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Questavia In reply to Okavanga [2014-12-02 00:38:02 +0000 UTC]

Thanks David, but I see this view all the time though... it's not everyday you get to go on an African photography safari and hang out with man eating hippos though, so I'm still jealous.

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Okavanga In reply to Questavia [2014-12-02 07:52:04 +0000 UTC]

Point taken, Michelle, and it is a good point. We tend to under appreciate what we see around us, and look for the exotic elsewhere. Our guide on that hippo trip, Warwick, was exceptional. Although he had been around hippos on that lake for decades he had never lost his fascination for them, and consequently his knowledge seemed limitless. He had seen a live hippo birth, hippos stomp crocodiles, and a face off between a leopard and a hippo, where both had backed off. It was he who pointed out that the hippo aggression was reactive - they do not go out to be aggressive, but react to perceived threats. That doesn't make them less dangerous, but puts their reputation in a wider context.

I think right now with cold wet wintery weather here that I shall remain somewhat envious of those colourful and warm sunsets. Thus, we can each envy the other!!

Cheers

David

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Questavia In reply to Okavanga [2014-12-02 09:40:50 +0000 UTC]

Well stated David and your so right, we do undervalue what's around us and look for exotic places elsewhere often forgetting that what's completely normal and every day for us is mysterious, beautiful and wonderful to others. I'm reminded of this just today when a local woman looking for Whitsunday themed a gift for a friend who was moving away from the area rang me and asked if I had any local shots of the area on my website I pointed her in the right direction and allowed her to peruse through my site and see if anything met the requirements for her gift, about a half hour later she rang me back and queried me on where many of my shots had been taken when I told her almost all of them were from the local area, literally less than 10 minutes drive from my house she paused for a moment on the phone then said, I never realised just how beautiful this place is.... that little comment really made my day and gently reminds me to be thankful for where you are and what you have and also for the wild natural places we still have left.

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Okavanga In reply to Questavia [2014-12-02 14:10:13 +0000 UTC]

Nice story, Michelle, and a credit to your photography that the woman was so taken with the work. I think as photographers we have to develop not only the "eye" for composition, colour, and so on in a shot, but also an eye that can remove time and place from an image, even certainty of subject when necessary.

You're a 5D  Mark III user like me. I'd be interested in any feedback on some birds in flight shots that I'm going to post in the next hour or so. I've been using the complex but often effective auto focus system in the firmware. Have you had any success with it?

David

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Questavia In reply to Ryivhnn [2014-12-01 03:05:32 +0000 UTC]

Thank you.

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