Just stumbled upon this article on the net! As we are all photography lovers, I’m delighted to share it with you

The winners in twelve categories of the 2011 British Wildlife Photography Awards (BWPAs) have been announced.

Aiming at honoring talented wildlife photographers, this year’s competition attracted thousands of photographers across the country and was considered as “a special opportunity to give the natural world that surrounds us the recognition, and reverence, it deserves.”

Jellyfish in the Blue Sea of Sula Sgeir, Scotland by Richard Shucksmith

Richard Shucksmith is the 2011 BWPAs overall winner with his photos of a jellyfish entitled “Jellyfish in the Blue Sea of Sula Sgeir, Scotland”. He captured the image at Sula Sgeir, a small uninhabited Scottish island, 41 miles north of Lewis.

This photo also wins the Coast and Marine category

“Mystical Deer” taken by Mark Smith in Richmond, Surrey, England, wins Animal Portraits category

“Champagne Starling” captured by David Biggs in Bayston Hill, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England, wins Urban Wildlife category

“Grey Heron Walking on Water” photographed by Andrew Parkinson in Derbyshire, England, wins Animal Behaviour category

“Busy Wasp on Blackberries” taken by Rana Dias in Horley, Surrey, England, wins Wildlife in My Backyard category

“Hare in Morning Light with Hoar Frost” posed by Ian Paul Haskell in Norfolk, wins Habitat category

“Scorpion Fly on a Leaf” captured by Leslie Holburn in County Durham, England, wins Hidden Britain category

“Thick-legged Flower Beetle on Corn Marigold” posed by Ross Hoddinott in Pentire Point, near Newquay, Cornwall, England, wins British Seasons category

“It’s Only a Game” photographed by Neil Aldridge in Hertfordshire, England, wins Documentary Series category

The winner of Young British Wildlife Photographers, Up to 11 Years category, is Walter Lovell, 8, with “Frog Checking Its Frogspawn”

The winner of Young British Wildlife Photographers, 12 to 18 Years category, is Oliver Wilks, 16, with “Red Fox Yawning After His Afternoon Nap”

“Ladybird on Rose” taken by William Richardson in London, England, is highly commended in Hidden Britain category

Summer Wildlife 2011

Source of the article: Ezimark.com

Enjoy!

Janice

Snow covered Wagon Wheels Fence - Janice Dugas Photography 2010

We join spokes together in a wheel,
but it is the center hole
that makes the wagon move.

We shape clay into a pot,
but it is the emptiness inside
that holds whatever we want.

We hammer wood for a house
but it is the inner space
that makes it livable.

We work with being,
but non-being is what we use.
—The Tao Te Ching

KODAK Travel Bag Black |    KODAK ESP Office 6150 All-in-One Printer

123RF Banque d’images

Click on the arrow above to view short video taken this morning during the beautiful snow fall.

Tried to capture the beauty of it all…

Snowy Bench

Let’s all get our cameras ready for winter scenery shots!

Talk soon,

Janice

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I heard about leaving books on a bench, in the airplane or on a subway seat to read and pass on thereafter in the same manner, but framed photography placed in unique locations to be picked up and cherished?

Yep! That’s what a guy named Mrog Deville does. His project “This Was Found” is an experiment to create and distribute free photographic art to the masses.

Mrog Deville makes prints of photographs, frames them, and then leaves them in various locations. The works might be left untouched for the public to view, or people can take them home to treasure them. Finders can visit the website and report the framed print as being picked up.

Street Art - Framed Photography by Mrog Deville | thiswasfound.org

“These locations are not where you would normally put artworks.  We hope the works will persist in these locations, or be picked up by members of the public, who will go home and treasure them forever.  Otherwise the works may be picked up by the bin men, and that will be that.”

Framed Photography - Street Art

Talking about unique creativity!

On their website, we can read comments from people who reported back their finds. Some of them even sent a photograph showing the framed photography in their home.

This is cool …

Source: http://www.thiswasfound.org/about/

Click on the Image For Larger Size | Source: thiswasfound.org

Log on to Mrog’s site and discover more about this unique distribution approach for photographic art.

