Ananda Temple near sunset, Bagan, Myanmar Ananda Temple is a revered masterpiece of Mon architecture, and is the largest, finest, and best preserved of the Bagan temples. Built around 1105, this perfectly proportioned temple signals the stylistic end of the Early Bagan period (1044-1113) and the beginning of the Middle period. It was damaged in the 1975 earthquake and has now been restored.

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"It's a beautiful day and I feel like s i n g i n g!"

Snowy owl enjoys a sunny day. For the next frame, showing his goofy little smile following his 'performance', see here http://goo.gl/yhduA

Lighting workshop-7

Today I'm posting the last of the photos I took at the SmugMug/FishEye Connect lighting and processing workshop held at Christopher Pike's studio in Vancouver. Kudos to the models, who were volunteers and did an excellent job! I hope everyone realized that I was kidding yesterday about becoming a studio photographer - I'm too addicted to adventure and wildlife to shut myself up in studio! (Although the challenge of pet photography might be fun LOL)

Kassapa (South) Buddha, Ananda Temple, Bagan, Myanmar.

This is one of two original buddhas dating to the construction of the temple in 1105 AD. The hand position is dhammachakka mudra, symbolising the Buddha's first sermon.

The statue is carved of teak and covered with pure gold leaf. It attests to the skill of the carvers that the appearance of the buddha changes from sad to smiling depending on how far away you are. In this photo, I chose a distance where he was smiling :-). (best seen at larger sizes)

Ananda Temple near sunset, Bagan, Myanmar

Ananda Temple is a revered masterpiece of Mon architecture, and is the largest, finest, and best preserved of the Bagan temples. Built around 1105, this perfectly proportioned temple signals the stylistic end of the Early Bagan period (1044-1113) and the beginning of the Middle period. It was damaged in the 1975 earthquake and has now been restored.

Buddha and wall paintings, Htilominlo Temple (1218 AD), Bagan, Myanmar

Boys showing off by climbing the anchor rope so they can dive back into the water, Teluk Dalam, Nias Island, Sumatra

Blue heron demonstrating its fishing technique, Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Delta, BC

Note the eye just peeking above the water.

Mount Baker and Birch Bay catching the setting sun, Delta, BC

Mount Baker (10,761 feet) is an active volcano (second only to Mount Saint Helens) that last vented in 1975 and 1999. It is the most heavily glaciated in the Cascade range after Mt. Ranier, and its massive snow cone looks spectacular when it turns pink in the rays of the setting sun. It is also one of the snowiest places in the world; in 1999, the Mount Baker Ski Area, set the world record for snowfall in a single season—an amazing 1,140 inches (equals 95 feet or 29 meters!!). John Bennett, with 2 others, made an early first attempt to scale the mountain in 1866 - was he related to our SmugMug photographer of the same name?

Some more snowy owl pics, one with Mount Shuksan in the background, can be seen here http://goo.gl/MT3nj

Spent the last 2 days getting the new computer in shape, hopefully getting this 2 month saga finished with and now able to catch up with my commenting, etc.

"Why should the tiger have all the fun and get all the credit?"

Hippo demonstrates why he should have received an oscar nomination by attempting to sing the best song.
Further funny fotos found here http://goo.gl/QyeHh

Sorry, not much time to comment today, I am rebuilding the software and files on my replacement computer :-(

File info: The hippo was in an old quarry with fairly deep water near the shore. Taken near sunset from around 40 to 50 ft away, from a 4WD vehicle with a Nikon D800 on a monopod. Sigma lens 150-500 mm, at 500 mm, f6.3, shutter priority at 1/640 sec, ISO 1400. Center weighted metering. In Africa, I tend to use shutter priority since the most interesting action happens pretty fast, and usually the subjects are far enough away that DOF is not so important. When the light gets lower, as here, that means that the ISO tends to creep up, but the D800 is very good with noise up to around 1600 ISO. It is important to anticipate the action and be ready, since the hippos are underwater and you can never be sure when they will come up. I use center weighted metering and put the sensor in the middle of the screen and try to get the eye in focus there. Since the D800 has such large files, you can then crop for the most pleasing composition. In post-processing I rarely use any sharpening, and put the default sharpening in both Camera Raw and Smug Mug at zero. I also use little or no noise reduction, and none at all below around ISO 800.

Ananda Temple near sunset, Bagan, Myanmar

Ananda Temple is a revered masterpiece of Mon architecture, and is the largest, finest, and best preserved of the Bagan temples. Built around 1105, this perfectly proportioned temple signals the stylistic end of the Early Bagan period (1044-1113) and the beginning of the Middle period. It was damaged in the 1975 earthquake and has now been restored.