This begins my first blog for the new section on the PBI web site appropriately titled Arctic Exposures. You’ll be able to view it on the PBI site as well as here on our Natural Exposures blog we affectionately call the Corkboard. For those who aren’t familiar with my work, I’m currently an advisory board member for Polar Bears International. I’m also a professional photographer. My wife and I run a small company that markets my fine art photographic prints and documentary work and we employ two other people besides ourselves. Both of them seem like family. We call our little business Natural Exposures and so the connection to Arctic Exposures is established.
What is Arctic Exposures all about? In short I plan this to be somewhat of a diary. A way to share my adventures as I travel the northern parts of the world to document the arctic, it’s unique and charismatic animals, it’s expansive, hostile, yet fragile landscapes as well as the people who call the north their home. Climate change is happening at a break neck pace in the far stretched corners of the frozen tundra. It’s my goal as journalist to share stories and images that will inspire societies around the globe to better understand the magnitude of the issues the north faces.
On a more long term note I see my work in much the same vein as William Henry Jackson and Thomas Moran. One photographer and one painter, both of them using their medium to document newly found wild places for our government in the early years of our countries history. Much of their work is still visible today and it’s value- as a testament to what we once had- is priceless. Posterity is described as, “for all future generations”. Without words and pictures many animals, wilderness areas and those that study them would go unnoticed. So here begins my journey that I hope for you to join. Follow me as I travel by foot, plane, helicopter, boat and any number of other forms of transportation in my quest to document the north. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Arctic Exposures | Comments Off
I was recently a panelist for the The Ethics of Subject Welfare at the 2008 North American Nature Photographers Association conference in Destin, Florida. Susan McElhinney, the highly respected photo editor for Ranger Rick children’s magazine, invited me to be on the panel. There was a great deal of information on several topics including how we treat indigenous cultures, endangered plants and natural areas as well as the perennial questions regarding the use of captive, wild animals in our photos.
There was healthy give and take on both sides of all the issues, but the use of captive animals was certainly the most heavily debated. At one point Mr. Tom Mangelsen offered his opinion and during his presentation he made several inaccurate comments of a personal nature about me specifically. I corrected those inaccuracies at the time and I’ve added more here. I also brought to the discussion information regarding his association with Wasatch Rocky Mountain Wildlife/Vital Ground and Doug and Lynne Seus. Their web site states that, “The Seuses are well known throughout the country and in the film industry as two of the world’s foremost animal trainers and coaches.”
Posted in News Worthy | No Comments »
I’m often asked about shooting in cold weather conditions and recently I put together my thoughts on doing just that. This was originally written for a group of friends I’m leading into Yellowstone National Park, February 2008. This information holds true for any cold weather setting and so I thought I would share it with you since winter is fast approaching. If any of you are interested in joining us for this small group excursion in to the winter wonderland of Yellowstone, just drop us an email at info@naturalexposures.com. We still have a few places left on our first trip. You can find out more by visiting our Tours and Events section and clicking on the Yellowstone Winter Adventure.
Posted in Photography Tips | No Comments »
Daniel J. Cox recently received two awards for his work in the categories of Photojournalism and Nature in the American Photo Images of the Year 2007 contest. His photo of wildlife biologist Karyn Rode and her polar bear subject competed with standard photojournalism subjects such as war images from Iraq. His image of a Cheetah in Kenya was also awarded. Click on the following link to go to American Photo Images of the Year 2007 contest for more of the winning entries. Click on the Iraq war image to start a slide show of winners. To see more of Dan’s documentary coverage of biologists working with polar bears click on Beaufort Sea Polar Bear Research
Posted in News Worthy | No Comments »
This morning began with a flurry of activity. This will be my seventeenth Gordon Point to Cape Churchill expedition. The day dawns with a beautiful sunrise and polar bears are dotted around the Tundra Buggy lodge. The clear skies from the night before have given way to the regions typical blanket of clouds. They’re thick, heavy and reminiscent of a mantle the early trappers referred to as a Hudson Bay blanket. Out on the edge between the horizon and the clouds is a sliver of sky and it’s here that the sun breaks free, shafts of golden light bouncing off the land and upper ceiling, polar bears rimmed with the glowing arctic light.
We’re headed for Cape Churchill, the land of polar bears and ice. Why have I been coming here for the past nearly twenty years? It’s simple. The scenery is stunning. The habitat surreal. When you see the ice and snow these magnificent 1200 pound animals live in you fall in love. No other spot on the planet known to man is as accessible for studying polar bears. It’s a gift from the animal world and essential part of why humans feel such a fondness for this majestic species. Nearly all the worlds polar bear pictures come from this area and Cape Churchill is part of a National Park called Wapusk. The ability to come here to study these animals as well as document their lives has been exceptionally beneficial for the arctic overall. The polar bear has fast become the global icon for climate change and people stop to listen when they hear polar bears will be so seriously effected.
Posted in News Worthy | 1 Comment »
Yesterday I accompanied a group of volunteers from Polar Bears International who flew by chopper out to Cape Churchill. Our mission was to refuel the remote, robotic camera that is perched in the tower and used for science and data collection. It’s October 29, and Hudson Bay is wide open. There’s not an ounce of ice anywhere on the big open water. Three days ago the fresh water lakes began to freeze and today the temperatures have been no higher than about 16 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s good news for the polar bears. Hudson Bay needs to freeze so they can get out and start hunting again.