Do leave your feedback about this project in the comments section below. We all would love to hear your thoughts.

Happy shooting!

Talk soon,

Janice

Source: Journal Vert - Edition#97- Vol2 - Aout-Sept 2011

This spectacular shot was taken at the entrance of Katlian Bay, in Alaska. The whale came up to the surface to gather food from a bank of herrings. (They are visible around the kayak.)

The kayakist, a dentist from Sitka, has not been injured and survived this terrifying experience.

The shot was immortalized by someone that was inside the ferry terminal who couldn’t do much more than shouting encouragement words to the sporty kayakist enticing him to paddle faster, while keeping his fingers crossed.

OUF!

That’s what we call a close-up view of a whale!!

Whale Watching Tour in Zodiac Boat on St Lawrence River - Tadoussac, Quebec

It reminds me of some thoughts of fear that creeped to mind while whale watching on the  St-Lawrence River in the beautiful Province of Quebec, Canada, last year.

Departure from Tadoussac Harbor -Whale Watching- St Lawrence River, QC, Canada | Photo Scotiana.com 2011

We were 12 people + the captain, in a zodiac embarcation, and were not too assured that a whale could not lift us up in the air if it so wished!

Whale Watching on the St Lawrence River, near Tadoussac, QC, Canada | Photo: Scotiana.com 2011

Difficult to say what kind of whales we’ve seen here, given the fact that we can see so little of the beast. There were many “common rorquals” for sure and maybe a blue whale. There  seemed to be two distinct species swimming there.

Whale Watching on the St-Lawrence River, near Tadoussac, Quebec | Photo: Scotiana.com 2011

Just in front of us… a few yards only! It suddenly came to our mind that they might be swimming under the boat… Mightbe or maybe?!

Anyway, it’s magical time!  Everything is so quiet!  So luminous!

That’s really a great moment on our Blue Road adventure! We’ll never forget it!

Whale Watching on the St Lawrence River inside a Zodiac boat near Tadoussac, Quebec | Photo: Scotiana.com 2011

All went fine and we came back safe and sound with the most fondest memories of this very spectacular adventure.

Talk soon!

Have a great week.

Janice

PS: Don’t forget to bring your camera where ever you go

Update:

Surfing can lead you to BIG encounters! Watch this short video where surfer was almost swallowed by a whale!

Our Travel Photos – Scotland

Greenknowe Tower in the Scottish Borders near Melrose.

Built in 1581, the Tower is also called Greenknowe Castle. It’s L shape, four storey house, still has its original iron gate but from the first floor hall upwards, remains roofless.

Greenknowe Tower - Scottish Borders - Photo: Scotiana c2007

Greenknowe Tower - Scottish Borders - Photo: Scotiana c2007

Greenknowe Tower - Scottish Borders - Photo: Scotiana c2007

Greenknowe Tower - Scottish Borders - Photo: Scotiana c2007

Greenknowe Tower - Scottish Borders - Photo: Scotiana c2007

Greenknowe Tower - Scottish Borders - Photo: Scotiana c2007

While visiting, we recorded the gate’s sound and upon our return, produced this little video…

Click on the arrow to watch it!

For more information on the Greenknowe Tower:

Hunting down Scottish Greenknowe Towers Ghosts

Undiscovered Scotland website

Bon Voyage & Happy Shooting,

Janice “I Love Scotland” Dugas

|Canada Goose (Bernache du Canada) - Janice Dugas Photography 2011 |

“There is no light without shadow”

Louis Aragon

****

When I saw through the lens her shadow lying on her back, it reminded me of the above Aragon’s verse

Happy shooting!

Janice

Janice Dugas Photography 2011

Notice the staring eyes from the birch trees…

Is it only a matter of perception?

Talk soon

Janice

For 123Rf.com featured photographer of the month,  Cathy Keifer, it did!

In an recent interview inside which she shares her insights on how to progress from a beginner to a full fledged photographer, Cathy was asked:

11. From your experience, what subjects gives you the greatest satisfaction? Any examples?

Shooting tiny subjects seems to give me the most satisfaction since they would usually go unseen without the magic of macro photography. My close contact with insects and spiders has reversed my fear of them into a love of them.

