Beautiful Bee-Eater

This tiny but beautiful bird is the Little Bee-Eater (Merops pusillus), seen here perched on a reed stem along the banks of the Zambezi River in Zambia.

For more about this bee-eater and details of how the photograph was taken from a boat on the river, see Little Bee-Eater Perched on Reed Stem.

Wildlife Site Showing Live Streaming Safari Cams

Africam.com is a pioneering website that was the first to offer live African game viewing on the web, enabling browsers to watch wild animals in their natural habitat.

Today Africam is still a leader in the field with its live streaming cams that bring Africa’s Big Five (Lion, Leopard, Elephant, Rhino and Cape Buffalo), plus a variety of other wild animals and birds, to your screen with stereo sound.

Wildlife Pictures Online, a comprehensive site offering hundreds of wildlife images for viewing plus information and articles about African wildlife and nature photography, has now teamed up with Africam to offer the live streaming cams to visitors.

The cams are situated overlooking waterholes at Elephant Plains Game Lodge and Nkorho Pan, both in the Sabi Sand Game Reserve, and at Tembe Elephant Park in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal Province.

If there is no action at the waterholes, visitors also have the option of viewing Recent Videos from the cams, recorded by Africam fans.

Visit Africam Live Streaming Webcams for more.

American Artist Helen Frankenthaler

Helen Frankenhaler is an American abstract expressionist artist recognized for her important contribution to postwar American painting.

Blue Atmosphere by Helen Frankenthaler — Buy at AllPosters.com

Born in New York City on December 12, 1928, Frankenhaler launched her career in 1952 when she exhibited a large-scale work title Mountains and Sea. This painting, measuring 7 x 10 ft, is an example of a technique known as soak stain, in which the artist paints directly onto raw, unprepared canvas, causing the canvas to absorb the colors.

Spring Bank, Art Print by Helen Frankenthaler — Buy at AllPosters.com

For more about this artist and examples of her work, see Helen Frankenthaler - Abstract Expressionist Painter

Erotic Photographs in Black and White

Black and white photography has always demanded more imagination from the viewer than color photography. Keeping images monochrome, restricted to shades of gray, means the viewer must make personal choices and subjective interpretations in evaluating the photograph.

Erotic photography works best where more is hidden than revealed and, like black and white images, requires imagination on the part of the viewer. That’s one of the reasons that erotic photographs, as in the image below, work so well in black and white rather than in color.

Chair — Buy at AllPosters.com

See Erotic Black and White Photography for more on this intriguing topic.

Hippo Photo Taken with Extra Long Lens

This photograph of a hippo with its mouth wide open during a “yawning display” was taken using a non-image stabilized Canon EF 300mm f/2.8 lens plus Canon 2x converter, giving a focal length of 600mm.

The 2x converter also means a loss of two stops, so the maximum aperture becomes f/5.6 instead of the fast f/2.8 of the 300mm when used without a converter. However, Canon coverters are made specifically for use with selected L-series lenses, so there is little degradation in image quality when converting the 300mm to a 600mm super telephoto.

For this photograph, the lens was attached to a Canon EOS 450D digital SLR. Because of the crop factor of the camera’s APS-C format sensor, the focal length was extended by a further 60%, making it the equivalent of whopping 960mm on a full-frame digital SLR (600 x 1.6).

To handle this level of magnification and to counter camera shake, the camera outfit was fitted to a sturdy Manfrotto tripod. This allowed a shutter-speed of 1/100 at f/5.6 with ISO of 400.

The crop factor or lens magnification factor of the Canon 450D makes wildlife photography more affordable by increasing the magnification of telephoto lenses — so, for example, a 300mm lens gives an equivalent focal length of 480mm. This also applies to Canon’s prosumer models, the **D range — see Impact of Crop Factor on Canon EOS 50D for more on this.

Image Stabilized Lenses for Wildlife Photography

When photographing wild animals, a telephoto lens is essential as you can’t normally get close enough to use a standard or wide angle lens because:

a) it’s too dangerous getting close to animals like big cats, elephants, hippos, buffalos and others;
b) you’re in the animal’s habitat and it’s not good to unduly disturb or agitate wild animals.

If you’re on foot, you’ll definitely want to keep your distance, so will need a powerful telephoto lens to fill the frame. When walking in the bush it’s also difficult using a tripod, as you have to cart it with you and you’ll usually not have the time to set it up — which means hand-holding the camera and lens.

If you’re photographing from a game drive or safari vehicle, you can get closer to animals, but again will find it difficult using a tripod from within the vehicle. This once more will require hand-holding of the camera.

Fortunately many of today’s prime and zoom telephoto lenses have image stabilization (or vibration reduction), making them easier to hand-hold. Cameras from Olympus and Sony use in-camera technology to counter camera shake, rather than including the technology in their lenses.

See Canon IS Lenses a Boon for Wildlife Photography to find out more about Canon’s IS technology and why it’s of such benefit to wildlife photographers.

What Digital Camera for Your Travels?

