Being a passionate wildlife photographer, I have been to many seminars and met quite a few of the ‘big guns’ in the business. Generally, they have been accessible and helpful, though there are exceptions ….
The very best Sushi in the US…right on my doorstep
August 25, 2009This is a review about the outstanding Sayka Sushi restaurant in Westlake Village, CA…..
Famous folks I’ve met – Brian May, the guitarist of Queen, and Anita Dobson
August 12, 2009This was a very brief but pleasant interaction, around the 1991 timeframe, but again, the memory is not good for dates…
Famous folks I’ve met – Gerry Anderson – Thunderbirds are GO!
August 11, 2009I can still remember watching Thunderbirds on TV in Australia in 1965/6. I was a fan then, and am a fan now. Yes, I own the DVD set, and I watched Captain Scarlet, Secret Service, Fireball XL5 and everything else. Gerry Anderson dreamed those programs up, and became the exponent of “Supermarionation”. He also did Space 1999, Terrahawks, Space Precinct and many others.
Famous folks I’ve met – Eugene (Gene) Kranz – NASA Flight Director, Mercury thru’ Apollo….
August 11, 2009I moved to the US in 1996, to North Carolina. I worked for a company based in Portland Oregon, which necessitated getting across the country a lot. I think in 1997, I did 31 return trips between Raleigh and Portland. Oh joy.
Anyway, one of the main office suppliers to my company announced they were having a seminar in Portland, and that Gene Kranz was going to be the guest speaker. Fortuitously, it turned out that I was in Portland at the time, and managed to take a couple of hours off to go along. I have been a space nut since I was a kid, and I vividly remember watching the television as Armstrong made his first steps. Hey, I even wrote a letter to Mr NASA when I was 8, offering my services as an astronaut…. Gene Kranz’s excellence was well known to me even back then – I used to scour the news for anything space related. Subsequently, I have devoured just about every space book there is to read, certainly to do with the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions. So I wasn’t going to miss this gig…..
Famous folks I’ve met – David Frost
August 10, 2009When I moved to London in 1983, I shared a house with 4 other Australians. Well, 4 permanently, but usually about 8 dynamically, as we had so many visitors…I think the maximum number of visitors we had sleep at the house on one night was 19. But I digress.
We had a few visitors yesterday….
August 9, 2009I was working in the office yesterday afternoon when our standard poodle ‘Charley’ started to light up. I went into the den to see him standing high on the back of the settee, barking loudly at a trio of mule deer – a doe and two youngsters. Charley was nearly apoplectic with frustration, being behind a window, however I know for a fact that if the glass wasn’t there, he would have been bravely barking from between my legs….
Mule deer doe and two offspring
Anyway, the deer were on the hill above our house, rather unconcerned about Charley’s cacophony, and hung around just long enough for me to grab a couple of frames through the window. Of course, my camera had a macro lens on it at the time, which had to be changed, then I had to find a CF card etc etc. Meanwhile, the deer were determinedly moving away, which made picture taking difficult, but better than nothing!
Mule deer doe
Talk on macro photography tonight
August 3, 2009I was asked by a local camera club to give a 30 minute presentation on macro photography this evening. Should be fun.
The emphasis is on teaching/learning, rather than a Roy Dunn Showcase with the requisite “Ooohs and Aaahs” – the latter doesn’t really float my boat the way it seems to with a lot of other photographers. Of course the predominance of images will be spiders, but there will be numerous other examples too. But my main message will be about technique and equipment, and how these days, even a modicum of gear can produce stunning results.
Details can be found at www.topcc.org/photo if you are in teh Thousand Oaks area.
I will post more interesting things on here soon, I promise…..
Famous folks I’ve met – Jimmy Carter, ex President of the United States
June 28, 2009Yes, I have met him, and shaken his hand!
