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Get out and go: Events around the world (November 11-15) {Gadling}
Nov 11th 2009 1:32PM Great photo. Who took it? Most of time you guys have at least a photo credit with the images that accompany articles, but I don't see one here. I'd love to get a print.
Max
Top Ten Most Badass Animals Native to the USA {Gadling}
Nov 9th 2009 5:30PM Interesting about the size discrepancy, but the attack still seems to be an isolated incident that is very atypical of human/coyote interactions. Because of one person's somewhat fluky and well-publicized death, it's a nasty beast to be feared by all? I'm sorry, I don't buy it. Some blue whales recently attacked and sank a boat in Baja (http://sailing-jworld.blogspot.com/2009/10/hey-all-so-it-was-eventful-day.html). Did they come in at #11, or are the west coast blue whales not large enough to be scary? ;)
Still an eastern coyote certainly sounds more intimidating than a bobcat, whose appearance on this list apparently boils down to where they place their big pointy teeth and the fact that they can get rabies (which as Rick pointed out probably makes much more common urban wildlife more dangerous).
And more importantly, where's hogzilla?!
Top Ten Most Badass Animals Native to the USA {Gadling}
Nov 9th 2009 12:42PM What a bizarre article.
I'd hardly describe coyotes as "bad ass." They're all over the place out west, including up here in Seattle, and are usually shy loners. The attack mentioned in that article is the first time I've ever heard of a coyote-related human death. They're not big and don't travel in packs very often, except in certain environments such as Yellowstone where tough conditions and competing predators (namely wolves) occasionally necessitate them to travel and hunt in groups of more than two or three. Coyotes will display aggressive behavior if you approach a den site or if they've been fed... but this is hardly a vicious, bloodthirsty animal that humans should fear. More people have probably died by tripping over their house cat than at the jaws of a coyote, but that doesn't make the house cat a bad ass animal.
In fact, it's important to point out that several of the species on these lists, including wolves, bears and mountain lions, will generally want to run away from you first. I've had a couple of face-to-face encounters with mountain lions, and they were either shy or skittish, or ignored me. There's no question they are dangerous, but typically these animals fear humans.
How about we replace the coyote with the bison. It's huge and is far more dangerous to humans, and it's the only mammal that doesn't get cancer. Now that's bad ass. ;)
Max
In the Corner of the World: Fox Glacier {Gadling}
Nov 5th 2009 5:22PM If you can afford it, doing the heli-hike onto the glacier is worth it. That was one of the highlights of our NZ trip earlier this year. The chopper drops you off in the middle of the glacier, and your guide leads you around for a few hours looking for ice caves and other cool features.
Max
Top ten things not to forget on a trip {Gadling}
Oct 20th 2009 2:41PM Two of the top things on my list are a watch and a headlamp or small flashlight.
I've missed an international flight before thanks to a faulty alarm in the room and the front desk forgetting to provide the requested wake-up call, and since I don't feel I can always rely on my cell phone, the watch is a must. I never wear it at home, only on the road.
The headlamp/flashlight (I often pack both) are usually more necessary in some of the more out-of-the-way places I travel, but something like that can come in handy even if you're just stumbling around in the dark in a hostel in Europe.
Max
Photo of the Day 10.12.09 {Gadling}
Oct 13th 2009 1:37AM Thanks Karen.
btw- no desaturation in this shot... there just wasn't any color coming out of the frame due to high contrast and those dark tones.
The whales were amazing to watch. It was my first opportunity to photograph cetaceans, and they didn't disappoint. If you look at today's image I just posted, you'll see what I mean. ;)
Max
Do solo adventures break up relationships? {Gadling}
Oct 9th 2009 4:42PM It doesn't surprise me, and I'm in a relationship in which my wife and I travel a lot together, but I also travel overseas without her sometimes. The closest we ever came to breaking up (pre-marriage) was actually immediately after a trip together, not a solo trip.
I travel alone (usually on some photo-related adventure, to Costa Rica, northern Sweden, the Canadian coast, etc.) because she can't get as much time off work, so there isn't any deeper meaning the solo jaunts.
Still, I can see how it would cause issues with certain folks. There's something about exploring a new place for a longer period of time on your own that is empowering and exhilarating. Even if you don't "meet someone" else there, it's possible that you may come away with a greater fondness for freedom and less of a need to rely on someone else (such as your partner).
Max
Through the Gadling Lens: photographing skies {Gadling}
Oct 1st 2009 4:17PM Karen, thanks for picking my night sky shot. I must've added that to the pool a long time ago! ;)
That's actually my Swedish guide in the photo. If I had done a better job explaining what I wanted, he may have stayed still a bit better. But it was COLD, so standing in place for the 25 second exposure was tough. I was up on a windswept ridge trying to get photos of the Northern Lights (one or two of which I believe you guys have featured here), and noticed the moonrise. Had I more time to experiment and slightly less of the gusting, bone-chilling wind to deal with, the execution undoubtedly could've been better. But the photo still does a decent job of expressing the mystical scenery on that cold winter night.
I have a few other details about shooting auroras in my Flickr stream if anyone's curious about how to pull those off, but as to some other general sky tips, I'd like to pass one along that I used for the first time last week.
During my recent trip to Canada's Great Bear Rainforest, I was lucky to see one clear, blazing sunset. One of those sunsets where the sun is like a big glowing ball as it dips beneath the horizon. The problem with sunsets and sunrises is that unless you have a lot of African or Santorini haze working for you, the sun often gets washed out in photos. I was having this problem as I shot the sunset last week, and then remembered that I had packed my graduated neutral density filters. Though I've hardly used them, and never for a sunset before, I figured they might offer a chance to lessen the exposure of the bright sun without darkening the entire image. It took a lot of experimentation, but the process worked fairly well. I was able to get some decent sunset shots with something that actually looked like the sun, and not just an amorphous glowing blob.
Max
Sanctuary Swala reopens in Tanzania {Gadling}
Sep 16th 2009 7:12PM Tarangire is worth the visit. It gives you a good variety of wildlife and is much less crowded than the more popular Serengeti and Ngorongoro. Southern Tarangire is more heavily treed (which makes it harder to find animals), but it's also one of the few places in the northern park circuit where you can see the beautiful kudu antelope.
Max
Through the Gadling Lens: 5 photography items I'm glad I blew money on {Gadling}
Sep 3rd 2009 12:24PM I look at camera bodies and lenses as the basic necessities for shooting (duh), so none of it really stands out to me. It's the accessories that sometimes stand out to me by making the shooting process noticeably easier or more fun.
Items like my Epson storage device, which was pricey thanks to its huge LCD screen, but which is really handy for reviewing photos on the road or showing them off to others (putting on an impromptu slideshow).
I'm really happy with my ThinkTank belt and pouch system, which has been a blessing for adventure travel. The shoulder straps take a load off my back and it still gives me room to carry a small backpack. If any decent amount of walking or hiking is involved on a trip, I'm definitely bringing it along.
Photographer Andy Biggs, who leads photo tours in Africa, recommended a travel power strip to me that has interchangeable power cords based on the country you're in. It's been a fantastic investment and has allowed me to easily power multiple batteries, my storage device and my laptop while on the road in places using a variety of plug types in places such as Rwanda (Euro), Tazania (UK), New Zealand (Aussie) and Costa Rica (US).
Max
