From left to right: Frans Lanting, Art Wolfe, Tom Mangelsen in the Galapagos Islands 2018. Photo by Yuri Choufour.
Tomorrow night, my good friend and renowned wilderness photographer Tom Mangelsen joins Parimal and myself on Earth Is Our Witness. Tom will be sharing photographs from his Legacy Reserve Colelction with us; a very limited collection of his most poignant wildlife images and the stories behind the struggle that iconic species face in their fight for survival in a modern world.
Tom and myself go way back, so the banter should be flowing and I know you’ll be instantly engaged by his images and their stories! Join us tomorrow, May 4th at 6 PM PST on the EIOW Facebook or YouTube pages!
Following EIOW, at 7:30 PM PST – join us once again for Tequila Time Live! Parimal will be sharing more timely photos from his homeland of India, currently experiencing immense strife in the face of the pandemic. As national headlines emerge from that region of the world, it’s the perfect time to glean some insight and perspective from someone whom is familiar.
Following Parimal’s presentation, I’ll have some exciting news about the future of Tequila Time and future live broadcasts.
See you tomorrow for our visit with Tom & Tequila Time!
It’s been invigorating to be out shooting again! A couple Southwest workshops are in the books. It’s been nothing short of bliss to be back in the field with eager participants looking to hone their skills, and I’ve missed the interactions with all our great clients, old and new.
In Sedona, Arizona and Moab, Utah – yeah, we shot the big shots of the beautiful landscapes, but you don’t need me to accompany you to line up with all the other tourists and get the captures that simply say, “I was here!”. I’m more interested in the shots everyone else is NOT getting – the shots that say, “I was here, and I found ways to capture this environment like no one else”.
Enjoy the photos, and if you’re anxious to get out and about why not check out our workshop offerings to see if something catches your eye?
Happy Workshop Wednesday! As you may know from recent episodes of Tequila Time, I’ve been getting back into the swing of leading workshops and next week we will be heading over to the Olympic Peninsula and the gorgeous town of Port Townsend. This location is home to historic 19th-century Victorian homes, renowned boatyards and of course the surrounding natural beauty of the Olympic Peninsula and the surrounding waterways.
All that being said, anyone visiting with a camera will get those shots – you don’t need me there to know that a shipyard may offer great photographic opportunities. What separates us from the average tourist is seeing beyond the obvious to capture unique studies and metaphors in the details, reflection and time-worn textures of this location.
As our regular clients can attest, it’s through these studies and exercises that you will truly see what I refer to as your visual vocabulary flourish. The surge of satisfaction I get when I know things have started to click for a participant and they are truly beginning to see makes these trips all the more worth while. From that point on, I know wherever they go they will have tools in their kit to separate them from the pack and I love seeing the work everyone comes away with!
It’s just over a week away – join us for these amazing photographic opportunities as well as fantastic meals together, critiques and more!
What are you reading these days? Or are you like me and more interested in pretty pictures!? All the books on my online store purchased through the weekend come with free shipping in the continental US!
I’ve been away for a few weeks teaching U.S. Workshops and the first order of business upon getting home is to ensure we do a Tequila Time in it’s “standard” time slot – tonight at 5:30 PM PST on Facebook Live & YouTube!
If you haven’t tuned in to TT yet, I think you’re missing out and now is as good a time as any to join the fun as I sip tequila and wax poetic over photos, memories, tips and more.
I started Tequila Time over a year ago now when things began to shut down as a way to make sure all the amazing folks in the Art Wolfe fraternity had a place to connect with me live since so many events would be going by the wayside. Now that we are getting our shots and cautiously returning to a bit of normalcy and I’ve been leading workshops once again, I still look forward to connecting with you all as often as possible.
Since we are getting back to workshops, this provides an awesome opportunity to share the photos we capture on these workshops with you – both my own, and our wonderful participants who have given me permission to do so. I hope they are able to tune in as well!
Today is dolphin day, and these frenetic swimmers are on my mind as we kick off spring! They are constantly on the go, quite literally. Did you know only half of a dolphin’s brain sleeps at a time?! If I were to adopt the powers of any creature on the planet, that’s a fairly enticing one. Imagine how many more books I could get done if I could stay awake and just shut down half my brain at a time!
Of course, they have developed this ability for specific reasons. Dolphins breath air and their breathing is consciously controlled. In some ways that seems like a restless life, but they certainly make the most of it with their agile swimming and dexterous leaps.
