“Tree trunks” at Petrified Forest National Park. Photo by Ian Shive

For his new book, “The National Parks, Our American Landscape,” conservation photographer Ian Shive didn’t just visit a few parks — he spent almost half a decade travelling the country, including one intense 20 day trip where he covered 7,500 miles and visited 17 national parks. “The book is a culmination of four years of image gathering across the entire country,” he said in an interview with NPR.

And what a culmination it is. Shive’s photographs portray America’s most beautiful landscapes (from a breath-taking gorge along the Rio Grande river in Big Bend National Park to the desolate whiteness around Mt. Foraker in Alaska’s Denali National Park) all in an intensely personal way that many people will never get to witness themselves. This, of course, is the sentiment Shive wants to get across. “The book simply inspires people to connect with the outdoors and our parks,” he says.

Shive, who works as for National Parks magazine and is a member of the International League of Conservation Photographers, has taken it upon himself to help with park conservation and the education of the public regarding places like Yellowstone and Yosemite Valley. His new book aims to to thrill, amaze and, most importantly, teach anyone looking to rediscover the wilds of America. “The power of a single image can never be replaced,” he said. “One image has the power to tell a story, spark imagination and educate people within a few seconds.”

Finally, when he was asked which park every American should see and photograph, he had to go with old faithful. “Yellowstone National Park,” he said, “because it has the ability to let a person step back in time and see the United States in a way that has been completely lost to development and expansion.”

To see more of Ian Shive’s work, pick up his new book –“The National Parks, Our American Landscape”– or check out his blog.

“Viaje a Giraradot, Colombia,” from Nereo: Images From Half a Century

The art of photography is about more than just capturing an image. It’s about telling a story. That’s the idea behind the new collection from world-renowned Colombian photographer Nereo Lopez Maria, who, in his 89 years, has told many stories.

“As photographers we are witnesses to the time in which we live; that’s why we have to tell the stories like they are,” said Nereo, who currently lives in Queens, New York. “I’m a photographer to recount life.”

Nereo: Images From Half a Century (available through Amazon for $40) features 63 black-and-white photos, each of which displays Nereo’s uncanny ability at capturing human emotion. The book covers only the first half of a storied career that has spanned six decades, yet it includes moving portraits from a budding master. Inside are photos from bull-fights, including one where hundreds of people are running away with mixed expressions of joy and terror, as well as sincere and moving portraits of young children, nursing mothers and the field-hardened faces of farm workers.

The collection also includes exclusive photographs of author Gabriel Garcia Marquez, whom Meza met in the early ’60s when he worked as a photo-journalist. The two would become life-long friends, and Meza would accompany Marquez on a trip to Sweden where the latter artist was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Images is the first book available in the United States to showcase the work of Nereo. And if it garners him any of the attention he receives in his home of Colombia, it definitely won’t be his last.

A year ago I put together an ebook “Taking Memorable Photographs” which you can download for free in case you missed it. I covered 5 tips for travel photography (or any photography for that matter.)

In September we traveled to South Africa and I posted a few shots to my portfolio, but (blush) I just got around to putting up a bunch more in SmugMug click to have a gander.  See if you can tell which of the tips I was using!

I plan to put together a short video with my shots giving specific tips on animal photography. Look for that early next year.

The biggest tip I can pass along: Find a great “ranger” (guide.) Ours, named Eric, was so in tune with the bush and where to look that we seemed to always be in the right place.  Or did he have the magical touch where he could “dial up” on demand zebras, lions, water buck or wild dogs? In any case it was amazing to spend days in the bush, going out 4 hours at dawn and another 4 hours at dusk, day after day.

Let me know what you think.

 Wedding in Franschhoek, South Africa

Look closely and you’ll see the steering wheel on the right side, where the chafferer is about to drive the happy couple off, over the rainbow.

Click here for more Africa Shots

Gathering at a small village on the edge of Kruger National Park

Boy and his burro in same village

Zebras, near Kruger National Park

Click here for more Africa Shots

We recently went to South Africa, what an amazing place for a photographer! I’m still processing over 1000 images that I returned with, but I’m putting up a few right away:

You see here one of the many lions we had a chance to meet!

We stayed at the beautiful and, as you can see, very conveniently located, Tinstwalo Safari lodge. We dinned with the many large game that came by to drink and bathe, or maybe just to drop by to see us!

Cape Buffalo at sunset, are, along with the hippo, considered to be the most dangerous animals in Africa.

Wild dogs are an endangered species and rarely seen.

Baby leopard (the other kind of leopard!)

Every sunset was an amazing time to shoot.

 Please stay tuned for more shots that I’ll be adding to my portfolio…

Last Friday, Robert Scoble, Thomas Hawk, Rocky Barbanica and I along with several loyal photowalkers took a walk along the San Francisco piers and later to the cable car museum. As always it’s fun to get out and see what’s out there to shoot, particularly since we were challenged by the harsh noontime sun. Here’s a few of the shots I got:

Robert Scoble captured Mr Big Oil!

Finally! Mr Big Oil captured and locked up!

Looking up into the roof of one of the piers we explored

A bit of a self portrait

Chain and shadow

The big rollers that pull little cable cars, half way to the stars…these were hand held shots, resting on the railing.

Nice to know you can drag your shutter when you don’t have a tripod!

Colors and patterns can be wherever you find them: trees, grass, sky, or in this case, snowboards.

No great shots but my first time out with the Olympus, like any new equipment there’s a learning curve, like not getting surf wax on the lens!

Surfer girl about to catch a wave

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Paddling out

Learning to shoot while on a board

Well here it is, my ebook

Click to download Taking Memorable Photographs

How to take photos to hang on your wall, not stuff in a shoebox!

This your to download and use, let me know how you like it!

Cheers,

Marc

London has been the hub of beauty and the amazing for countless ages. It’s been the place to go to recharge your creative batteries. I spent a great deal of time looking, looking, looking (that’s what photographers do!) at her many museums and galleries and made some interesting observations about the convention of fine art photography versus art in general. Suffice it to say, I see the need to broaden the art aspect of photography with perhaps less of the “fine” (restrictive) conventions. Remember, photography as an art form is still quite young compared to for example painting and still has a lot of growing to do. More to follow, stay tuned…