Today is Nature Photography Day

BLOG: Today is Nature Photography Day!
Images by Art Wolfe

Explore Your World!

http://www.nanpa.org/nature_photography_day.php

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Australia Creates World’s Largest Marine Reserve

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Australia Creates World’s Largest Marine Reserve – Images by Art Wolfe

Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is one of the world’s great natural wonders & now it is going to be part of the largest marine park encompassing 1.2 million sq miles of ocean surrounding the continent. In this age of economic peril, it is such good news to hear of a preservation of our planet of this proportion.

There are a ton of articles out there on it. Here are a few links to follow:

The official Government site on this Marine region:
http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/#right-aside

The Daily Mail article has a map.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk

Other news feeds:
CNN
CS Monitor

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Cargotecture Winner!

HyBrid wins competition for container camping!

I was asked to be part of the judging of the King County Parks container camping structure competition.

Architecture firm, HyBrid, was recently named the winner of a competition sponsored by the King County Parks department to create a camping structure from re-purposed cargo containers. The 8’x24′ structure incorporates recycled glazing and mess kitchen and can accommodate up to 6 overnight guest. Funding is secured for the prototype unit and should be camp ready by Summer 2012.

Visitors to King County’s Tolt-MacDonald Park will be able to spend the night in a comfortable and ecologically sound camping structure – thanks to the creative vein tapped by King County Parks’ Little Footprint/Big Forest contest.

The challenge given to designers was to create an overnight camping structure from a used cargo shipping container that could be placed in select areas of King County Parks’ 26,000 acres of open space.

The winning design – selected from 12 entries by a panel of judges that included King County Executive Dow Constantine, plus architectural and sustainability experts.

“Re-Tain” features an adaptable floor plan complete with queen-sized bunk beds, a table that can be moved outside for more floor space inside, and a multi-purpose mess cabinet made from recycled and reclaimed materials that allows for use from inside and outside the structure.

See the winning design and other entries at:
http://www.kingcounty.gov/recreation/parks/partners/littlefootprint.aspx
“The contest provided us with an exciting and replicable design, and we hope to install these camping structures at appropriate sites within our open space areas,” said King County Parks Division Director Kevin Brown. “I want to thank the judges for their thoughtful analysis of all the entries.”

Design competition judges said they were impressed with the overall design concepts and the creative approach to the second use of storage containers.

“King County is home to wonderful parks and outdoor experiences, and the Little Footprint, Big Forest contest shows that we have the creativity to meet the challenge of preserving our environment and adopting sustainable practices,” said judge Andy Wappler.

Here are some links for further information:

http://www.hybridarc.com

http://www.cargotecture.com/

http://www.king5.com/on-tv/evening-magazine

http://seattlemag.com/article/reuse-recyle-retreat

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Garden for Wildlife Month

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Art’s Yard – Images by Art Wolfe

May is Garden for Wildlife Month!

Get your yard certified as wildlife habitat through the National Wildlife Federation. Mine is!

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On Location: Bowerman Basin Shorebird Migration

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May Tips: Shorebird Migration – Images by Art Wolfe

Early May is a great time to catch the migrating shorebirds as they fly up the coast from California, or the Pacific Flyway as it is called. Sanderlings, dunlins, and other assorted shorebirds pause for a couple of weeks at Bowerman Basin in Grays Harbor on the Olympic Peninsula. Boardwalks provide great access. When the tides are high, and there are no exposed mud flats, all the birds are densely packed together. It is quite the spectacle to see a million birds in a tight area. Also, if there happens to be a bird of prey near, they fly around in tight bundles turning in all directions with great precision. It looks like many bodies, but one brain operating them all. It is definitely worth a trip out to the coast if you are in the Pacific Northwest in those two weeks.

The Grays Harbor Shorebird Festival is May 4-6 this year:

http://shorebirdfestival.com/

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On Location: April Showers in Oregon

BLOG: April Showers in Oregon – Images by Art Wolfe

What to do with April Showers? – Get an umbrella, grab your camera and get outside.

