Greetings…I’m sure there is nobody out there that checks this blog frequently, simply because I don’t have time to post very often.  But, I finally got some time to at least go through all of my photos from my Mountain Gorilla Trek in Virunga National Park in the country of Rwanda.  I am posting them on my site and you can now view them at the following link:

http://www.scotthatland.com/LatestPhotos/Rwanda-Mountain-Gorillas/28005483_RVD6Zr

It took me a several hours to go through the photos, edit them, and choose the ones that I wanted to share.  As I did this over the past several weeks, I found myself simply amazed at what I was able to do in Rwanda.  Many times I would stare at a photo and remember explicitly what I saw or how I tried to arrange myself for a photograph.  In the flurry of activity, I still managed to often times observe what was in front of me and to take a minute to remember how lucky I am to be able to do something like this.

Seeing the Mountain Gorillas is something that I had always wanted to do, and the experience exceeded every expectation that I had.  These gentle giants are something that I cannot really describe to you.  Their mannerisms, their playfulness, their desire to be a part of a family and community…all of these rival us humans.  They honestly would have you laughing one moment, for example when a giant silverback would let a big fart rip right in front of you.  While the next minute you were on the verge of tears as you watched a vulnerable and clumsy baby gorilla struggle to climb up into its mother’s arms for protection and comfort.  Many people asked me if I was ever scared or thought what a full grown gorilla might do to a human.  Honestly, the thought never entered my mind.  When you observe the Mountain Gorillas in their natural surroundings, I think any sort of common sense or fear simply leaves your body.  You forget that you might be in danger, and it is hard to imagine that a Gorilla would come after you.

Trekking is highly structured and regulated.  You must have a permit for each person to enter the National Park, and I believe only 64 permits are available each day (they sell out months in advance).  You hike to the  jungle at the base of the mountain, and the porters keep in contact with spotters that are searching for the gorilla families inside.  The gorillas might be low, or they might be high and up the mountain several miles.  Once you finally meet with the trackers, you leave your camera bags behind as you need to remain nimble to keep up with the Gorillas as they go about their business.  Once you meet the Gorillas, you have exactly 1 hour to be with them.  That’s it…not a minute more or a minute less.  This is done because obviously having contact with humans brings risks to the Gorillas, so the regulations exist where there is only 1 hour of exposure per day.  There is no negotiation here, so you need to hope the Gorillas are behaving well during your hour.  You won’t get another hour just because they are all sleeping or because they are all going crazy and running through the jungle much faster than you could ever hope to.

There are currently only about 800 Mountain Gorillas left in existence and as such they are critically endangered.  They have made a very strong comeback over the past decade as the countries of Rwanda and Uganda have embraced tourism and have put in programs to protect the Mountain Gorillas and their habitat.  While there is still a danger of poachers, the threat is much less than in the past as the locals understand that the tourism draw enables them to build a strong community and also to protect and care for the Mountain Gorillas.  Many people are employed by the industry, and I can also say that the guides, spotters, drivers, and porters are also a special part of this experience.

For those of you that don’t mind some mud and water, watching for armies of fire ants, avoiding stinging nettles in the jungle brush, hiking uphill in mountain terrain, or being in the dark and unpredictable jungle, I can’t recommend the trip enough.  The only bad thing I had happen to me is a very large fire ant got into my sock and lodged itself into my ankle.  It hurt like hell, but thankfully I didn’t get attacked and was able to avoid the large swarms of them on the ground.  I don’t mention those things to scare anybody or to suggest that it is extraordinarily difficult.  The bottom line is these Gorillas are in the wild, and you have to come to them.  They don’t come to you.  You need to have proper clothing, the right attitude, and patience to make the trek a success.  Then, once you make it, you had better hope they cooperate for some photographs.

