Discovery Channel Hosts Sarah Palin!!

That's right, the Discovery Channel is going to do a series on Alaska hosted by Sarah Palin! What in hell are they thinking of? It's an outrage to have someone who promotes aerial slaughter of wolves, hunting brown bears, fought against protection of polar bears. Send a message to Discovery by signing this petition: http://bit.ly/asQOUr

My First Published Work!!

Cleaning out some files a while ago I found this. Never got a favorable review from the New York Times Book Review. In fact, never got reviewed. And no autograph parties. Bummer. Do you suppose it was the cover design? Maybe a sexier title would have been better.

I'll be posting soon a video of the reactor I blew up. Stay tuned (or run for shelter).

Stop the Destruction of Orangutan Habitat

Palm oil plantations are destroying prime rainforest habitat in Borneo. I've seen it firsthand. Nestle is a big user of palm oil. Send them a message.

Have a break? from Greenpeace UK on Vimeo.

Uh oh, I've been exposed!

An Outrageous Idea

The Republic of Tanzania and Zambia have submitted a controversial proposal to CITES, the Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species, for a one time sell-off of over 80 tons of ivory. The 15th CITES conference will convene from March 13-25th in Doha, Qatar and these two countries will need 66% of the 175 country votes in order to proceed. Some other African countries support lifting the ban on sales, notably South Africa, Namibia and Botswana.

The proposal by Tanzania and Zambia includes a de-listing of the African elephant from Appendix I to Appendix II (little to no trade control). This perhaps is the most threatening and alarming part of the proposal, and if approved could have wide-spread and devastating impacts for elephant herds across Africa.

More information Here: http://bit.ly/aLqdOd

My talk at the 9th World Wilderness Congress in Merida, Mexico in November, 2009. Don't worry, it's only about 6 minutes - discussion about the Serengeti ecosystem and an excerpt from my forthcoming book, Serengeti: the Stillness of the Eternal Beginning. Wild9 was attended by 1800 delegates from over 60 different countries. Some amazing things were accomplished here in helping to preserve wilderness worldwide.
WILD9 - Boyd Norton (English) from The WILD Foundation on Vimeo.

Frosty Evergreen Morning

It was actually warmer in Irkutsk (28 degrees low) than it was here in Evergreen (19 degrees on our thermometer). Made for some nice photos of frost on the ponderosa pines.

Serengeti

Serengeti video ~ 3 minutes

We have a few spaces open (max of 12) on our May 22 - June 2, 2010 photo trip.
Information: http://www.wildernessphotography.com/tanzania.htm

Siberia's Jackson Hole - the Barguzin Valley

In the summer of 1990 I started work on my Lake Baikal book (published in 1992 by the Sierra Club). While there I made a side trip with the late David Brower and some other environmentalists to a marvelous valley east of Baikal - the Barguzin Valley.

We were the first Americans ever to set foot here and it was an incredible experience. Like Jackson Hole it is a flat valley with a major river winding through it - the Barguzin River. And like Jackson Hole it has a spectacular mountain range rising abruptly over 7000 feet above the valley floor. It is twice as long as Jackson Hole and the towns, villages and farms here are populated largely by Buryat people noted for their horsemanship and descendants of Genghis Khan's mongol warriors. (The Buryats are also Buddhists.)

Since that first trip I have been back many times to Baikal and the Barguzin Valley. We worked with Russian environmentalists to have Lake Baikal designated a World Heritage Site. And we had hoped to expand the existing Zabaikalski National Park to include at least a part of the Barguzin Valley but that has not happened yet.

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of that first trip I will be leading one of my photo eco-tours to Lake Baikal (and the Barguzin Valley) in the summer of 2010. If anyone would like to join us, contact me: boydn@earthlink.net.

More Baikal photos here: http://www.wildernessphotography.com/Baikal/index.html

Also, watch for my article on Lake Baikal in the November issue of Audubon magazine.

Photographer Silliness - Who the Hell Cares What Kind of Camera, Lens, Tripod You Used?

Someone once asked Ansel Adams what equipment he used to make his marvelous photographs and he replied, "A camera was faithfully used." (photo at left, Ansel greeting us at his home in Carmel in May, 1968)

I've been guilty in the past of techno garbage data accompanying photos in some of my books because my publishers insisted that people wanted to know what camera, lens, f-stop, etc. was used. I relented and included the data in some of my early books, but it was mostly made up! In the early days before digital, who the hell remembered what lens or f-stop or even camera (I had several) was used? And who cared?

