Join Portia Polar Bear’s Birthday Wish Facebook Fan Page

Today I’ve posted the video that describes the making of Portia Polar Bear’s Birthday Wish. Margie Carroll and and I teamed up to showcase the life of a polar bear cub that comes to realize she isn’t like everybody else in the arctic. Her mother tries to console her but she also turns to her other arctic friends for reassurance and confirmation. It’s a feel good story that will introduce young people to one of natures most charismatic and beautiful animals and tells a positive tale that inspires acceptance of others that are different.

It’s a book that Margie and I are self publishing  This is a big day for us both. I’ve published seventeen books to date, all with so called normal publishers. But this book is different. With Margie and I self publishing this title it means we have full control. No longer will we have to accept the publisher not promoting our book in any way. Our first trade show is the Association of Zoos and Aquariums where we’ll be talking to people about Portia, polar bears in general and helping Polar Bears International staff their booth. It will be a great way to jump start the christmas season and get the word circulating about Portia Polar Bear’s Birthday Wish.

We hope you can all help us do that. One way will be to sign up on the Portia Polar Bear’s Birthday Wish Facebook Fan Page. We’re planning a unique opportunity for all of you who love polar bears, are concerned about how the warming climate will affect these amazing animals  and want to help raise funding for all the projects Polar Bears International is supporting through Research, Stewardship and Education. We’re calling it the Portia Readers. We’re currently working on this program but in short it will consist of individuals taking Portia Polar Bear’s Birthday Wish in to the neighborhood and hosting readings to the local children. Stay tuned and chime in on Portia’s Facebook Page if you would be interested in this unique opportunity.

My merry band of photo buffs getting serious about their photography

June 18, 2010
It’s a gorgeous day as I  make my way to Seattle from Bozeman.  Lots ofholes in the clouds that give intermittent views of thesaturated, verdant greens of the Pacific Northwest. The pines show patches of dead, rust colored needles. The pine bark beetle has ravaged SW Montana, Idaho and parts of Washington. It’s been a wet spring, with torrential down pours from peaks to valleys for several weeks and admittedly it’s become a bit old but you won’t hear me complain. I’ve spent too many years in the mountains with too little moisture. Often, by fall the place is burning to the ground. I’m hopeful that won’t be the case for 2010 but only time will tell.

My journeys end is the great state of Alaska. I’m leading a small group of photo enthusiasts on a weeks worth of brown bear photography. Not sure how many times I’ve stepped foot in this last great land of wilderness and wildlife but it must be at least three dozen times since my first Alaska adventure back in 1986. I never tire of this land where the wildlife outnumbers the people. The variety of photographic possibilities are endless. Over the seasons I’ve shot humpbacks in southeast, grizzlies and muskox at the base of the Brooks range, Dall sheep in Denali, Fall colors in the Alaska range, aurora borealis in Fairbanks, black bears along the coast, moose on the peninsula, gyr falcons, ptarmigan, ice bergs and polar bears. It’s the land you can’t forget.

See more photos by clicking on this link.

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Mother polar bear and her two cubs recently out of the den. Canada

I recently helped Polar Bears International and our good friends at Frontiers North Adventures (FNA) put together an informational sheet about polar bear facts and figures. It’s a sheet FNA will be giving to their guests who come to witness the annual polar bear congregation that takes place each fall in Churchill, Manitoba. My contribution consists of  a small list of tips on photographing white subjects, in this case polar bears, on snow. Even more important are the facts it contains such as:

• May 2008 the US considers polar bears an endangered species.
• 60% of all polar bears live in Canada
• Polar bears depend o sea ice to hunt and in some cases den.
• Scientists have concluded that the biggest threat to polar bears is ecological change in the arctic due to climate change.
• Biologists estimate there are 20,000-25,000 polar bears in the arctic.
• Support PBI’s Adopt a Polar Bear Campaign. Read More at the PBI web site.

One of the little cubs in the photograph above is the cub featured on the cover of our upcoming book Portia Polar Bear’s Birthday Wish. You can read more on an earlier Blog.

Photo tips for capturing Polar Bears or other white subjects on snow.

• When shooting a white subject on a white background—such as a polar bear on snow—first make some observations. Is it a sunny or cloudy day? If it’s cloudy, you need to compensate for your camera’s meter by turning your exposure compensa- tion dial to +1.3. If it’s sunny, you don’t need to add anything—just shoot.
• A good composition is key to a good photo. So, apply the rule of thirds. That is, think of your viewfinder divided with lines like those on a tic-tac-toe board. Align your shot so that important elements of your picture appear along these lines or at their intersections. Your images will have more energy, tension, and interest than if you center your subject.
• Even quality autofocus (AF) camera systems can be fooled by the light-colored fur of a polar bear—especially on a cloudy day. If your camera isn’t focusing, position the AF sensor on the bear’s nose or eye. Press the shutter button just enough to lock in the focus, reposition the camera for better composition, and shoot.