I spent 2 days photographing in the Columbia Gorge and along the Southern Washington Coast, in the rain, and I couldn’t have been happier. The previous 2 days were beautiful. Blue skies, sunshine, unseasonably warm temperatures – and I wasn’t at all interested in getting outside with my camera.

While I’m always open to any subject, on this trip I had very soft, high key, moody images in mind that I could render in black and white. The coastal and inland waters of the Columbia Gorge in addition to having one spectacular waterfall after the next are littered with old pilings from a bygone era of wealth and prosperity from the timber barons of the late 1800 and early 1900s. I have photographed these subjects in the past and knew they needed the right atmospheric conditions, namely fog, to be successful. Here in the NW fog isn’t all that predictable or persistent, but when you don’t have fog, rain can be an excellent (and even better) substitute.

The overcast skies provided the perfect soft box to light the subject, the falling rain softens the image and disturbs the water such that the long exposures necessary with my smallest apertures render the image as a high key, mysterious and quiet, yet powerful image. I knew I would be rendering these in black and white and positioned myself to maximize the white background where the sky was indistinguishable from the sea. I could have stayed with these as a subject for the entire day working different angles, focal lengths and exposures. It was food for my soul and I felt like I was at an all you can eat buffet.

I wasn’t going to overlook the waterfalls as this was the perfect time of the year to photograph them through the fine lines of the trees. The leaves have only just begun to come out adding a touch of color while not obscuring the view of the falls. Most people would say I was “too early” to shoot the falls but you’ll find in about 2 weeks time the trees will have leafed out to where the shots I was able to create with patterns of lines and positive and negative space would be impossible to replicate.

Lastly I met up with friends early in the morning to photograph the Portland Japanese Gardens. With an annual pass you can visit the gardens 2 hours ahead of the general public and photograph largely unencumbered. Again the time of year allowed for some subtle color in the maple trees as they had only begun to leaf out while not obscuring the fine details and patterns of the intricate under-story of their branches. Yes it was a bit too early for bushels of blossoms but when you look at the patterns in nature, the energy contained in a balance of positive and negative space, you’ll find there is rarely ever a bad time to photograph areas like the Japanese Gardens. And when you realize the potential you may never look at a rainy day the same way again.

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National Park Week

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US National Parks Week – Images by Art Wolfe


Now through April 29, 2012 all 397 US National Parks offer free admission!
Get out there!

http://www.nps.gov/npweek/

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Earth Day 2012 Mobilize the Earth!

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BLOG: Earth Day, April 22, 2012 – Images by Art Wolfe

  • Plant a garden at home or school
  • Eliminate use of pesticides and toxic cleaning products
  • Eat more local food
  • Pick up trash
  • Always use reusable bags when shopping

Pledge your Act of Green at
http://www.earthday.org/2012

And if you like baseball & live in Seattle, Forterra (formerly the Cascade Land Conservancy) and the Mariners are teaming up.
For every ticket purchased through mariners.com/forterra, the Mariners will plant a tree and donate $2 to Forterra!
http://www.forterra.org/get_involved/knock_one_out_of_the_park_for_nature

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University of Washington Alumni Feature

 

There is a very nice spread in the University of Washington Alumni Magazine “COLUMNS” this month. The University is celebrating 2012 as their 150th Anniversary and featuring noteworthy Alumni.
Art Wolfe graduated in 1975. This spread also celebrates the beautiful and unique natural environment of the UW campus as only Art can see it.

>>VIEW – Columns Magazine Here

>>GALLERY – View even more images Art has taken on the UW campus

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World Water Day March 22, 2012


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BLOG: World Water Day – Images by Art Wolfe

International World Water Day is held annually on 22 March as a means of focusing attention on the importance of freshwater and advocating for the sustainable management of freshwater resources.

http://www.unwater.org/worldwaterday/

PDF BROCHURE

If you are interested in exploring the subject further, check out the iLCP’s award-winning beautiful book on the freshwater ecosystems of the world: http://www.ilcp.com/publications/fresh-water-the-essence-of-life#

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