Today, however, it has gone to extremes. Not only is the camera and lens and f-stop given, but also the tripod and tripod head. Good Grief! What silliness! When it comes to judging photographs, it's the content, stupid!

But maybe I'm being unfair. And maybe I should follow suit, only I'm going to be much more complete in the information. So here's the tech data for a recent picture:
Camera: Kodak Instamatic model 2
Film: Wal-Mart brand el cheapo, ISO 200 (sort of, depends on the day of the week)
F-stop: f/11.23251
Shutter speed: 1/125 second (approximately, it varies with temperature and phase of the moon)
Tripod: Wobbly model 543678923 set at height of exactly 4' 8.27765"
Tripod head: Grabber model 879965432100989076
Underwear: Haines, briefs (NOT boxer) color blue
Socks: Target sport socks, gray, 10 for $1
Shoes: LA Gear running shoes with traction tread, chewing gum courtesy of Safeway parking lot
Pants: Levis, traditional fit, boot cut, broken zipper, fly held shut by safety pin
Coffee: Safeway brand, whole bean French roast, fresh ground, strong brew
Beer: Titan IPA, occasionally Bitch Creek Bitter (if you choose Budweiser or Coors you'll never make it as a photographer; these are only good for developing film and cleaning hubcaps)
Hat: none (I hate 'em)
T-shirt: Land's End, color heather, pizza stains courtesy Poppa John's
Hair Stylist: Victoria Cramer; trim, mid-ear length, longer in back
Female assistant: GO GET YER OWN.
Wine (with female assistant): Iron Horse Vineyards, Rued Clone Chardonnay 2005

Now, if you don't match everything here exactly, you ain't gonna make it as a photographer!

No Cookout Tonight

Yup, typical Evergreen summer/fall. Only two seasons here - last winter and this winter.

Now where'd I put that %$#@*&% snow shovel?

Cover For My New Digital Photography Book

Publication is scheduled for next Spring - Voyageur Press (they published my best-selling The Art of Outdoor Photography)
http://bit.ly/2x74p (To pre-order)

http://bit.ly/16dtfn (The Art of Outdoor Photography)

No, No - It's Photography Workshop, not Pornography Workshop

Barb sent an email about our April 2010 Galapagos Photo Workshop/tour to a friend of our daughter's in the UK. The company email blocked it because of "profanity" and "pornography." Turns out the objectionable word here was "boobies" - as in blue-footed boobies (pictured here).

Ain't technology grand?

For anyone interested in our pornography - oops, meant photography - tour of Galapagos, information here: http://bit.ly/x0nho.

We can promise lots of boobies.

Galapagos 2010

We still have some spaces available on our 2010 Galapagos photo tour, April 23 - May 3. Limited to 10 participants. A few happy snaps from our April 2009 trip, including some new postings of the eruption of Fernandina Volcano. More information on the trip at: http://www.wildernessphotography.com/Galapagos.htm

Lake Baikal

Last November we learned that the Baikalsk Pulp plant on the southern shore of Lake Baikal was shut down after 42 years of polluting the world's most beautiful and pristine lake. We all cheered. But it was a short lived celebration. Just today I learned the plant was to start operation again. That's the bad news. The semi-good news is that it will operated with a closed cycle pollution control system. Only problem is, such systems haven't worked in the past. However, Vladimir Putin has declared that Baikal must be protected.

We'll see. Best solution is to shut it down permanently. I gotta have a talk with Putin.

My article on Lake Baikal is scheduled for the November issue of Audubon Magazine. Here's a short excerpt and a few pics.

“You know, we Siberians live in fear of being exiled to Moscow,” says Leonid Yevseyev, and we both laugh.

Yevseyev, my guide and interpreter and a native-born Siberian, is beside me on a promontory as we look out over a stunning panorama—-the mountain-rimmed lake called Baikal. We stand on Baikal’s remote northwestern shore, watching a thunderstorm hammer the Barguzin Range to the east of us. Here the land plunges a hundred feet to waters that are a vibrant blue-green, so transparent that rocks ten feet beneath the surface are clearly visible in the glaring sun. Bordering the meadow around us is a dense forest of pine and larch, spreading a resinous fragrance. Exiled to Moscow? Leonid and I agree: only if they take us away from here at gunpoint.

Pristine waters off the shore of Big Ushkanyi Island, Zabaikalski National Park.

Fisherman at dusk, Barguzin Bay, Zabaikalski National Park.











Chivyrkusky Bay, Zabaikalski National Park.












Nerpa, world's only freshwater seal, found only in Lake Baikal. Population is uncertain and may be declining due to decades of pollutants affecting their immune systems. No one know for certain the exact number remaining in the lake.