Enjoy the photos from a past trip to Baja and the Sea of Cortez, and leave a comment below if there is an animal superpower YOU would love to have!
Hard to believe, but this week marks the one year anniversary of Tequila Time! From it’s humble beginnings (awwwwwwkwarrrrrd!) to the latest episode we did before I got back to teaching workshops, the format has changed over the months as I’ve learned what works for me and what doesn’t – but most importantly, I’ve absolutely loved looking forward to connecting with you all as much as possible!
I am back to traveling and I’ve seen the grumblings about the lack of Tequila Time – we all knew this would happen when I got back on the road, but rest assured that though they may not be as frequent, I fully intend to connect with you live whenever possible.
Episodes have been proliferated on a number of platforms, however soon enough we are very much looking forward to curating them all in one place. For now, check out episodes on YouTube, Facebook, or Instagram. Do you have any favorite episodes, moments, or subjects from the past year of Tequila Time, or are there any subjects we didn’t cover that you’d like to hear about?
Leave a comment below, we are always looking for great suggestions and questions!
It’s your last chance to vote for the 5 animals you want to be included in the New Big 5 of wildlife photography! The original ‘Big 5’ is a term used by trophy hunters for the 5 toughest animals to shoot and kill (lion, elephant, leopard, rhino and Cape buffalo).
The New Big 5 project has a better idea: to create a New Big 5 of Wildlife Photography, rather than hunting. Shooting with a camera, not a gun. It’s about celebrating the incredible creatures we share the planet with and helping to protect them.
I’m excited to be supporting the New Big 5 project which is on a mission to raise awareness about threats facing wildlife around the world, including habitat loss, poaching, human-wildlife conflict, illegal wildlife trade and climate change, as well as conservation ideas and solutions.
The international initiative is supported by +150 international photographers and working with conservationists and charities, including The Jane Goodall Institute, Conservation International, Save The Elephants, Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, Polar Bears International, Save Wild Tigers, Wildlife Direct, Save The Rhinos, Lion Recovery Fund, Cheetah Conservation Fund, Snow Leopard Trust, WildAid, IUCN and more…
Please go onto the New Big 5 website and VOTE for the 5 animals you want to be included! Voting ends April 20. The results of the international vote will be announced May 17.
“What a great project the New Big 5 is. I wonder what the final choices will be. There are so many incredible animals in our world, all fascinating in different ways. Any project which brings attention to animals, so many of whom are threatened or endangered, is truly important.”
A quick stop over in Wakanda on my recent trip to Africa definitely did not come up short! It’s rare to capture these unique short-necked giraffes (Giraffa abbrevis) outside of captivity. It was an incredible experience and I’m honored to have been invited to capture these rare animals!
Their unique evolution gives them the distinct advantage of being able to target the brush and leaves that’s too far off the ground for zebras and other herbivores, but not so high up that they need to compete with their long-necked relatives. Evolution is cool!
Enjoy the photos and sign up for an Art Wolfe Workshop and discover your own unique vision!
If you caught the recent episode of Tequila Time, I shared images from our recent Olympic Workshop and also discussed just a few of the many lessons we teach in this beautiful location. Sure, there are the typical scenic shots to capture- but anyone can set up a tripod and take the same old shot. This doesn’t help us grow our visual vocabulary, however. Fine if all you want are the token travel photos!
A keen eye that’s trained to find the beauty in the less-obvious is going to come away with the more interesting and unique shots. While each one may not be a masterpiece unto itself, every shot in which you are mindfully seeking compositions that hold the viewers eye in the frame represents a cognitive effort to improve your artistic eye.
Much like a truly invested fine artist will more often than not have dozens of sketch books of incomplete works, never intending to see the light of day, it’s through this practice of finding a shot where others don’t see one that will translate to taking ALL of your photos to the next level.
In the video above are just a few examples of learning to see beauty and something worth capturing in scenes that others might quite literally walk right by. While you may want the big picture of the old-growth forest, it’s really the misshapen lumps of knotted limbs saturated in moss that show the verdant and wild nature of this location. What appear to be simple shots of limbs and trees are intentionally composed to frame the leading lines to keep the viewer’s eye engaged.
Again, not every shot you take needs to be in consideration to sell as a fine art print. On the contrary, most of your shots, much like the sketches of master fine artists are simple tools to train your eye over time.
I’ve been away for a few weeks teaching U.S. Workshops and the first order of business upon getting home is to ensure we do a Tequila Time in it’s “standard” time slot – tonight at 5:30 PM PST on 
