I have heard so many nice things about the Nikon D3 so I borrowed one for the weekend to take it for a spin. I was not sure what to expect, but the conditions made for a real good field test. The light was rather poor and it was snowing, making auto focus rather hard. The camera was pushed to ISO 800 to get the sufficient shutter speed and dynamic auto focus was selected. The result was somewhat surprising. The images in themselves were not breathtaking in any way, but I nailed a couple of shots I would not expect to get under these circumstances. This short test run really made me curious what this camera can do, not to mention the D3x.
As an educated behavioural ecologist I felt the urge to congratulate Charles Darwin (12. February 1809) on his 200th birthday. Of course he is not still alive, but being one of the greatest scientist of all time I feel he deserve the humble attention he can get from my blog.
His greatest work; The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, has been the basis of many studies after it was first published in 1859. In many ways these admirable reflections on the natural world of his time has been the foundation of my own fascination of nature. The diversity of species, sexual selection, elaborate ornamentation and all that has to do with what we love about nature, and what flipped society up side down 150 years ago is all thanks to a a curios boy from Shrewsbury, England. To read more about Darwin go her.
As a celebration I have added an image of Elephant Seals mating. This is a perfect example on how natural (or more correctly sexual) selection works. Only the largest and strongest males have been able to mate. As a result the males have outgrown the females, and today size dimorphism in Southern Elephant Seals are one of the greatest known in mammals. The female weighs about 600kg, while the male reaches an astonishing 4000kg. The biggest male ever to be caught was about 5 tons!
Northern Goshawk, Rogaland, Norway Canon EOS-1D Mark III, 500mm, f/4, 1/250 sek @ f/4, ISO 250
It has now been more than a week since the blog was last updated. This is not good enough! But, I have been extremely busy with talks, meetings and, luckily, some photography. The weather is stunning at the moment, crisp and cold, and I am hoping for some eagle action soon. Until then you will have to do with this Northern Goshawk.
It is always nice to get a cover. This time it is one of my King Penguin shots from November that has been chosen as cover for the Estonian nature photography magazine LOFO. The image was taken during a blizzard on Salisbury Plains in South-Georgia, during an intense session that really put the equipment to the test.
LOFO, or Loodusfotoajakiri, is a high quality magazine with excellent print and a high standard on their images. In the present issue there is also a thirteen page portfolio article displaying some of my work in an excellent way.
If you are interested in knowing more about LOFO, and perhaps get your own copy, check out their website her.