Photographing these creatures is extremely challenging.  The jungle is often dark or only dilapidated light, so you need to rely on fairly high ISO values to have any respectable shutter speed to avoid motion blur.  Exposure can be very difficult as the primary colors you are dealing with are black and green, both of which can throw off metering quite easily.  Perhaps most challenging…the gorillas often don’t stay in one spot.  You have to go chasing them with your camera gear, muddy terrain, and jungle brush everywhere.  Many of the people on the tour fell during the treks.  You have to keep an eye out for what is going on, that is for sure.  Sometimes you get lucky and can use a monopod to have a steady shot, but other times you are more reactive and just trying to do what you can in hopes that some of the photos turn out.  I  have to say, overall, I am quite pleased with the photos I got on the trek.

I can say with certainty that I hope I am lucky enough to be able to go again one day.  It truly was the best trip I’ve ever done, and I will remember each day for the rest of my life.  I currently do a lot of online research to see how the Gorillas are doing.  Unfortunately, one of the silverbacks recently died in January, which has caused quite a strife for the gorillas that were part of his family.

If you are interested in doing this trip, I recommend looking at Paul Renner’s Safaris.  He goes every year, and the trip is very well structured and organized.  Paul is a great photographer and an even better person, so you can’t find anybody better to go on a trip like this with.  You can learn more about Paul and his safari adventures at:  http://www.rennersafaris.com

Greetings!  Today I thought I would do a post about what my first reaction was once I arrived in Africa.  First off, the trek to get to Africa is quite exhausting from the United States.  I flew to London Heathrow from Chicago, and had a day long layover there.  That was actually nice, because I was able to sleep and recover from the overnight flight from Chicago.  I flew American Airlines there, and I am happy to be reminded why American is simply the worst airline in existence.  They all have their flaws, but American is terrible.  I was stuck on what was probably the worst seat on the plane – A middle seat between two larger people that were husband and wife, and that seemed to always like to talk.  Thank God there was a strong jet stream and the flight was only 7 hours.  From London, you generally fly into Nairobi, Kenya…which is another 8 hours.  That flight wasn’t terrible since there was an empty seat next to me, but still, as you can see that’s 16 hours of travel just in the air.  And, you’re not there yet!  Depending on where you are going on safari, you have to take an intra-continent flight to your closest launching point.  Ours was Kilimanjaro - Yes, the infamous mountain in Tanzania.  We got to see the mountain while flying in, although it was pretty covered by clouds.  The top had some nice snow on it and would have made for a nice photograph on a clear day.

Anyway, after the long series of flights we drove from the airport into the city of Arusha to stay at a local lodge before the actual safari started.  This was nice because the trip is exhausting and you need some time to recover and catch up on some rest.  The journey to the lodge was the first time I had actually seen Africa.  I was really stunned, and not in a bad way.  One thing you immediately notice is that the roads in Africa are truly communal.  They are not just for motor vehicles.  In fact, motor vehicles are probably the 3rd most prevalent user behind people on foot and various bicycles and carts being used to transport goods.

Two other things stuck out to me.  First and foremost, it was the children you see by the roadside.  I can’t really explain to you how this makes you feel.  You see the kids and your first thought is how poor they are in comparison to what we see at home.  Many of them don’t have clean clothes, and shoes are hard to come by.  But, its short sighted of me to say these kids are “poor”.  While they may lack material possessions, they are not lacking in soul.  African children are an absolute joy to watch – I can’t tell you how many of them ran out to see the safari vehicles as they passed through their village or town.  I felt like royalty as you drive through, as kids everywhere are smiling and waving to you.  Now, I’m not so naive as to suggest some don’t have ulterior motives.  Yes, some were begging.  Most for money, but some for food.  It is hard to ignore, and while I generally don’t look fondly upon panhandling, it is different when you are staring at a 3 or 4 year old child.  Regardless, guests in Africa are told to resist the temptation, and the locals (specifically, the safari drivers) get very upset if you give them anything.  Not that they are heartless, but because it further encourages them to beg and rely even more on handouts and charity.  Anyway, I have a lot more to say about this topic in future posts as I think this is one of the strongest and most prevalent feelings I have as I now look back on the trip.

