Brilliant photography from National Geographic Archives

National Geographic is the source for photos, free desktop wallpapers of places, animals, nature, underwater, travel, and more. The following 60 beautiful photographs has beautiful wild life, nature, people and bird photos.

Steve McCurry app

If you have an iphone or ipad then get this app. It is a collection of Steve’s most memorable portraits and a video of the great man talking about his work. Not only will it help you to kill those bored moments it will also improve your photography just by getting you to look at great photographs every so often

Here is the link you need

Whilst you are at the app store you might also want to check out the excellent Fotopedia Women here is a link to that

you should also have a look at the Fotopedia Heritage, a whole library of pictures from heritage sites around the world. Going somewhere interesting check out what you will see there, even better upload your own pictures here is the link for that

National Geographic Photo Contest 2012

As reported in the excellent the Atlantic magazine:

Once again, National Geographic is holding its annual photo contest, with the deadline for submissions coming up on November 30. Beginning on September 1, the society started gathering and presenting galleries of submissions, encouraging readers to vote for them as well. National Geographic was kind enough to let me choose among its entries from 2012 for display here on In Focus. Gathered below are 50 images from the three categories of People, Places, and Nature, with captions written by the individual photographers.

Here is a sample of some of the 50 images in the gallery here

Ninja Kangaroos: Young male kangaroos test their strength with “boxing” matches that mostly occur at dawn. One buck gets in the others face with its forepaws until the second one concedes and hops away, or stands up tall and faces its tormentor. Then the two grapple until an advantage is gained and one rears back onto its tail and kicks out with both its feet. Here the roo on the left clearly has its opponent on the retreat. Photo taken at Lake Cootharaba, Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia. (© raoul slater/National Geographic Photo Contest) #

Yosemite Valley at Dusk: A mist had settled over Yosemite Valley, as automobiles passed through, headlights illuminated the fog. (© Phil Hawkins/National Geographic Photo Contest) #

Chaos: A huge flock of Red-billed Queleas flies in to drink at the same time as an African Elephant in Tsavo National Park, Kenya. (© Antero Topp/National Geographic Photo Contest) #

Butterfly at sunset: Photographer Toni Guetta submitted this macro shot of a butterfly with the sunset in the background near Hod ha’sharon, Israel. (© Toni Guetta/National Geographic Photo Contest)

See the rest of these amazing images here

National Geographic Magazine: 50 Years of Covers

See some of the most compelling National Geographic covers from the last 50 years and learn about the significant milestones reported in the magazine’s pages—all of which are available in The Complete National Geographic, a collection of every issue of National Geographic magazine in a six-DVD-ROM set.see the gallery link here.…MORE

Photograph by Steve McCurry

June 1985—Afghan Girl
When photographer Steve McCurry took a young girl’s picture one morning in Pakistan, he created an image that would captivate millions around the world. The haunting green eyes that stared out from the June 1985 cover of National Geographic belonged to an unknown refugee who for 17 years was identified simply as the “Afghan girl.” She has since been located and was once again featured on the magazine’s cover in April 2002.

Photograph by Albert Moldvay

January 1967
Dressed for Eid al-Fitr festivities, two young girls play on a swing in Pakistan, then made up of two lands located on opposite sides of the Indian subcontinent. The cover’s traditional interior border of oak leaves and acorns, first introduced in 1910, begins to recede around the increasingly bold feature photographs.

Photograph by Michael Nichols

July 2006—Panda, Inc.
A year after his celebrated birth at the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington, D.C., panda cub Tai Shan appears on the cover of National Geographic with mother Mei Xiang. Unapologetic cuteness abounds on the pages within—something feature author Lynne Warren writes may, along with their persistent scarcity, largely contribute to the popularity of China’s beloved bear.

Photograph by David Doubilet

April 2000
A shot inside the notorious mouth of a great white shark is a fitting introduction to Jaws author Peter Benchley’s feature article on the threats facing the surprisingly fragile predator. Twenty-five years after the box-office hit based on his novel terrified moviegoers, Benchley and photographer David Doubilet set out to portray the ocean’s great hunters in a different light.

