Well I finally have all my shots and visas and have repacked my camera gear for the millionth time (and it still hasn’t gotten any lighter). This will no doubt be the trip of a lifetime getting to photograph in Kenya and Tanzania with Tom Mangelsen. We will be photographing in East Africa’s famous wildlife sanctuaries and national parks including Amboseli on the foothills of Africa’s highest mountain, Mt. Kilimanjaro and Tarangire National Park. We’ll also be spending a lot of time in the Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti National Park staying in secluded game lodges and private tented camps in Northern Tanzania.

Yes, I’ve watched “Out of Africa” a few times to get in the mood but I can’t wait to get out there and see the East African wildlife in person. I downloaded a great Swahili iPhone app so I’ve got a few phrases under my belt.

I fly Saturday to Amsterdam then from Amsterdam to Nairobi. I’ll spend two days in Nairobi recovering from the flight. As I will most likely not have wifi I will probably not be posting any blog entries or photos until I return on February 19.

This past summer I shot my first rodeos in Montana and was fortunate enough to be photographing with legendary photographer Bill Allard. To attend a rodeo with Bill is to go to school. I learned so much about what was going on and where to shoot that I swore I would shoot rodeos every summer from now on. I was shooting a sequence of bunking broncos when to my amazement one of the horses went over on a rider. Somehow they both got back up and walked away as if nothing had happened. It was an amazing and terrifying moment and I was lucky to have captured it with my Nikon D3s and Nikon 600mm lens. I put the frames together into this sequence so it would be easier to view the action.










I can’t wait for next summer!






Closeup of an Anhinga along the aptly named Anhinga Trail in the southern Everglades.





Closeup of a great Egret on Mrazek Pond near Flamingo Bay in the Everglades.





The beautiful green eyes of an Anhinga in the Everglades.





Three red-bellied turtles near the Anhinga Trail in the Everglades. They were sunning themselves in the early morning light.





Everyone who has seen this photo has emailed with great concern for my safety. I promise you I was a safe distance away using my wonderful 600mm lens. I just shot this fellow very low so I could include the grass.





Dwarf Cypress trees near Rock Reef (elevation 3 feet!) in the Everglades.





Juvenile blue heron near Mrazek Pond in the Everglades.





Roseate Spoonbill in flight at Mrazek Pond.





American Coot (Fulica americana) at Mrazek Pond.





Closeup of the neck of a white Egret at Mrazek Pond.





Great Blue Heron along the Anhinga Trail.





Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon) in flight over Mzarek Pond in the Everglades.