Under the Ocean Blue

Alicia

The alien-looking southern calamari squid is native to Australian and New Zealand coastlines. Its dot painting-like skin patterns are reminiscent of ancient Aboriginal paintings. It took me several weeks of night dives and patience to achieve this unique portrait: when I shot this frame I was elated!!Every professional and amateur photographer’s dream is to get that shot that is so alive and spontaneous, clear and concise in its story that there is no mistaking it for anything other than genius. Aspiring for that moment could take a lifetime and never be met. On the other hand, if you place yourself in an environment that is magical to begin with, you up your chances.

That’s exactly what underwater photographers do. Submersed in an other-worldly atmosphere that supplies the non-ordinary at every turn, presents opportunities that are unimaginable. To capture the unimaginable on film, results in a wildlife photographer’s dream come true.

It’s crucial to delve in to our underwater world and capture the wonders on film before the exterminators of pollution, global warming and unconscious humans denigrate them any farther.

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3 Nat Geo Wildlife Award Winners

Alicia

Wildlife photography has to be a passion, otherwise a photograph becomes just a picture. The discriminating eye behind the lens capturing the subject is more critical than the equipment or even the object of attention. Why? Because it’s an experiential and critical component to a loop of value that cannot be broken. Seeing, experiencing and sensing the spectacular or unusual, all come from the person behind the camera.

The world is filled with the “spectacular and unusual”, but not with the talent it takes to preserve the image of such far beyond and into posterity. Those individuals are a rarity and don’t necessarily need a raleigh nc limo service when stuck in the dessert or mountain top aiming to get a shot of a lifetime.

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For the Love of Wildlife

Alicia

ceromonyThe planet is an endless inspiration. With or without a photographer’s eye, it’s not hard to see the wonders that surround us in even our everyday life. It’s really a matter of stopping for a minute, taking a few deep and cleansing breaths and simply looking.

While at my daughter’s wedding last month I noticed the surrounding forest was teeming with the occasion. Critters were stirring, birds were playing around in the trees leaving tales of bird speak wherever they flew. Flowers graced the bushes and along the soft footpaths. It was as if the entire backdrop to Nica’s wedding was being staged deliberately by nature.

When the Kitchener wedding limo pulled up to the edge of the clearing and my beautiful girl stepped out, it was as if her new-bride radiance encompassed the life of the woods. As someone who appreciates the natural world, I seldom go anywhere without my camera. While this wasn’t what I could call “wildlife”, I saw it as a piece of life that had to be captured from the forest’s point of view.  Read more “For the Love of Wildlife”

African Safari Photo Shoots

Alicia

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The thrill of seeing African wildlife never lessens. For those who venture onto the Serengeti and expansive plains of the great continent never leave without having an experience indelibly engraved on their souls. Not only is the wildlife endlessly forthcoming in its magnificence, the scenery is often jaw dropping. As a photographer, when visiting Africa, I always find that magnificence with little to no effort.

My first trip to Africa was memorably the best. The first of most life changing events has a special impact that launches them into a category of their own. I was on a photo safari with 9 other people. I was the novice in the group which meant I had mentors – willing or not – around me the entire trip. Our lodging came with all the amenities of luxury camping. Other than a minor glitch requiring shower repair while out in the bush, I couldn’t have been happier if I were in a 5 Star Hilton.

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