See them all here

National Photography Month

Although the actual month is not until June next year, just sneaking in before the 2012 Olympics, (I am still miffed at not getting tickets), the start of National Photography Month is heralded as the care and of images to make the biggest family album. Here is something from the organisers

“National Photography Month is the UK’s first event of its kind dedicated to celebrating the value of photography. Organised by the Photo Imaging Council and The Photo Marketing Association, and supported by organisations from the photography world including National Geographic and the Royal Photographic Society and leading photographic retailers and suppliers, National Photography Month, which will run during June 2012, will feature nation-wide events, celebrity exhibitions, a mobile Capture and Keep bus, and special offers from suppliers. Highlights include the creation of the world’s largest family album, as members of the public are invited to submit family snaps for a project which will be unveiled to mark the start of events, and a celebrity auction in aid of charity (further details below).

At the heart of the campaign is the message that the importance of photography lies not just in creating good images but in the role photographs have as historical records. The nation’s images represent a vast trove of personal histories. But while we are taking more pictures than at any other time, the fleeting nature of digital images means we are printing or keeping fewer of these important documents. National Photography Month aims to encourage the nation both to get more involved in photography, and to explore new ways to capture and keep life’s most important moments.”...more

I think Roger Toothwriting in the Guardian explains it better..”As the organisers put it, “Family ‘Memory Keepers’ – often mothers – no longer have the time to create albums, and the nature of modern photography means it is easy to leave images on disk or on line.”

This certainly rings true, so many pictures are left on computers that are in danger of failing with images locked on old hard disks, anything that encourages photographers – amateur and professionals – to think about long-term storage and editing is a good thing.

Perhaps the editing side is the more important. Due to digital photography far too many frames are being shot, with too little thought about sorting the wheat from the chaff.”…….more

A curated album of family pictures is a wonderful thing, but photographs also look good on screen, sometimes better as long as they are in some sort of order, not repetitive and are well captioned. Electronic storage is not so much of a problem with services like Flickr and other new “cloud-based” solutions coming available.”   

I think he sums it up here “We are in danger of drowning under a mass of digital images. Here’s hoping next year’s National Photography Month will help us remember to sort the wheat from the chaff”

 

Breathtaking Animal Photography from National Geographic

If I am honest, and I do try to be so, wildlife photography leaves me a bit cold. I understand the technical difficulties, the patience required, the dedication, but in the end it’s about being there, however many people think it is the reason to own a camera. Here are some very nice pictures of animals

Talking of Steve McCurry…

You may not know the name but you will know his most famous image.

Steve McCurry is one of the greatest photographers working today, his website is full of the most amazing images

Steve’s biography starts….. “Steve McCurry, recognized universally as one of today’s finest image-makers, has won many of photography’s top awards.  Best known for his evocative color photography, McCurry, in the finest documentary tradition, captures the essence of human struggle and joy.  Member of Magnum Photos since 1986, McCurry has searched and found the unforgettable; many of his images have become modern icons.  Born in Philadelphia, McCurry graduated cum laude from the College of Arts and Architecture at the Pennsylvania State University.  After working at a newspaper for two years, he left for India to freelance. It was in India that McCurry learned to watch and wait on life. “If you wait,” he realized, “people will forget your camera and the soul will drift up into view.”…more here

Steve also runs expeditions, I guess photographic workshops, what more could you ask for than to trail a master of photography around somewhere fascinating and take pictures, his website says the next is

MYANMAR EXPEDITION  13 DAYS, 12 NIGHT TOUR  January 23-February 4, 2012

Steve writes a blog also which is worth following as much as ours

What more can I say, one of the truly great photographers with a beautiful website where you can see and buy his pictures

Kodachrome: Final countdown

Not quite the end of film but definitely the end of an era.

The last days for getting your Kodachrome processed are nigh, end of November in the UK this article from BBC blogs tells all http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/photoblog/2010/10/kodachrome_final_countdown.html

Elegy for Kodachrome

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-philip-neches/elegy-for-kodachrome_b_654215.html

Do I care, well not really, I love digital, it has everything I need and has changed how I work only in positive ways (sorry for the pun)