Newsletter July 1, 2011 - The Canadian Nature Photographer

Canadian Nature Photographer August 1, 2011 Newsletter

Dear Friends and Fellow Nature Photographers:

July went by like a bullet. I finished teaching a two week course on Flash at Red Deer College and then taught two courses on photography at SAIT including one on Sports Photography and another on Wildlife Photography - it was fun. I also squeezed in a half day course teaching Flower photography at Olds College. If you are interested I posted two web pages with several instructional slides and notes - see links below. In the sports photography course the class visited the Calgary Stampede and in the Wildlife Scenic Photography course we took a field trip to the Zoo. We had to visit a place where we could get to by train and it had to be able to accommodate 24 students. I hadn't been to the zoo for over 10 years so I also decided to write an article about zoos which I have mixed feelings about, but I believe they can be a great place to start learning more about animals and plants and also learn how to use a camera better for beginners. Sports photography has much in common with wildlife photography, both require anticipation, long lenses and fast moving subjects.

I just came back from a three day visit to Grasslands National Park in Saskatchewan, a place I have been wanting to visit for a long time. What I found exceeded my expectations, there was an abundance of birds, wildlife and plants. We met up with a rattle snake researcher and also joined a star party to take some photographs of the night sky. The article includes a short Time lapse movie of the sky.

Prairie Birds we encountered

Milky Way - taken with 24 mm F1.4 lens 15 second exposure at ISO 1600

I will definitely be visiting this park again and if you thinking about photographing the prairies I would definitely recommend stopping by the small village of Val Marie and spending a few days.

What's Hot and New Click on the photos or links to read the latest photography articles
		Photographing Grasslands National Park Saskatchewan - Village of Val Marie and the Crossing Resort by Dr. Robert Berdan. Photographing the prairies is not quite as difficult as I thought might be. On Tuesday, July 26, 2011, 6:00 am I joined Ian Neilson and David Lilly in Calgary and headed east to Grasslands National Park to take pictures for a couple of days. See article and photographs.
		Photography at the Calgary Zoo by Dr. Robert Berdan. I have mixed feeling about zoos, on the one hand they offer tremendous teaching opportunities and some zoos are involved in conservation, outreach and animal rehabilitation. See article and photographs about zoo photography including tips and suggestions for taking better photographs.

Last Chance to Register and join September 5-10 Arctic Adventure Workshop - photograph Caribou, the Aurora and Tundra. Workshop starts in Yellowknife and then we fly 250 Km further north to a remote lodge on Point Lake.

Arctic Adventure workshop - Sept. 5-11, Cost $4795 - includes opportunity to photograph Barren lands caribou,
the tundra in Autumn and the Aurora borealis which is nearing it's 11 year solar max. We still have a few spots left and time is running out. To register you can go here: http://www.petersonspointlake.com/photography.html If you have questions feel free to contact me.

Congratulations to Dean Hebert our July Photo Contest Winner

Canadian Nature Photographer August Photo contest winner is Dean Hebert email: cissie1@telus.net
The Cloudburst - photographed Aloutte Lake in Golden Ears Provincial Park. See his web site:www.deanhebertphotography.com

If you have a winning photograph send it to win free access to my online Photoshop Course or if you have a group of great photographs I am always looking for more featured photography articles. Enjoy the rest of the summer and hope you get some great shots - Until the next Sept 1 newsletter.

Sincerely
Robert Berdan
Calgary, AB
403 247-2457

Please Visit me at: www.canadiannaturephotographer.com