While out on one of my photo adventures…I came across a bees nest hanging from branches overhanging our fence. We cleaned the garden up last weekend, so this is the result of only one weeks nesting. What busy little bees
National Geographic photographer Michael Nichols is one of the world’s foremost wildlife photographers. But he recently said that he’d happily spend the rest of his life photographing trees. Of course, the folks over at National Geographic would almost certainly never hear of it. Nichols’ newfound love developed after a serious, yearlong relationship with redwoods.
At least 1,500 years old, this 300-foot giant in California’s Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park has the most complex crown ever mapped. (Michael Nichols/National Geographic)
Wildlife photographer Michael Nichols did it by taking a bunch of close-ups using a special camera rig and stitching them together digitally. NPR has the full story here.
I think the comment from Mum to be of Victoria within the blog post sums it up nicely.
“I am certainly planning to breastfeed and I think this is one of the most beautiful photos of Angelina I’ve seen. A nursing mother may be sexy but the act of breastfeeding is not a form of foreplay that will turn on “every man”.
Jolie may make breast-feeding more popular.
By Jill Serjeant in Los Angeles | October 11, 2008 11:45am
A MAGAZINE cover photo of Angelina Jolie breast-feeding one of her newborn twins may have turned the superstar actress into a role model for new mothers.
The photo, taken by Jolie’s partner Brad Pitt, will adorn the November issue ofW magazine.
Other family pictures taken by Pitt in the weeks after the birth in July of twins Vivienne Marcheline and Leon Knox will appear inside.
“I think it is fabulous. Seeing a celebrity like Angelina Jolie breast-feed can be a role model to encourage women to make a choice that is wonderful for their baby,” said Andi Silverman, mom of two and author of Mama Knows Breast.
“Breasts are used to sell all sorts of products, so to see them used the way nature intended can only be a great thing,” Silverman said.
But while breast-feeding support groups and moms celebrated Jolie’s public statement, one expert said the picture felt like voyeurism, especially given Jolie’s sex symbol status in movies like Wanted and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider.
About 70 per cent of American mothers breast-feed their newborns but the rate falls dramatically after six months, according to official figures.
Jolie, 33, is not the first celebrity to be photographed nursing her baby. Model Jerry Hall appeared on the pages of Vanity Fair in 1991 breast-feeding Gabriel, her son with Mick Jagger.
But that was a generation ago, and Jolie’s global influence as a style-setter and through her humanitarian travels and support of kids in third world countries, ensured the impact of the photo of her special moments with her baby.
“The response from moms we have seen is that if someone as popular, beautiful and together as Angelina is breast-feeding her children, it inspires other women to do so themselves,” said Dr Shannon Fox, a psychotherapist with the Momlogic website.
Little is seen in the picture of the act of breast-feeding. It shows Jolie smiling, while a tiny hand is just visible at bottom of the frame.
But Dr Fox said the cover photo sends a second message.”The problem is that she is also an international sex symbol. So whether or not she says ‘This is a beautiful way of nurturing my baby’, every man who sees that photo will see those breasts as sexual,” Dr Fox said.
La Leche League International, the world’s oldest breast-feeding support organisation, said the photo was particularly welcome as Jolie has twins.
“Mothers of twins report it takes a lot of time, effort and physical energy to breast-feed. I think the picture is beautiful,” said La Leche League International spokeswoman Jane Krouse.
Fisheyes are some of the most fun, most extreme and most challenging lenses you can work with. They can produce spectacular photos, and they can produce junk. In that respect, they’re like other lenses, only more extreme.
I won’t say much about the optical characteristics of these lenses. Reading this, you probably already know what a fisheye lens is, but here are a few quick facts: Fisheye lenses come in two flavours: Full frame and circular. Nikon pioneered the development of such lenses, releasing the World’s first normal production fisheye lens (Nikkor 8mm f/8) for 35mm photography in 1962.
Since then, Nikon have made several different fisheye variants. The most common version today is the full frame 16mm f/2.8, and its digital equivalent, the 10.5mm f/2.8. The most extreme version is undoubtedly the impressive 6mm f/2.8, weighing a hefty 5.2 kg. The lens was only available by special order. (See photo near bottom of page)
Fisheye lenses were first developed for scientific purposes, but soon found their way into "normal use" (whatever that is).
A classic, circular fisheye shot. A relatively mundane photo, except for the fisheye effect: