Quest for the Snow Leopard Part 1


Nestled in the Indian Himalayas Ladakh is one of the best areas to see the elusive snow leopard. I am also getting to know more about the people who live here, and taking in the spectacular scenery and other wildlife.
The first couple days we spent in Leh getting acclimatized to the high altitude before heading out on our snow leopard expedition. The city and the surrounding valley and mountains are home to many imposing palaces and monasteries.

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Travels ToThe Edge U.S. Cities Airing List March 2014

 

White_TTE_logo_web500pxArt Wolfe’s Travels to the Edge continues to be aired on public television stations across the USA. There are more stations than ever in the Southeast and the Midwest carrying the series! Enjoy!

See the list HERE

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Learn How to See from a Photography Hero

Rainforest tree, Puerto Rico
At the last minute Art has scheduled a field edition of his Composing Effective Images Seminar!  He has held these popular seminars at Seattle’s Washington Arboretum and Portland’s famous Japanese Garden; now it is time to head south to warmer climes!

Don’t miss this opportunity to study in the field with and get a critique from an amazing photographer and teacher.

Where:  Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanical Garden
When:  March 22-23, 2014
How: Click HERE!

 

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100 Photography Heroes

humancanvas_pigment_study_063Art has been included in the special issue from Professional Photography (UK) “100 Photography Heroes”

See the page on Art HERE.

Get the special issue HERE.

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Compelling Image Contest winners

Master of Disquise by Graham McGeorgeCongratulations to Grand Prize winner Graham McGeorge!

To see a gallery of all winners, click HERE

Information on the next chapter in the contest “Travels to the Edge” coming soon!

Show others what you find remarkable in the world and make them feel something about the subject.”
~Art Wolfe

www.thecompellingimagecontest.com

 

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EYE HEART EWE

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Art of Composition Valentine’s Day Special!

Learn how to see with one of the most inspirational, hard-working, and renowned photographers in the world!

Sign up this weekend & get 15% off
Use coupon code: BLOGaoc2014

2014 Art of Composition Seminars:
March 15 Miami, FL
March 16 Tampa, FL
April 19 Austin, TX
April 20 Denver, CO
April 26 Portland, OR
April 27 Seattle, WA

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Bringing Home the Gold

Art Wolfe’s masterwork Human Canvas has won Gold in the prestigious Graphis Photography Annual 2014!

HumanCanvas_book_121102_1672 Art Wolfe Human Canvas Project Buy your collector’s copy of Human Canvas HERE

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Pristine Russia Exhibit

The Pristine Russia Exhibit will be touring the during all of 2014 in honor of “The Year of Culture”. First stop is at the Central House of Artists in Moscow through February 23rd. Art is participating thanks to the International League of Conservation Photographers and iLCP Fellow Igor & Laura Shpilenok.

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Last chance with the Masters!

Wolfe Lanting Mangelsen

Join three nature photography masters, Frans Lanting, Thomas D. Mangelsen,
and Art Wolfe, for a unique weekend of photographic inspiration

Three of the world’s most renowned nature photographers–Frans Lanting, Thomas D. Mangelsen, and Art Wolfe–have teamed up to present a series of unique weekend events that will change the way you look at photography and what you can do with your own camera.

The next Masters of Nature Photography Seminar will be held Friday evening, February 14 through Sunday, February 16, 2014, in Atlanta at the High Museum of Art.  For more information or to register, please visit www.MastersofNaturePhotography.com.

$595 until  February 7; late registrations $695

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Guest Photographer: David FitzSimmons

CURIOUS_CRITTERS_Volume_Two_Cover_David_FitzSimmons

Award-winning author and photographer David FitzSimmons has a unique approach to animal portraiture, and he loves sharing it with kids. Instead of seeking rare animals in exotic locations, David photographs common animals—many found in your own backyard—against plain, white backgrounds, producing detailed close-up images that motivate children and their families to appreciate and explore nature. The striking images are the visual foundation of his Curious Critters children’s picture book series. Volume one (2011) won five national book awards and sold over 100,000 copies. Curious Critters Volume Two, featuring amazing animals from across North America, will be released in February.

David FitzSimmons is an award-winning freelance photographer and writer. His first book in the Curious Critters series won the coveted IBPA Bill Fisher Award for best first book (children’s/young adult). A Sigma Pro photographer, David has exhibited works at the Roger Tory Peterson Institute, the National Center for Nature Photography, and the Telluride Photo Festival. He is a life-long educator, teaching students from kindergarten to college. Currently David is an Associate Professor at Ashland University. He has appeared on ABC, CBS, and NBC-TV. You can see more of David’s photography at www.fitzsimmonsphotography.com.

