Year: 2012
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Underwater Videography: Things I’ve Learned
If you’ve ever managed to take along a camera snorkeling, you probably had the same reaction I did when you got your finished footage home to the computer: “It looks nothing like it did when I was actually snorkeling.” Colors are washed out, everything is a dingy blue, all the fish you saw are nowhere…
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Madagascar on 12.12.12 part II: the Snake
For my second installment in the “One Day on Earth” project, in which filmmakers around the world are invited to contribute footage which may be used in a feature-length film, I was also in Madagascar’s Andasibe-Mantadia National Park. Technically, we were in the “Réserve Spéciale d’Analamazaotra,” and we were watching an indri (the largest kind…
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Madagascar on 12.12.12 part I: the Lemurs
If you’ve been following this blog, you’ll know that I have been pretty excited about 12.12.12. Why? Because that’s the day the third “One Day on Earth” film is to be recorded in every country around the world. The first film, recorded on 10.10.10, was in my Christmas stocking this year (you can order yours…
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In Namibia, the best light for photos is within 10 minutes of sunrise
Driving through the Namibian desert just outside the coastal town of Swakopmund at about 0545 can give you a real visual treat. It would have been more spectacular with a bit more of the fog/mist the area is known for, but within 10 or 15 minutes of sunrise (before or after) you can get some…
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Preview – Wildlife of Madagascar
Simply amazing – Andasibe-Mantadia National Park. Here is a preview of the kinds of things that will be posted in the near future on video. Though they are wild, these ringtail lemurs are very curious. This white-ruffed lemur is “just hanging around”
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One-Day Cactus Flower
I’ve heard rumors that many cacti bloom for only one day, but thought this was odd because I have cacti in my garden that will continue to bloom day after day (they open when the sun hits them and close in late afternoon). Below is an example (among succulents and daisies) of a cactus that…
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Entering Madagascar
Getting off the plane at Antananarivo, we were greeted by a pleasant, warm humidity…and the occasional raindrop. As our driver took us into the city however, the rain started for real. Soon the rain was gushing down in buckets, and the streets of downtown ‘Tana turned into rivers, and I wondered how some of the…
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Still Needed for “One Day on Earth” by 12.12.12
I’ve blogged before about the exciting worldwide film project to be filmed on 12.12.12 – see One Day on Earth’s website for more details. As we approach the final few days, please spread the word that the organizers still need a few more countries: Europe: Luxembourg, Andorra, Bosnia, Liechtenstein, Macedonia Africa: Guinea-Bissau, Djibouti, Liberia, Cote…
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The Magic Hour
Strange things happen to the light in the last minutes before sunset. And in Windhoek, during the “rainy season” (usually December and January) it’s even more extreme. Every night, there are a few minutes where everything turns a brilliant yellow as the sun dips near the horizon. Usually there is a gap in the clouds…
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Archived historical films: Holland Carries On (post WWII)
One of the coolest things I have come across on the internet lately is the Prelinger Collection at archive.org (thanks to my daughter for pointing it out). On this site, you can browse hundreds of thousands of video, imagery and sound files that have been preserved – many for historical reasons – and all in the…
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Conservation International: Forests and Carbon in Madagascar
This is an excellent example of what organizations are doing to protect forests. In Madagascar, forests are especially important, because something close to 80% of Madagascar’s animal life is unique, and highly adapted to very specific areas and niches in Madagascar that may in some cases be limited to a few thousand hectares of forest.…
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My Last Days: Meet Christopher Aiff
No words – just watch:
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What are YOUR plans for 12.12.12.?
On 12.12.12, filmmakers all over the world will be collecting footage for One Day on Earth, the third volume in a three-year project to capture a single day on earth, as experienced all over this amazing planet. Wouldn’t you like to join us? Where will YOU be on 12.12.12? It doesn’t have to be an…
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Water & Sky Photography: Fixing the Horizon in “Post”
This is a pretty basic point, really – but I see the same mistakes made over and over by hobbyist photographers. In my experience, virtually every photo you take that has a prominent horizon in it will require some correction in “post.” At a minimum, you will need to straighten the horizon, because it’s hard…
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One Day on Earth: The 11/11/11 Trailer is Here!
“One Day on Earth” is a fascinating project to collate footage from every country in the world into a single full-length film. In its first iteration, filmmakers worldwide were asked to submit footage taken on October 10, 2010 – or 10.10.10 – which was turned into a film that premiered on Earth Day 2012 (and…
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Be a MySpace “early adopter”! The redesigned one.
MySpace is reinventing itself (again) and I’ve been waiting by my email inbox all weekend for an invite. I’m just not sure if that invitation is coming from Tom, or from Justin. Since having been purchased in 2011, and having received significant investment from Justin Timberlake, a redesign of the ailing site has been in…
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Hope of Good Hope gets a Sponsor
It seems that the “Home of Good Hope”, a local soup kitchen that feeds approximately 350 desperately poor children in a local township shantytown, has gotten a Dutch “gemeente” (roughly equivalent to a county) as an official sponsor. TAZM Pictures recently made a promotional video for the Home of Good Hope, and it receives regular…
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Town of Ghosts
Awhile back, I posted about photographing ghost towns – specifically Kolmanskop, Namibia. When we looked at photographing the town, we thought about whether it might look better in black and white – but that morning, the warm light made everything so orange, with the sand filling most of the buildings, we thought color made things…
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World’s Largest Stick Insect Hatches
Here’s a video you’ve probably seen before. It’s one of the world’s rarest insects, hatching from an impossibly small egg. The eggs are offspring of a breeding pair found under a bush growing on a rock that juts up out of the ocean in the middle of nowhere. They were thought to be extinct for…
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Gentle Giants: Elephant Encounter II
The sheer power and grace of elephants is difficult to convey. When they come in from the bush to drink water, and roll around in the mud, they absolutely dominate the scene, and other animals wait patiently until they’ve had their fill. It’s easy to just sit and watch these creatures interact with each other…
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Weavers in our Garden
In my opinion, there are few natural things as amazing to see as the nest of a weaver. In Namibia, there are the giant communal weaver nests, and there are the individual pair nests (built by two different species. The individual nests are built by bright yellow birds with a black eye patch). Both of…
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Elephant Encounter
We pulled into the parking area for one of the watering holes at Etosha, and noticed immediately that there were several large groups of elephants enjoying the place. One group was in the mud bathing, another was off to our right, and a third group was right on the gravel road, blocking our entry (and…
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A Day in Lüderitz – Two Different Soundtracks
Recently my daughter and I took a trip to the small, somewhat odd Namibian coastal town of Lüderitz. I say it’s odd because we arrived on a Saturday afternoon, after driving a long, winding road which seemed unable to keep the sand dunes at bay – at several points the dunes were slowly making their…
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One Day on Earth: the 12/12/12 trailer is here!
On 10/10/10 and 11/11/11, filmmakers all around the world collaborated to create a film that captured life on earth on those specific days. The trilogy is going to be completed on 12/12/12 and the best news is that you can take part! First, take a look at the trailer, then I’ll explain what needs to…