The second thing that stuck out was watching the women carry items on their head.  I saw them carry everything from small containers to sacks of vegetables to heavy water jugs.  It was really amazing to witness, and I still have to say I have NO idea how they develop this skill.  In Africa, much of the day is spent just trying to survive and make ends meet.  This means taking things to market to sell, gathering food and wood, getting clean water, and all the things that we take for granted in America.  I had heard some locals say that they are worried about Africa because they are “lazy”, but I can’t say I agree with that.  Just observing this makes you think about how hard it is just to survive in some parts of Africa.  I inevitably ask yourself “Could I handle this way of life”.  I think I speak for many Americans when I say “probably not”.

I’m going to try and keep these posts short and sweet, so that’s it for now.  In the next post I’ll talk about our first safari stop – Tarangire National Park.  Below is a picture of a Vervet Monkey which I took as we were waiting for our permits outside of the entrance to the park.  These little guys are fun to watch, but you need to keep an eye on them.  They are fast and they don’t view anything as off limits.  Some of them jumped right up on the Landrovers and wanted to get inside!

Vervet Monkey on Rock – Tarangire National Park (Tanzania)

Greetings…It has been several months since I’ve posted here.  I put a good amount of time and effort into building a site to showcase my travels and photography, and unfortunately life gets in the way.  Since I’ve last posted, I’ve been to 3 different continents, moved back to downtown Chicago, and traveled almost each and every week for work.  For those that I don’t talk with often, work has been insanely busy for the past several months.  There doesn’t seem to be any sign of that changing, and while that’s a good thing it definitely cuts into my ability to do much photography, editing, blogging, etc.

Regardless, you don’t come here to read about my normal life…I’d bore the hell out of you.  I hope you come here because you like to hear about trips I take and to check out photos I take in my continuing pursuit to becoming a decent photographer.

I thought I’d do a quick post to summarize the Africa trip, and over the course of the next several weeks I’ll try and add some detailed posts about the experience.  I would like to tell you everything I can, ranging from what Africa is like, my perceptions of the experience, what it is like to be on safari, what it takes to get a good photograph, and perhaps other topics.  In each post, I will post a photo from the trip and will explain some detail about it.

For those of you that don’t know, I went on a 3 1/2 week trip to Africa.  I went to the countries of Tanzania, Kenya, and Rwanda.  The safari portion was all in Tanzania and Kenya, and I got to experience several places in the Serengeti region.  The safari was around 16 days in total, but do keep in mind that includes travel days.  As an extension to the safari, I did the once-in-a-lifetime Gorilla Trek in the Virunga Mountains of Rwanda.

I said I would keep this first post short.  Many people have asked me what the trip was like, and I can’t possibly do it justice in just a few words.  What I will say is that I feel so incredibly lucky and fortunate to go on a trip like this.  They say Africa is contagious and that it has a tendency to get in your blood.  I can say with certainty I’ll be back (hopefully in 2013 or 2014).  And, for any of you that have thought about doing a trip like this, absolutely go for it.  You don’t need to be a “photographer” to enjoy it.  The time will come soon when this ecosystem will disappear – it truly is one of earth’s treasures.

Before I end this post, here is a photo of a male lion that I took in Lake Nakuru National Park.  This guy was on his way to a nice meal, provided by his herum of lionesses.  It was amazing to watch him from the point of “call” from the other lions to the point that he got to the meal.  I got some pretty good pictures of the lion clan feasting as well, but this was at dusk and the light was very weak.  Still, a true sight to behold…

This male lion was on his way to a fresh meal recently killed by his crew of female lionesses. We got to follow him from the moment he heard the call, all the way to the moment he got to sink his teeth into the fresh meal

That’s an odd title for a blog post, especially when it comes to photography.

This has been an odd week for me in that I haven’t had to travel for work.  As a result, I’ve had access to all of the images I’ve shot over the past year and a half (I store everything on a RAID 5 array – If you really want to know what that means you can ask me in the comments).  I took some time to review most of them – or at least the ones that I had “flagged” in Lightroom.  Generally, a “flag” is something you’d put on a picture that you think has potential – kind of like a book mark to come back to this one day when you have more time.