From the Cape tower we counted 14 large males just hanging out in the willows. A couple showed some curiosity when we began our chores of hoisting the fuel cell fuel in to the tower. A couple of cracker shells had to be fired their direction to keep them from coming closer. So far this year at the lodge the number of bears have been sparse. Maybe a half dozen here and there.
What concerns me is how gaunt the bears have looked around the lodge. One female with two cubs hasn’t moved more than a few hundred yards in the three weeks I’ve been here. I thought maybe this was normal but checking with others I’m told it’s fewer numbers than we usually see this time of year. I’m typically not here this early in the season. The predictions by the scientists PBI works with talk about how the polar bear numbers in this area will decrease slowly. First to be missing will be the young and the very old. The strong and healthy will survive the longest. Seeing the large, healthy males at Cape and so few young bears around camp makes me concerned the change in climate might be talking it’s toll faster than expected.
A recent report put together by Dr. Steve Amstrup gives us much to be concerned about regarding the speed that climate change is taking place. The following is a quote from Dr. Amstrup in a recent email he sent Polar Bears Internationals president Robert Buchanan. He said “Compared to the long term mean summer ice extent, this year alone, we lost
over a million square miles of sea ice. That is an area the size of Alaska
plus Texas plus Washington State combined”.
Posted in Conservation & Education | No Comments »
About three weeks ago I spent time in Churchill, Manitoba helping Polar Bears International (PBI) with a program they call Leadership Camp. More than a dozen kids from around the world came to the Tundra Buggy Lodge to learn about how the warming climate will effect the arctic and polar bears in particular. The sponsored students spent the week discussing climate change issues and learning how to present the information to their peers as well as anyone else interested in their recent adventure.
The goal of this camp is to send these kids off with good fact based information and the skills to communicate what they’ve learned in a professional and engaging manner. In short their mission is to be PBI Ambassadors of the Arctic.The following QuickTime video is their message to young people around the world. Special thanks to Apple Computers, Frontiers North, Hudson Bay Helicopters and the Sheraton Hotel in Winnipeg. We could not have done any of this without you.
[video http://stream2.daemondefense.com:8000/polarbearcam/pbileadershipcamp.mov nolink]
Posted in Conservation & Education | No Comments »
Nikon recently chose Dan’s work to be featured in the September/October issue of American Photographer magazine. In each issue Nikon highlights a long time Nikon shooter to discuss how they use Nikon cameras and also the photographer’s current work. Dan had a chance to discuss his ongoing conservation project with Polar Bears International as well as his continued commitment to Africa. You can view the actual advertisement by clicking on the following link.
Posted in News Worthy | No Comments »
I’ve been a loyal Nikon shooter for over twenty-five years. Nikon has a beautiful quarterly magazine called Nikon World and this month one of it’s features is a story on my work with polar bears. If you’re interested in downloading a pdf file of the magazine click on the Nikon World cover icon to get your copy. If you’re interested in more details beyond the Nikon world story, follow this link to the Nikon web site: http://www.nikonnet.com. I’m fortunate to be front and center on the home page of Nikon’s informative web presence. Feel free to browse my story as well as the web pages to other important sites such as http://polarbearsinternational.org or http://www.tundrabuggy.com.
I would like to extend a sincere thank you to Nikon for the many years of unwavering support in my mission to spread the word about nature and conservation issues. Nikon supplied the cameras and lenses for the Whisker Pattern study project sponsored by Polar Bears International.
Biologists are using Nikon D100’s and 70-200mm lenses to take photos of the faces of polar bears at Gordon Point and Cape Churchill. By analyzing these images via computer software, they can tell which bears are which, without having to tranquilize them and do invasive research. Thank you once again Nikon for your help with this important project of science. Read more by visiting here.
View a PDF of the story containing Dan’s work here. You can also flip through the pages of the story online here.
Posted in News Worthy | 2 Comments »
Over the last couple months we have ordered supplies, ink & paper, for our HP printers directly on the HP’s website. Not only was it very easy to do but the bonus “buy one get one free” paper,”buy one, get one 1/2 off” ink and then free next day shipping has been unbelievable.
Jill, my assistant, on two recent occasions had placed an on-line order for supplies on the HP website about 3pm mountain time. Both times we received the product first thing the next morning by FedEx for FREE! I have NEVER received product so fast! It is really a life saver when you live in a small town like we do and cannot always get supplies locally.
The quality of printers today, no doubt, have been a wonderful technology to have in our offices and homes. The biggest gripe I have heard however is talk about how the printer companies sell their printers for so cheap but “getcha when you have to buy the ink and paper”. HP has tackled this issue with its consumers - when was the last time you saw other printer companies give you free paper, 1/2 off your second ink along with FREE next day shipping? Another savings is if you shop at Staples, they will give you a $3 off each store purchase if you bring in your HP used cartridges, they won’t do this with all printer companies…
…Oh, I forgot to mention…when we opened the box of ordered supplies from HP we received a “Thanks, come again” coupon for $10 off any purchase totalling $100 or more was included…you can also sign up for HP Rewards, a program created for more savings…why wouldn’t you use HP?
Tanya Cox
Posted in News Worthy | 2 Comments »