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FitzSimmons’ unconventional approach to wildlife photography allows animals’ colors, textures, shapes, and seeming “personalities” to shine through. “Kids focus on the animals. That’s when the learning begins,” David explains. “They focus on and notice clues about animals’ behaviors, diets, life cycles, and habitats.” The first image in Curious Critters Volume Two is a monarch butterfly preparing for its 2,000 mile flight from Milkweed, Minnesota, to Oyamel Fir Forest, Mexico.

CURIOUS_CRITTERS_Eastern_Cottontail_David_FitzSimmons

In writing the Curious Critters children’s picture books, David imagined that each critter talked to him during its portrait session and that he just wrote down what was said. The audiobooks for Curious Critters Volumes One and Two capture the sometimes calm, other times excited, and occasionally irascible personalities David envisioned. For the audiobook version of the conversation among four recently-born Eastern cottontail rabbits, David cast his two oldest daughters and two nieces for the voiceovers.

CURIOUS_CRITTERS_Indigo_Bunting_David_FitzSimmons

Besides the extraordinary photography, each of the twenty animals in Curious Critters Volume Two gets a chance to tell its story. The indigo bunting talks about calls in his “song neighborhood.”  The indigo bunting reports that some “songbirds complain because I repeat myself, but I enjoy saying things twice, sometimes in very long songs. Sweet! Sweet! Chew! Chew! Where? Where? Here! Here! Sweeter! Sweeter! Chew! Chew! What! What! Sweet! Sweet!

CURIOUS_CRITTERS_Green_Frog_David_FitzSimmons

Curious Critters Volume Two is not only entertaining but also educational. Before David began composing the short vignettes accompanying the photos, he reviewed national science education standards. Curious Critters Volume Two meets all the life science standards for grades K-4, making the nonfiction picture book appeal to teachers, librarians, and education-minded parents. In the narrative alongside the green frog, the powerful male boasts about his healthy diet, including eating his own shed skin. “Hey! if it’s nutritious, I eat it.”

CURIOUS_CRITTERS_Predaceous_Diving_Beetle_David_FitzSimmons

Adding to children’s enjoyment of the Curious Critters series, David partnered with nature-folksinger Foster Brown, who sings the predaceous diving beetle’s song, “Row, Row, Row Your Legs.” Beginning and ending both audiobooks is Foster’s catchy Curious Critters theme song, rich with the bluegrass sounds of guitar, banjo, mandolin, and upright bass.

CURIOUS_CRITTERS_Northern_Cardinal_David_FitzSimmons

David hopes that his Curious Critters picture books—featuring captivating animals like the vivid Northern Cardinal—will inspire children and adults to conserve nature. “To protect our natural world, we first have to care about it. I hope that my animal pictures allow people to see common animals—from frogs and fish to beetles and birds—in a whole new and meaningful way. It’s my goal that the close-up photography and playful prose in Curious Critters will captivate readers’ imaginations and motivate them to get outside and interact with nature.”

Curious Critters Volume Two (Wild Iris Publishing, hardback, 32 pp., ISBN 978-1-936607-70-9, $19.95) is available in bookstores, nature centers, museum stores, and other specialty shops, as well as online retailers Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Copies bought directly from Wild Iris Publishing are signed by and, if desired, dedicated by David FitzSimmons.

Check out other Curious Critters media, as well as games, parent and educator materials, sample flipping book pages, and other fun stuff at www.curious-critters.com. You can like Curious Critters on Facebook. To hear samples from the Curious Critters audiobooks, including tracks from Curious Critters Volume One, or to purchase MP3s or CDs of the audiobooks, visit the Audiobooks page on www.wildirispublishing.com.

What’s up next for David?

CURIOUS_CRITTERS_Marine_Cover_David_FitzSimmons

David can’t wait to share a variety of sea creatures with children and families. Coming soon is Curious Critters: Marine. Meet fish, birds, crustaceans and other animals from the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, as well as the Gulf of Mexico. Hear what the black sea bass, candy stripe shrimp, pencil urchin, crested puffin, California sea slug, horseshoe crab, roseate spoonbill, blue lobster, and other salty Curious Critters have to say! Available Fall 2014.

 

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