This is the same kitty cat

As the one with a dead warthog hanging out of her mouth on our Becoming an Artist page.

Daily Photo – Lounging After A Meal

I feel like this quite a bit. Cats have the life, I tell ya. How awesome would it be to have nothing to do but eat and rest. I mean, honestly, to have nothing to do all day but rest. And even better, they never get bored of resting. You never see a bored cat. I mean, cats will look at you as a human and you’ll get the feeling that they find YOU quite boring, which is disturbing.

Lounging After A Meal

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2014-10-03 23:31:18
• CameraILCE-6000
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time1/1000
• Aperture4
• ISO100
• Focal Length196.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramManual
• Exposure Bias

The Botswana Random Animal Generator

The way the Okavango Delta is oriented, when it’s not completely flooded, is large areas of grasslands interspersed with groupings of trees. As we’d drive around all these groups of trees and emerge into another grassland, we’d see a different set of animals every time. We’d pop out of the trees and see maybe 5 giraffes, 30 wildebeests, and 6 elephants out there. The next time, 10 minutes later, we’d turn a corner and see 10 baboons, 8 giraffes, and 40 cape buffalo. We got to calling Botswana a “Random Animal Generator”!

Daily Photo – Getting Up Close and Personal with the Elephants

We were looking so hard to find elephants in Namibia. It must have taken us two hours to finally find some of them. But in Botswana, they were everywhere! The official count is around 100,000 elephants there… that goes to show what I know — I thought they were endangered! They’re absolutely everywhere… you turn around a group of trees and, well, there’s another herd stomping about! We got very close to many, including this bad boy.

Getting Up Close and Personal with the Elephants

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2014-10-06 17:54:42
• CameraILCE-6000
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time1/1000
• Aperture4
• ISO500
• Focal Length113.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramManual
• Exposure Bias

Upcoming events

I’m really looking forward to our big event that starts this week! It’s all sold out, but we do have some future ones coming, including a combo yoga/photography adventure here in New Zealand as well as an unannounced Venice one… but watch The Events Page here to see what is coming up soon!

Daily Photo – Lion Brothers in the Wild

We sat here and watch a pride of lions for several hours. They were so interesting… these are slightly older brothers, and you can see one of them is starting to get his mane. Nearby, their mom was sleeping on her side while cute little cubs were feeding. It was great to watch! At one point the mom got frustrated by some of the over-suckling, and she growled at them in the way only a mom can!

Lion Brothers in the Wild

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2014-10-02 04:07:36
• CameraILCE-7R
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time1/750
• Aperture6.7
• ISO2000
• Focal Length500.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramManual
• Exposure Bias

The Imitation Game

I just recently saw this movie and really enjoyed it. I read a lot about that whole bit of WWII in Neal Stephenson’s amazing book called “Cryptonomicon” — and some of that was brought to life in this movie. Besides, I’m a total sucker for Benedict Cumberbatch — I’ll watch him in anythin

Daily Photo – Big Elephant Crossing

While in Botswana, we had this AMAZING guide named Dennis. We knew he was named Dennis because he would only refer to himself in the third person. We asked him about this elephant crossing the road and he said, “Dennis wants you to know that the elephant turns his body sideways like this to make himself seem as big and awesome as possible, much like Dennis.” Man, we never got tired of this guy. We would end up asking him any kind of question just to see how he would work his own name into the answer… haha I still laugh thinking about it.

Big Elephant Crossing

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2014-10-06 17:51:03
• CameraILCE-6000
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time1/1000
• Aperture4
• ISO200
• Focal Length72.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramManual
• Exposure Bias

Hippo Encounter

On one of our boat rides into camp, we got a little too close to a hippo. Well, he took umbrage to this and decided to chase us at full speed! He reared up out of the water at least 4 times as he did everything he could to catch up. It scared the hell out of all of us so much we were laughing! And the guide said he had never seen anything like it before, which made us all just-a-bit nervous!

Daily Photo – Crossing the Hippo Infested Ponds

This is what almost every bridge in Botswana looks like! They all look like they are on the edge of collapse. And I just can’t get used to that gap in the middle. I feel like, well, let’s just throw a few more logs down in that middle part just in case. These Land Rovers they use there are so immense and heavy… I can only imagine what would happen if just one tire slipped off… forget it! You’re down swimmin’ with the hippos, and they are hungry hungry.

Crossing the Hippo Infested Ponds

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2014-10-06 04:04:31
• CameraILCE-7R
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time1/4000
• Aperture4
• ISO100
• Focal Length24.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
• Exposure Bias-2.7

I realized I really don’t Know My Animals

When we were driving around Botswana, we saw all sorts of amazing animals. It was just then I realized I don’t know the names of hardly anything. I mean, I got the easy ones like giraffes and elephants, but they have all these other crazy animals with wonky names. I was constantly getting the guide to repeat what the heck they were… I felt super-dumb! haha. Anyway, to this day, I’m not totally sure I can tell the difference between a springbok and a red lechwe!

Daily Photo – The Dreaded Cape Buffalo

According to a variety of guides I had in Africa, this is the most feared animal there. What a surprise this was… and good to know… Growing up in Texas, I thought they might just be a *little* bit mean like bulls. I wasn’t gonna go wrastle the thing to the ground or anything, but especially not after I heard some horror stories.

