close your eyes and hope for the best

I paused by the woman with the super hero cat - it had a cape, therefore it’s a super hero.

It’s bizarrely coincidental that two of the photographers from this blog were in Cuba at the same time. Despite the repetition, I like the shot so much I’ll carry on with our tour of this often confusing land of faux-capitalist socialism.

In Cuba, a taxi driver earns more than a doctor as they have access to the tourist trade that plies them with “convertible” pesos worth roughly 25x the value of a regular Cuban peso. This is probably one of the reasons that a large number of Cuban taxi drivers and street vendors could use their doctorates to sew your leg back on if the taxi toppled over in the street.

(more…)

Vancouver Island Marmot. One of the most critically endangered species in the world.
(click image to enlarge)

It’s strange to be humbled by a creature not much larger than the average men’s hiking boot.

Day One
It took me a while to fully comprehend that the small bundle of fur sitting alone, gazing up at me, represents around 3% of the total wild population of her species. Within a few hundred yards I would see several more of what constitutes 25% of all wild Vancouver Island Marmots.

I’ve just hiked with a researcher into the mountains near Nanaimo BC into an ecological reserve inaccessible to the public. When I consider that I’m the first photographer allowed access, I feel privileged and excited.

There’s something very, very special about being in a wild place and seeing an animal in it’s natural habitat. Even better when there is no one else around, where every moment is private. Special can’t begin to describe how this feels when you are with one of only about 35 of these animals. I wonder if the marmots know. What would they do if they knew?

(more…)

Bison fighting near Firehole River Yellowstone National Park USA.
(click image to enlarge)

I lift my camera… My left eye is on the bulls, my right on the circling herd of cows and juveniles which are now barreling across the flat open land right towards me. I focus on the fighters, releasing the shutter for a full second… [I’m] ready to run. And run I did, with about 40 tons of meat chasing me down.

A normal afternoon, down by the Firehole River on the west side of Yellowstone, watching the Bison from the side of the road, a few people coming and going. Typically I like the going part of that sequence, so I can be alone to observe their behaviour unimpeded. It’s the annual fall rut and tension is reaching its usual sexual high. Bulls are herding their quarry away from other rampant males as the occasional flurry of dust draws my attention to a scuffle in a distant group. The playground attendant steps in between and calm resumes.

I’m squatting by the side of the road, the car within safe reach, 10 yards behind me. Like a jealous schoolboy, one male in particular is shepherding a female away from anyone who approaches. This is fairly easy going for him, as most of the nearby bulls are juveniles with weak poker faces. They push, he re-raises, and they quickly fold their tails between their legs and sit out the next hand.

(more…)

Oxbow Bend in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming. (click image to enlarge)

There are two ways to see nature in all its glory. You can get up before the shops open, before 99.99% of all germs have awoken, before the sun has raised it’s spiky yellow head and started burning perfect highlights into the landscape. Or, you can show up at a book store between the hours of 9 and 8 (roughly speaking).

Let’s take the first approach this time.

If you manage to get out of bed at 5am and make it to the exact footprint you scouted out the previous day, all you have to do is stand next to the other 10 guys who found the same place, wait for the light to sparkle, and shoot.

Or that’s what 90% of those that brave the cold to get there seem to think. I can’t count the number of times I’ve stood chatting with some nice blokes I’ve just met, discussing locations and wildlife sightings, when all of a sudden the anticipation builds to a climax and everyone knows that we are seconds from the peak of the rising sun.

… all you have to do is stand next to the other 10 guys who found the same place, wait for the light to sparkle, and shoot.

(more…)