Spider - Macro Photography - Cathy Kiefer

Cathy has a quirky passion for small creatures and delivers great tips on how to capture them in action. We surely can feel her love of nature and studio photography.

Insect Photography by Cathy Kiefer

Don’t miss out on this great Hear It Interview at 123RF.com and be sure to pick up golden nuggets as you read along Cathy Kiefer’s answers to the following questions:

1. Production Equipment: Please list the production equipment that you use on a regular basis (eg. Cameras, lenses, flash & lighting, photo editing software).
2. What do you think of photography these days?
3. What did you want to be when you were younger?
4. Tell us about the time when you first got started in photography
5. In your opinion, what does it take to become successful in this industry?
6. What was your biggest challenge coming into this industry?
7. What are the best perks as a Photographer?
8. How do you plan for your shooting sessions?
9. How would you describe your work to first time viewers?
10. Do you shoot to what your heart tells you or do you go through a complex check list in your mind when you produce your work? Describe the feeling/check list.11. From your experience, what subjects gives you the greatest satisfaction? Any examples?
12. From your experience, what subjects are the hardest to work with? Any examples?
13. What is your philosophy when it comes to your work?
14. Describe who/what inspires you, tell us why?
15. What do you do when those creative juices just seems to evade you. How do you “get creative”?
16. Tell us about a time when inspiration just hits you, and you felt the insatiable urge to create. What did you do with that energy?
17. What have you discovered about yourself through photography?
18. Whose work do you admire the most? Why?
19. Do you have any advice for those who are just getting in to stock photography?

Two red spotted purple butterflies are sitting on thistle-Photography by Cathy Kiefer

The above nineteen questions forms the basic of each monthly interview done by 123RF.com with great photographers. Discover Yuri Accurs and Andrea Haase answers as well!

Are you getting 123RF.com monthly free newsletter? If not, you are missing out on great creative ideas for your photography, and I would recommend that you join now.

Buy and Sell Photography Online

Enjoy and talk soon!

I’ve been reading some articles on the new 3D cameras coming out on the market and wanted to know more about this new technology as it seems that it will revolutionize the way we capture images and/or create videos.

Fujifilm Fine Pix Real 3D W3

First I heard about was the Finepix Real 3D W3 , so I hopped over to YouTube to check out videos about this camera.

Here’s an hands-on preview video by Mat Gallagher of WhatDigitalCamera.com Magazine interviewing Mat Trim, a professional photographer using this camera.

Some Pro’s

- to be able to check the result instantly in the 3.5 inch viewer without having to wear 3D glasses

- capability of  viewing your photos and videos on 3D televisions 

- advanced 2D shooting (you can take  a wide shot and a long focus shot at the same time) because you have in fact 2 cameras inside

-allows your creativity to spin off ( ex: take a black & white shot & a colour shot at the same time!) Wow..

and much more, as described in the video.

Some Con’s:

- heavier weight because of the two lenses

- need of much lighting or else results are a bit grainy.

Advantages:

- the camera can be switched back to 2D shooting mode.

Another way of seeing your photos in 3D is to have them printed. Stunning results but the tag price is approximately $7. 00 per photo.

To get the most of this camera, it will surely ask that we review our “photography basics” if we want to produce extraordinary scenes similar to the ones seen in the film Avatar.

Source: coolest-gadgets.com

Shortly, 3D cameras and camcorder will be “the next big thing”! So, why keep your visual memories in a flat and traditional form when you can archive your precious photographs in real 3D for years to come?

Christmas is around the corner, have a wish list? I do… ;-)

If you experienced already with this camera or other 3D cameras, do leave a comment below about it. We will be delighted to hear your thoughts.

Thanks in advance,

Janice

PS: leaving soon for a month’s travel inside “La Belle Province du Québec”, in Canada, with my dear friends flying over from France, Mairiuna and Jean-Claude with whom I co-author the blog “Everything Scotland“.   We will come back with “tons” of photos to share with you.

Meanwhile, take care and happy shooting!