One of the stories involved a hunter going after one. They got a good shot, and the cape buffalo retreated and limped back into the long grass. The hunter pursued. But the crafty buffalo circled back around and rammed him from the side, killing him.

The Dreaded Cape Buffalo

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2014-10-02 22:49:36
• CameraILCE-6000
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time1/1600
• Aperture4
• ISO400
• Focal Length200.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramManual
• Exposure Bias

Wild Animals and Patience

I must admit that I am not the most patient photographer. That’s not entirely true. I’m very patient for sunsets, sunrises, and most landscape situations. I think I am just animal-impatient. I have a lot of respect for those animal photographers (especially bird photographers!) that will sit there and just wait for something to come out of its hole or come back to its nest. I can wait for a little while, but I usually prefer just to have it all happen automagically for me! I guess I just feel a little too out-of-control for getting a good shot… with Landscape situations, I feel like I control the destiny of the shot a bit more…

Daily Photo – The Rare Wild Serval Hunting at Night

This was a treat to find this guy! We can thank Curtis Simmons for being the spotter here and finding him stalking his prey through the grass in the dark. This is pretty much the tallest cat in the world with the biggest leg length to body ratio. They are extinct in cape regions of South Africa because of loss of habitat, so I felt very lucky to see one!

The Rare Wild Serval Hunting at Night

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2014-10-03 10:07:09
• CameraILCE-6000
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time1/200
• Aperture4
• ISO800
• Focal Length200.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramManual
• Exposure Bias

Slight Update to the Sony A7r Review

I added a few thoughts halfway down about the A7r vs. the A7II over on the Sony A7r Review. In short:

This is a tough question! I do have both, and I still use the A7r for most of my landscape shots because of the 36 megapixel to 24 megapixel advantage. If you’re shooting on a tripod, like I often do, then you’re better off with the A7r, I think. The A7ii REALLY shines with handheld shots because of the stabilization, and that is when I often switch to the A7ii.

Having said that, if it is the stark middle of the day and quite bright, I don’t think image stabilization gets you anything because your shutter speed will be so fast anyway. I think the A7ii is best for medium and low-light situations when handheld camera-shake becomes an issue. But then, you see, we have yet another variable in the equation, the A7s, which is undoubtedly better than the A7ii in low-light situations. But that drops us down to 12 megapixels. Anyway, there’s almost too many variables to consider for any waking mind.

Two passports

I’m looking forward to getting my New Zealand passport in a few years! I find that going some places with a US Passport can be a bit problematic. Not everyone seems to be the USA’s #1 fan, so I’ll probably use the NZ passport in those spot

Daily Photo – Stuck In Customs in Botswana

Yes, I was actually Stuck In Customs once again! I was not allowed to fly from Maun, Botswana to Cape Town, South Africa because they said I needed a full blank page in my passport! What a mess. I did have room for 5 more stamps, but just not on the same page. This woman was a real stickler! It really harshed my mellow.

So that meant I had to fly to Gaborone to go to the US Embassy. While at the Embassy, there was a huge alarm that went off and everything got locked down! I had just gotten my extra pages sewn into my passport, and I was quickly escorted out. My driver was out there, but he was illegally parked by this huge barricade and security was all around him, making things very crazy! I think he could have been the one to set off the alarm! Anyway, I got in the car and told him to get the hell out of there… what a mess. We went straight to the airport, and then I took this photo.

Stuck In Customs in Botswana

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2014-10-05 01:04:03
• CameraILCE-7S
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time1/4000
• Aperture
• ISO100
• Focal Length
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramProgram AE
• Exposure Bias

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone is having great holidays! 🙂

A little mind-bending for the day from Alan Watts

And here’s something a little different for you… it’s one of those that’s worth watching full-screen with good sound! 🙂

Daily Photo – Flying Over the Okavango Delta

One day in Botswana, we took a rather incredible helicopter ride! It came to pick us up at our camp that was literally in the middle of nowhere. And here’s the kicker — our pilot was from Wanaka, New Zealand! That’s only about 45 minutes away from my home… what a strange world!

We took the doors off and it was most pleasant outside. It was so nice and warm that I took off my shoes and let them dangle out into the breeze. Actually, it wasn’t a breeze as much as it was a gale-force wind!

Flying Over the Okavango Delta

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2014-10-04 04:52:26
• CameraILCE-7R
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time1/1500
• Aperture6.7
• ISO640
• Focal Length28.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramManual
• Exposure Bias

Part 3 of 3 – Tips for getting the Perfect Reflection Shot

And here is the final part; here you actually get to see me edit the final photo! 🙂

Thinking about Elephants

I did not expect the elephants to be my favorite animal while in Africa. But they were! Sometimes I would get close to them and see strange wildness in their eyes. I don’t anthropomorphize animals (read in human emotions), but I do see something else going on in there… something around a different time-sense. I wonder if they are a lot like whales like that. I’ve never swam with whales, but maybe some day I will and I can compare the two, insofar as I am able.

Daily Photo – Happy Elephant Family

We were actually out looking for a pride of lions in Botswana when we came across this perfect little family of elephants. It’s quite a life for these guys! They basically get to hang out with their family all day and just eat, eat, eat! Can you imagine going to a 14 hour buffet every day with your family where no one ever gets full? What a world that would be!

Happy Elephant Family

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2014-10-05 04:17:57
• CameraILCE-6000
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time1/1250
• Aperture4
• ISO800
• Focal Length146.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramManual
• Exposure Bias+0.3