Humpback Whale Missing Fluke

Recently, we visited Tonga to snorkel with the humpback whales and their calves. We had a wonderful time and some amazing experiences. We started the trip on the islands of Vava’u, then Ha’apai with the last night on Eua. While on a whale swim cruise with Whale Discoveries in Ha’apai, we came across this female humpback whale that had most of its right fluke missing!

Even with most of her right fluke missing, she looked very healthy and had a healthy calf with her. Prior to getting this photo of her fluke, both her and her calf were breaching a number of times.

Here is 100% crop of the fluke.

More whale photos coming up soon.

APPA Awards 2011

This year was the first time that I have entered in the Canon AIPP Australian Professional Photographer Awards(APPA). I have been an Emerging of the AIPP now for a couple years and decided to get my photos submitted in the APPA’s. As an emerging member, I am allowed to submit 3 photos. I submitted my 3 photos in the Science Environment and Nature category.

I was extremely happy with my results. I earned a Silver with distinction, a Silver and my third photo just missed out by one point to get a silver. It will still earn me 1/2 point towards getting my Associate of the AIPP.

Global Melt – Silver with Distinction

Double Take – Silver

Family Reunion – Certificate of Attainment

A special mention should also go to a great photographer and all around nice guy, Christian Fletcher, the 2011 AIPP Australian Landscape Photographer of the Year.

First Nations don’t want the Enbridge pipeline

First nations speak for themselves on pipelines proposed to link the Alberta tar sands to Kitimat on BC’s coast. See more at the Vancouver Sun.

spOIL – A must watch video

Back in 2009, we visited and photographed in the Great Bear Rainforest of British Columbia, Canada.

The following year, the International League of Conservation Photographers (iLCP) did a Rapid Assessment Visual Expedition (RAVE) in the Great Bear Rainforest. They teamed up with Pacific Wild, the Gitga’at First Nation and others to bring awareness to the fact that large companies, such as Enbridge, want to build a pipeline from the tar sands in Alberta to the BC coast town of Kitimat. From there oil tankers will have to zig zag through one of the most ecologically sensitive area on the planet to take this oil to Asian markets. These mega tankers will have to navigate a number of 90-degree turns, just begging for trouble and an oil spill that could wreck total destruction of this pristine environment.

A new documentary film called “spOIL” talks about the Great Bear Rainforest and the plans to build the pipeline. It won “Best Environmental Film” at the Vancouver International Mountain film Festival 2011. You can now watch it on Vimeo.

On May 2,2011, Canadians elected a majority Conservative government. There certainly is serious concern that the Harper government will allow the mega tankers to sail through this highly sensitive eco-system. If you reside in Canada, make your voice be heard  and that you don’t want this pipeline to happen.

Take action to protect the Great Bear Rainforest here.

And more from the Sierra Club BC here. 

What’s Happening?

It has been way too long since I have last posted on the blog. I now have a good backlog of content that needs publishing. So what is in the pipeline?

I’ve got a few reviews coming:

• F-Stop Gear Tilopa BC camera pack
• Kiboko Camera Bag by Gura Gear
• Workshop by Darren Jew
• A number of e-books to review
• Nikon lenses
• Gitzo tripod
• Really Right Stuff gear
• plus plenty of photos

So stay tuned, we are about to get going.

Back Home

Arrived by back home, safe and sound. The ocean crossings were all very smooth on the voyage with Aurora Expeditions, Patagonia scenery has been breathtaking. I have just been busy helping out with nursing my mother-in-law following a hip replacement. I have been going through photos but they aren’t quite ready to post. That will happen between Christmas and New Year.

As a teaser, I had this king penguin wondering if I was using Nikon or Canon. He just couldn’t tell due to the LensCoat

I’ll take this opportunity to wish you all a very festive season and a happy New Year.

The Next Adventure

On the road again, and no I’m not going to visit Willie Nelson This time, we are off to South America, specifically Argentinian Patagonia. We have someone moving to our place to look after the dogs. We drove to Sydney and boarded a Qantas flight for Buenos Aires. I hadn’t flow Qantas internationally for a lot of years. I was pleasantly surprised by the smooth checkin, loading of the airplane, a 747 in this case and the in-flight service.

It is a long flight to Buenos Aires as we skirt the edge of Antarctica. Mariola has brushed up on her Spanish and I’m very impressed by her progress so far. I remember a bit of my high school Spanish and a bit of a refresher course a couple of years ago.

I’ll attempt to keep the blog updated as we go but there may be some quiet days along the way as there are places where we won’t be able to get Internet access.

Hunter LIfestyle Magazine Article

In the current edition of the Hunter Lifestyle Magazine, Marilyn Collins wrote a nice article about me. She talked about my photography, moving to Newcastle, our involvement with guide dogs, the fundraising for the Leukaemia Foundation that was done on the exhibition opening night. I also got to display a number of my photos.

The highlight is that they are using one of my Squids Ink photos for the front cover of Issue forty six. When Marilyn asked me if they could use one of my photos for the front cover, I was understandably very pleased to say the least . The article is named Leave Only Footprints and opens with a full page of my Golden Tumble photo taken at Karijini National Park back in April.

The magazine hit the newstand in the Hunter on Thursday 28 October. Some select newsagents also carry the magazine in the Sydney and Central Coast regions.

Exhibition Update

The exhibition at Gallery RAW has been a huge success. Over the month of August, we had close to 400 visitors. I am also very pleased to announce that we raised $3290 for the Leukaemia Foundation. This has been an amazing fundraiser on opening night and I would like to thank all those that visited and purchased prints.

On the last day, it was actually sad to be taking down the prints off the walls. Fortunately, Gallery RAW  is running a new exhibition called “Eclectic”.

The “Eclectic” exhibition has works from Sarah Norton, Daniel Danuser, Naomi Frost, Renee Moore, Mark St. Clair, Sue Walker and as mentioned, yours truly.

Gallery RAW has the “Eclectic” exhibition running till the end of September, so make sure to visit.

Exhibition Opening Night

Opening night has now been and gone. It was a huge success, way beyond my expectations. I was able to raise a fair bit of money for the Leukaemia Foundation quite a few of my prints sold on the night. I’m just in the process of calculating the final figures.

Gallery RAW was open all weekend and it is very rewarding to have people come in the gallery and enjoy my photographs, makes for a wonderful feeling. So if you are in the area, do not hesitate to come in for a chat and check out my photos.