| Golden Turtle '6 |
[Mar. 4th, 2012|04:58 am] |
This week annual exhibition of top Russian wild-life photography competition "Golden Turtle" opened in Moscow. Winning images in 10 categories and "Photographer of the Year" title were announced. Like last year I was lucky to win Underwater World category. Top prize went to Sergey Gorshkov for his amazing set of Kamchatka's wild life images.
You can see amazing gallery of category winning photos here - http://www.animalphoto.ru/news/detail/?item_id=63370
And special section with "Photographer of the Year" set - http://www.animalphoto.ru/news/detail/?item_id=63371
If you live in Moscow don't miss opportunity to see beautifully printed versions of this images and many fine finalists. Exhibition is open until March 25th in Maliy Manezh.
Congratulations to Sergey Gorshkov and all category winners ! ^_^ |
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| penguin madness week #3 |
[Mar. 4th, 2012|04:32 am] |
African penguin attacking, Boulders Beach,Cape Town, South Africa
Nikon D300 + Nikkor 10.5mm
this image is 10% cropped from the top and left, exposure correction in Adobe Lightroom
Location on Google maps
Wikipedia reference
... Few seconds after our encounter beast attacked. I was lucky to have camera between his beak and my body - it broke into hundreds of pieces, and I was thrown on the ground. Monstrous creature switched his attention to Steve Benjamin, my partner in this dangerous adventure - who is started to retreat, covering himself with his Nikon and instinctively pressing shutter button.
Few day later when with help of military we recovered what was left of our eqiupment we found this dramatic image by Steve depicting dramatic scene I described above... |
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| penguin madness week #2 |
[Feb. 28th, 2012|01:00 am] |
African penguin looking into the camera preparing for the attack, Boulders Beach,Cape Town, South Africa
Nikon D300 + Nikkor 10.5mm
this image is 15% cropped from the right and bottom, exposure correction in Adobe Lightroom
Location on Google maps
Wikipedia reference
With uneasy feeling I crossed double gates of the Boulders Beach. Just sight of these heavy, scarred by time gates implanted fear into my heart. These were meant to keep something inside, something which is trying to get out.
Summoning all my courage I walked forward. Everything in this sinister place was screaming trouble. Grim looking boulders, poisonous sand which was trying to get under my skin and penetrate further into my soul.
My partner abruptly stopped, like some kind of invisible shock wave hit his body. With his shaking hand he pointed onto something. Chill went down my spine as I saw face of the most evil creature on Earth for the very first time... It was looking at me - I could only stand still and pray for my life... |
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| penguin madness week #1 |
[Feb. 18th, 2012|03:33 am] |
Terror of african penguin getting closer to the camera, Boulders Beach,Cape Town, South Africa
Nikon D300 + Nikkor 10.5mm
this image is 15% cropped from the right and bottom, exposure correction in Adobe Lightroom
Location on Google maps
Wikipedia reference
I went to the Cape Town to seek encounters with often scary, but divine creatures, both in the depth of Ocean and overland. I knew my trip is not going to be easy and lighthearted. But I was not prepared for the ultimate terror I met on Boulders Beach, terror which still chills my soul with single thought about it.
I will tell you my story, story of horror, story of courage, story of discovering things which are belong wildest imagination... Story of true rulers of the Cape Town and hence the World... |
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| sevengill sharks week #5 |
[Feb. 8th, 2012|08:36 pm] |
Sevengill shark in the kelp at Pyramid Rock, Cape Town, South Africa
Nikon D300 + Nikkor 10.5mm, Pro One dome port, strobes Sea&Sea YS-250 x 2
this image is not cropped and no exposure correction applied to it
Location on Google maps
Wikipedia reference
Sevengill shark in the low-vis green water and kelp forest behind it. Another image which is very deceptive on the distance of shooting due to the use of fish-eye lens, ultimate space eater. Visibility on that day was about 4m, which means it's the distance to the kelp trees visible on the shot, and since shark itself was hit by strobe light sufficiently well it is about just one meter from the camera to it.
This is conclusion of the "sevengill shark week". Next week is the "penguin madness week" ! ^_^ |
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| sevengill sharks week #4 |
[Feb. 2nd, 2012|08:30 pm] |
Sevengill shark in the kelp at Pyramid Rock, Cape Town, South Africa
Nikon D300 + Nikkor 10.5mm, Pro One dome port, strobes Sea&Sea YS-250 x 2
this image is not cropped and no exposure correction applied to it
Location on Google maps
Wikipedia reference
Sevengill shark going through the kelp. It's interesting find I made during my last trip to Cape Town about photographing these sharks. Majority of shots I've seen before are taken from bottom to top direction, as classical rules dictate - highlighting white belly of the animal against nice photogenic sea surface with some sun light balancing picture.
This time I tried something different - I tried to photograph these sharks facing from top to bottom - highlighting their top side. And I was surprised by interesting results - their tops are much more reflective and shiny when bellies, making appearance of the photo quite yummy - reflections and shiny surfaces are all desirable properties of the good looking image.
