Lift-Off

Lift-Off
Originally uploaded by vlad259

I can definitely recommend Glenlivet Wildlife for guided wildlife watching in the Glenlivet estate. It's the first time I've seen mountain hare - it was a wonderful day.

• Glenlivet Wildlife
  

Gannets by Arthur Morris

Long a favourite of mine, Arthur Morris has a regular mailout that is always interesting. I found the June 26th mailout particularly informative: it concentrates on Gannets, mainly with a Canon 400mm DO lens. The pictures are stunning!

- June 26th mailout archive
- Full mailout archives (at the top there are instructions on subscribing to Arthur's mailing list.)

Shell Wildlife Photographer of the Year

The Guardian Unlimited website has a gallery of some of the winning images in the 2007 Shell Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. I particularly like the polar bears on the ice (Norbert Rosing), Bence Mate's Eric Hosking's award pictures, Graham Eaton's fantastic underwater mallard shot and of course Danny Green's lovely water vole.

The winning pictures are on show at the Natural History Museum starting from tomorrow 26th October.

Here's the link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/gallery/2007/oct/25/wildlife.photography?picture=331055684

Gallery also at the Natural History Museum: http://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit-us/whats-on/temporary-exhibitions/wpy/onlineGallery.do

Martin Eisenhawer: Life in a Cold Climate

There's a good two page article on Swiss wildlife photographer Martin Eisenhawer just gone online at the Canon Professional Network. They have put a gallery up with 30 of his images - many people will recognise the crane and albatross images that did well in several competitions over the last couple of years.

John Isaac Reviews Olympus E-510

Most of the wildlife photographers that I meet are equipped with either Nikon or Canon. I've often thought that Olympus cameras were very suitable for nature and wildlife photography. I've seen some great results from Olympus E series cameras on Flickr, with all sorts of lenses.

The company has had a reputation for excellent optics since the 1960s, and their Olympus Trip camera sold 10 million units in nearly twenty years on sale - reputedly the biggest selling camera of all time.

The Four Thirds system (aspect ratio of 4:3 rather than the 3:2 of 35mm) has allowed Olympus to make their cameras and lenses smaller and lighter than the competition. The 2x crop factor is an advantage, too. All E series customers get a voucher for a free mount that allows use of older Olympus lenses, and many other lenses can be fitted. I've seen Leica, Voigtlander and Nikkor lenses used on an E-1 to great effect.

So it was with great interest that I read John Isaac's Olympus 510 Field Review (link below.) He's used an Olympus E-1 for all the photos in his new book, due out in 2008.

• Olympus 510 Field Review by John Isaac
• John Isaac's website
  
• Tengsama's photos on Flickr (great shots, and check out that lens collection!)

Yellowstone to Yukon: Freedom to Roam

German wildlife photographer Florian Schulz is featured in a new exhibit at the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, University of Washington. "Yellowstone to Yukon: Freedom to Roam" opened on June 16 and documents the effort to preserve wildlife corridors from Yellowstone National Park to Canada's Yukon Territories. These corridors would link existing parks and public lands to ensure the survival of one of the world's last intact mountain ecosystems.

This is a rare chance to see large format wildlife photography. Schulz spent 10 years roaming the Rockies to capture the images, and will give a lecture and slide show on Oct. 23. The exhibit is organized by the museum in collaboration with The Mountaineers Books and the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative.

The museum is on the University of Washington campus, at the corner of Northeast 45th Street and 17th Avenue Northeast. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily and until 8 p.m. on the first Thursday of the month.

• The Burke Museum website
• The website of Florian Schulz