2 digital rangefinder. The blurb in BJP says it has a "dark green paint finish, making it a suitable option for wildlife photographers." What's even better is that it's only about £2,700 more than a regular M8.2.

Is it April already?

PS I do hate myself a bit for wanting one