Anyway, I got really pissed off  as I was going through them.  The subject matter wasn’t anything upsetting by any stretch as I generally have shot wildlife, landscape, travel, and the like.  What has me upset is as I look through these pictures, specifically of the ones from Costa Rica, I’m pissed because they suck.  Sure, I got a handful of decent shots, but now I realize that most of the pictures I flagged are terrible, and I can’t really say I want any of them printed out and displayed in my house (except for perhaps some hummingbird shots).  I’m not even sure I want to show them off to my friends, whether or not they know the difference between a Nikon and an iPhone.

I did the photo tour in Costa Rica one year ago this month.  To be honest, I was still new to photography.  Yes, I knew what aperture was and what shutter speed did, and I even knew about exposure compensation, depth of field control, and any other primary principle you can think of.  Despite this, there is a difference between knowing (book smart) and doing (street smart).  It was kind of sensory overload for me…It was the first time I was really “dedicated” to photography – It was 12 days of non-stop shooting and I saw things I never had before seen.  I was being presented with a myriad of great photo subjects, and lots of instruction of advanced concepts that I probably was not ready for.

In hindsight, I realize that it was foolish to have expected anything tangible out of the trip.  I might not have gotten the images I wanted, and you can bet I want to go back and try again…and I will soon!  But, what I did get out of the trip was an appreciation for what goes into great photographs.  And, I got a foundation that I can use to judge my work as I continue to pursue the craft.  That makes the trip a success, I hope!

So back to the title…I really hope this feeling of “I totally suck” is normal as an amateur photographer.  I would love to read something on Google+ from Brian Matiash or Moose Peterson that they felt this way back when they were getting started.  I know it is senseless to expect anything close to perfection, but I need to remember not to look at specific photos and ask “What the hell was I thinking”.  Instead, I need to take that photo, compare it to something recent, and say “What have I learned?”

If I can do that, then hopefully I can achieve the symmetry and consistency I’m hoping for as a photographer.

Speaking of symmetry, here is a shot from about a month ago.  I like this because it is a good example of getting a cool looking shot in the most mundane of places.  This is the underpass of an interstate highway, around LaSalle, IL.

I-39 Underpass - LaSalle, IL

I finally have completed and published a gallery from my Canyonlands National Park trip that I did earlier this month.  I spent a lot of time going through all of the photos that I took on this trip, and I’ve realized and learned quite a few things.  The first thing is that I probably will spend countless hours with these photos in the future.  I decided to include 24 of them in the gallery, which is probably right about in the “sweet spot” to give you a good sense of what I saw on the trip, and to keep your interest level high.  Anything more and you’d probably get bored as hell going through them.  Another key thing I’ve learned is that there is no such thing as “perfect”.  No matter how much time I spend on these things, I’m always going to ask how they could be better, and if these are the photos I really want to show off.

I can’t say these are the sum total of my best photos from the trip, although I would say most of them fall into that category.  I held a few of them back for various reasons.  One reason is I may use them on blog posts in the future.  Another reason is I haven’t decided how I want to process some of them yet, and as I said already I’m sure I’ll do more processing with the photos I have from this trip in the coming days/weeks/months.

If I were to grade myself on the trip, I’d give myself a solid “B”.  I do think I got some great shots, but I also made many mistakes (some of which you might be able to see in these photos).  Some of the mistakes are inexcusable and are really frustrating, because they resulted in deleted shots of something that really should have been good.  Most of these situations boil down to rushing and not taking my time.  Anyway, I just hope I learned from the mistakes and that I limit them in the future.

You can view the Canyonlands May 2012 gallery from my home page by clicking on “The Latest” link in the top header.  Or, if you are really lazy, you can clicking RIGHT HERE

Please be sure to denote your favorites by “liking” on Facebook, sharing on Facebook or Google+, and pinning on Pinterest for those of you that are at the top of the social networking food chain.  Note that you need to pin yourself as the service I use for the photos hasn’t warmed up to Pinterest quite yet and I can’t get a “Pin It” button without doing some code wizardry that I don’t feel like trying.  You’re welcome to critique as well…To be honest that can be more valuable at times.  Oh, and YES, you could show your ultimate love by purchasing a print (I can’t possibly think of a better way to spend your money).

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the gallery!