Rummaging through some old files I found this - my photo on the cover of one of those booklets Hasselblad used to publish. This one was in 1980. They also used to use some of my pics on their posters.
I bought my first Hasselblad (500C) in about 1965 (later added 2 more). My first 6 books were shot with Hasselblads. I switched to 35mm when I did my first Alaska book in 1976 because I made a 13 day backpacking trip through the Brooks Range and the Hasselblad equipment was too heavy to carry.
Since I've gone digital they now sit on the shelf. I'll never get rid of them because even after 40 years of rough use in the boondocks they still work flawlessly. The finest precision cameras ever made, in my opinion.
I've recently been scanning some slides I made at Lake Baikal, Siberia about 15 years ago and discovered some shots of petroglyphs on the western shore of the lake. They looked strangely familiar, so I dug out some photos of petroglyphs I had shot in Canyonlands National Park in Utah. The similarity is amazing. Two different cultures - the Anasazi dating back a few thousand years - and the unknown people from the Baikal region whose origins may go back several thousand years. Lake Baikal is more than 6000 miles from Utah.
I suppose it's possible that similar kinds of depictions could evolve in different cultures, but still this similarity is intriguing. It does seem to lend more credence to migration of people from Asia to North America.
The first two photos on the left are from Baikal. The bottom one of red sandstone is from Utah. Click to enlarge any of them
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
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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)
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.
Rummaging through some old files I found this - my photo on the cover of one of those booklets Hasselblad used to publish. This one was in 1980. They also used to use some of my pics on their posters.