Morale is obviously banal in this case: Always try new things, always ! ^_^ |
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| sevengill sharks week #3 |
[Feb. 1st, 2012|01:16 am] |
Steven Benjamin photographing sevengill shark at Pyramid Rock, Cape Town, South Africa
Nikon D300 + Nikkor 10.5mm, Pro One dome port, strobes Sea&Sea YS-250 x 2
this image is not cropped and no exposure correction applied to it
Location on Google maps
Wikipedia reference
Steven Benjamin of Animal Ocean trying to take unconventional image of sevengill shark in beautiful kelp forest. If you plan to visit Cape Town, and have interest in learning more about and/or photographing local marine fauna - he is your guy. Degree in marine biology, insane skipping skills and genuine friendliness and passion make him ideal person to work with during your visit. You can also stay at his lodge which is absolutely cozy and wonderful. I can't wait to return to Cape Town to have more of Steve's company and fantastic encounters like one pictured above ! ^_^ I will write special piece on him and AnimalOcean soon in "out of context" format ! |
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| sevengill sharks week #2 |
[Jan. 26th, 2012|08:09 pm] |
Sevengill sharks at Pyramid Rock, Cape Town, South Africa
Nikon D300 + Nikkor 10.5mm, Pro One dome port, strobes Sea&Sea YS-250 x 2
this image is cropped 5% from bottom and left, exposure correction in Adobe Lightroom, some scatter supressed in Adobe Photoshop
Location on Google maps
Wikipedia reference
Sevengill shark is not just "jurassic shark". It is also melancholic shark. It is possible even to touch them as they swim past you. It's difficult to imagine that these guys can be quite fast and lethal - they are even capable of assaulting fur seals, fast and energetic swimmers...
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| sevengill sharks week #1 |
[Jan. 24th, 2012|08:15 pm] |
Sevengill shark in the kelp forest, Pyramid Rock, Cape Town, South Africa
Nikon D300 + Nikkor 10.5mm, Pro One dome port, strobes Sea&Sea YS-250 x 2
this image is not cropped, no exposure correction applied
Location on Google maps
Wikipedia reference
Sevengill shark is the true "jurrasic shark" ^_^
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| out of context |
[Jan. 23rd, 2012|02:04 pm] |
Happy Chinese New Year !
Since I did not met real dragons in my quests so far - I give you as NY day present this image of Galapagos land iguana, which is probably one of the closest things to dragons in my archive ! ^_^
Hopefully this year - year of Dragon - will bring me many opportunities meeting different divine creatures around the world ^_^ ! |
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| blue sharks week #5 |
[Jan. 19th, 2012|03:20 pm] |
Morne Hardenberg playing with the blue shark at The Canyon, 50km offshore from the Cape Point, South Africa
Nikon D300 + Nikkor 10.5mm, Pro One dome port, strobes Sea&Sea YS-250 x 2
this image is 10% cropped from right and top, masked exposure correction in Adobe Photoshop
Location on Google maps
Wikipedia reference
Every time I go to South Africa I meet a lot of cool people. This time I was lucky to dive together with Morne Hardenberg, true shark whisperer. During summer season he is enjoying break from his great white dives and engages into "light" play with cheeky blues at the Canyon. 2 hours I spent with him underwater were really productive in terms of amount of fantastic imagery featuring interaction of sharks and divers ! ^_^
This is last post in the "blue sharks week". Next week will be "sevengill sharks week" featuring more of my work from recent trip to Cape Town ! ^_^ |
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| blue sharks week #4 |
[Jan. 18th, 2012|08:44 pm] |
Blue shark at The Canyon, 50km offshore from the Cape Point, South Africa
Nikon D300 + Nikkor 10.5mm, Pro One dome port, strobes Sea&Sea YS-250 x 2
this image is 5% cropped from right and bottom, exposure correction in Adobe Lightroom
Location on Google maps
Wikipedia reference
Classical portrait of the blue shark. I really love their big, curious eyes ! ^_^
Much to my surprise I discovered yesterday that one of my images was nominated by LiveJournal to the "Photo of the year" poll - http://afisha-lj.livejournal.com/429350.html. It's interesting that selection of contenders is quite strong, including great names like ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=92.1) petrosphotos and dima_chatrov. I was relieved not seeing any tomato flavored shots or violet roofs in the selection ^_^
Great job, LiveJournal and thank you for picking my image !
Please vote for your favorite ! I voted for the fantastic topside view of the meeting at the Bolotnaya square by ridus_admin. Amazing image ! ^_^ |
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| blue sharks week #3 |
[Jan. 16th, 2012|12:37 pm] |
Blue sharks at The Canyon, 50km offshore from the Cape Point, South Africa
Nikon D300 + Nikkor 10.5mm, Pro One dome port, strobes Sea&Sea YS-250 x 2
this image is 5% cropped from right and bottom, exposure correction in Adobe Lightroom
Location on Google maps
Wikipedia reference
Anatomy of the blue shark ^_^
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| blue sharks week #2 |
[Jan. 13th, 2012|09:43 pm] |
Blue shark and the diver, The Canyon, 50km offshore from the Cape Point, South Africa
Nikon D300 + Nikkor 10.5mm, Pro One dome port, strobes Sea&Sea YS-250 x 2
this image is not cropped, exposure correction in Adobe Lightroom, some scatter removed in Photoshop
Location on Google maps
Wikipedia reference
Blue sharks are the most interactive shark specie I ever saw in my life. They are not shy and come straight to the divers from all sides, so it's very important to dive as a group and watch each other backs. We had about 10 sharks in the water with us, making circles and always coming back to sample port shade, strobe or strobe arm - or even tank, sneaking from behind ^_^ It was great adrenaline pumping ride - which I hope will be doing again sometime soon ! ^_^ |
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