Cover of Portia Polar Bear's Birthday Wish

A few days ago I mentioned that we had a new children’s book coming this fall. It’s a book I’m especially proud of due to the  incredibly creative way the author weaves a positive life lesson into a book about baby polar bears. It will be great reading for the young and young at heart and I’m hopeful you will enjoy the photos as well. The author Margie K. Carroll selected the pictures and did all the design work on top of writing the text. She’s a very talented lady and a very good friend.  We’re both pitching in to split the costs of self-publishing and I could never have picked a more qualified and unique individual to be business partners with. I’ve included a photo of the cover for a sneak peak as well as a shot of Margie working in my studio selecting photos for the book. I was quite humbled and amazed at her ability to find just the right image to tell the story she had already written. Margie sorted through hundreds of thousands of images over a three day period, 12-15 hours/day. We plan to have books to market by September 1, 2010 just in time for the Christmas season. We’ll be adding a sample of the book in the near future in a format that will allow a viewer to flip through pages on a computer similar to looking at the actual publication. Stay tuned. Let us know if you enjoy the cover. You can see photos of Margie’s big adventure to Montana by clicking on this link.

Outdoor Photographer ARTtrust Article

We just recently had an article published in Outdoor Photographer describing my work with a new company that helps photographers and other print media artists prove the authenticity of their work. It’s called ARTtrust and was developed by a company working with Hewlett Packard. HP is the company that produces all of the Fine Art printers I use in my office to produce my Fine Art Prints. ARTtrust is a great new tool and we’re happy to offer this service to all of our art enthusiasts who collect my prints.

Dan's image from Africa used in American Photo

The May/June  issue of American Photo magazine recently featured one of my images in a story titled the Worlds Best 25 Locations to Shoot. It was an image representing one of my favorite place on earth, Kenya, Africa. I’ve been traveling there for fifteen years now and I never tire of it. You can take a look at a video of our last trip this past January. It was another fabulous year of great photography. We’re doing it again in 2011 and you can find out more by visiting our web page detailing the adventure. Or you can click on the Africa video below for a look at what we all experienced on our last trip to this amazing continent.

Kenya Africa 2009

This blog entry marks the beginning of an adventure, actually more like a mission. A mission to document the changing arctic, its wildlife, landscapes and the people who make this part of the world their home. And in all reality it’s not truly the beginning for I’ve been working on this assignment for nearly my entire photographic career.  It’s actually the start of me making a decision to create a cohesive project. To compile my work in an organized manner that captures an ecosystem and it’s time in history.

Take a look at my recent shoot with Musk-ox for The Arctic Documentary Project

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Harlequin Ducks with the Nikon D3S

I’ve just returned from the Alaska tundra where I was producing material for a new book project on documenting the changing arctic for Polar Bears International. Before I left Nikon was kind enough to send me their newest digital SLR the D3S for testing and evaluation. I was most interested in the video features so much of this blog will relate to that. There are numerous web sites that go into lengthy details about this camera so this is a relatively short but real world analysis of this amazing new camera.

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It’s a great morning here in Anchorage. Got in last night and I’m now having a cup of coffee in the Alaska Boardroom where they do a fabulous job of taking care of you. Some days are just better than others but thankfully most are great. Today however has been exceptional.

The reason has been people. It began at the Super 8 here in Anchorage. It began with a middle aged African American man who showed there are still hard working, quality people that have a concern for who they are and what they do. I first saw him in the breakfast room where he was back tracking to get the breakfast on schedule due to the late shift not updating the breakfast bar. He was polite, courteous and helpful. I admired his work ethic. I then went to catch the van to the airport. I was standing outside when he approached me and asked if I was leaving to catch my flight. I told him I was and he jumped into the same mode I saw in the breakfast room, grabbing my heavy, large bags and smiling the entire time. He drove me to the airport, putting me in the front seat where we had an enjoyable conversation about the weather, his service in Iraq and where he had come from. Does your body ever tingle when you meet someone so friendly and an obvious asset to society. His name is Lew Diggs and my only mistake was not taking his photo.

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Mother brown bear plays with her cubs

Our Alaskan Brown Bear trip is fast approaching and I wanted to take a few minutes to post some information for those of you who plan to join us. For those of you reading this that may still have an interest we do have two spots open for the spring adventure. The dates are June 18-25. Give Tanya a call if you’re interested.

Summer brown bear photography in Alaska has a few special requirements. I’ll start with clothing then move on to photography equipment. First and foremost when in the Alaska wilderness you want to make sure you stay dry so I highly recommend bringing a good quality rain/waterproof jacket. Not necessarily a rubber coat but Gore-tex or equivalent is ideal. I’ll be wearing a Mountain Hardware breathable, outer shell. I’ll also have a fleece inner coat incase the temperature drops, as it can in the north. I’ll be wearing a capalene tshirt under a heavier outer shirt. The capalene is essential for keeping you dry next to the skin and makes a huge difference if you somehow get wet. Read the rest of this entry »