Falmouth in Cornwall, England

When sifting through the huge range of digital cameras on the market and trying to choose the most suitable model for your travel needs, there are three important factors to consider:

1. Type of Travel — are you going on an organized tour, self-driving or backpacking?

2. Nature of Trip — is it a relaxing holiday at a beach resort, or serious sightseeing entailing a lot of walking?

3. Your Interests — are you fascinated by archeology or architecture, ancient or modern, interiors or exteriors?

These considerations are all important and can help guide you in the right direction, as will a map or guidebook help you on your travels. See Choosing a Digital Camera for Travel for more details and recommended cameras.

Two Stand-Out EF-S Lenses from Canon

If you’re a photographer using a Canon Digital Rebel camera, or one of the prosumer models like the EOS 20D to 50D, you’ll find your wide angle options limited.

This is because of the crop factor that results from using a sensor that’s smaller than 35mm film. These smaller sensors, called APS-C format, are only 22.5 x 15mm in size, whereas a frame of 35mm film is 36 x 24mm in size.

The crop factor in practise is similar to using a longer lens, or 1.6x tele converter, on your Canon digital SLR (unless it’s a full-frame camera like the EOS 1Ds or 5D series).

That’s a distinct advantage when using telephoto lenses as you’re effectively enlarging the image in your viewfinder, adding reach to your lens. So a 200mm lens on your 40D is similar to using a 320mm lens on a full-frame body.

But for wide angle shots, the opposite is true. A relatively wide lens like a 24mm, when fitted to your Rebel XSi, is now like using 38mm lens.

To cater for its customers using EOS digital SLRs with APS-C format sensors, Canon has introduced a range of EF-S lenses designed specifically for use with these cameras.

Most of these lenses, like the EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS “kit” lens, are reasonably capable, but of flimsy build quality. There are no L-series lenses within the EF-S range.

Fortunately Canon has introduced two EF-S lenses that do stand out from the crowd.

The Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM is a standard zoom, with equivalent focal length of approximately 27-88mm. Its stand out feature is the constant f/2.8 maximum aperture throughout the zoom range. This, together with superior image quality, excellent image stabilization and fast auto focus, make it a favorite of portrait and wedding photographers, and any others who need to shoot in low light.

Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM zoom lens

The Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM is remarkable because it’s a true ultra wide lens for Canon Rebel and 20D-50D users. On these cameras its equivalent focal length is 16-35mm, definitely qualifying as ultra wide at the 16mm end.

Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM Wide Angle Zoom Lens

This lens is also highly rated by users, with some comparing the image quality to that of a Canon L lens, while also praising its sharpness and excellent color rendition.

For those who can afford them, these two EF-S lenses certainly add a new dimension of creative possibilities for photographers using Canon Rebels, any of the EOS 20D to 50D bodies, or the new 7D.

See Canon Lens Reports for more information and user ratings.

Using a Camera Support to Counter Camera Shake

While image stabilization (IS) is extremely useful for wildlife photographers using telephoto lenses, it is a fairly recent innovation. Before the advent of IS, photographers had to rely on some form of camera support to eliminate camera shake. For many years photographers produced stunning wildlife images using film cameras, slow transparency film, slow shutter speeds, and no image stabilization, relying instead on a camera support to counter camera shake.

The most obvious form of camera support is a solid tripod and that’s still the best option in situations where you can use one. But what if you’re on a game drive in a safari vehicle with six or seven other people? It’s very difficult, and inconvenient to your fellow passengers, setting up a tripod in such circumstances. This is where image stabilization can come to the rescue, allowing you to shoot hand-held pictures at shutter speeds that would previously have been impossible.

Now, although I’m a big fan of Canon IS lenses in such situations, I also am coming to the realization that it’s still better to use a camera support where possible. Too often I’ve been disappointed with images taken hand-held, hoping that the IS would save the day, then blaming the lens for unsharp photos. When shooting with a digital SLR with a sensor that’s smaller than full-frame, it’s easy to forget the lens magnification factor of 1.5x or 1.6x is also magnifying camera shake.

The reality is that your Canon EF 100-400mm zoom at 400mm is mimicking a 640mm lens on a full-frame camera. Ask any old-timers whether they’d consider using a 640mm lens without a tripod and they’ll look at you in bewilderment, wondering if you’ve lost your senses.

For shooting from the type of open game drive vehicle used by most safari operators in southern Africa, you can use a beanbag to help steady the camera, lash a monopod to the inside of the vehicle with cable-ties, or use a set-up as in the picture below, where your tripod column (B) with suitable head (A) are inserted into a bracket (C) attached to the vehicle’s arm-rest. This is a good alternative to a standard tripod as you can raise or lower the column and also use the tripod head of your choice.

Morgan Turns 100

A colorful line-up of Morgan car hoods or bonnets, in celebration of this famous British marque’s 100th birthday. The Morgan factory, located in Malvern, Worcestershire, has survived good and bad times, unlike so many other car manufacturers who’ve disappeared during the last 100 years. Today the company still only manufactures about 12 cars a week, most of which are exported to the U.S., yet remains profitable.