Upcoming lecture at B&H on Sept 13

If you are in the NYC area, please come and hear me speak at B&H on September 13 from 11am-1pm. The subject of my talk will be: Digital Printing, What your Mother Never Told You. You need to RSVP for this talk, so click on the link below for more information and to confirm your RSVP.

See you then!

Digital Printing: What your Mother Never Told You, Presented by Andy Biggs and Moab Paper

Sunday, September 13, 2009  |  11:00 AM - 1:00 PM

Learn the latest digital printing techniques from Master Printer and African Wildlife photographer, Andy Biggs. Andy will cover ICC Profiles, demystifying color management (do’s and don’ts), how to choose inkjet papers, types of printers and building the ideal digital print studio. Andy leads African photo safari workshops, and will also discuss his field techniques, as well as his processing methods.

Ever seen leopards fight? While hyaenas watch?

Somebody sent me this link. Something one doesn't see everyday while out in the bush.

Photo of the Day

Legadema

Mombo Camp, Okavango Delta, Botswana. July 2009

Nikon D3, 200-400mm f/4 VR, 1/160 @ f/4, ISO 6400

Santa Fe Photowalk

I am organizing a photowalk in Santa Fe, New Mexico on October 7, 2009. Since I am running a workshop with Michael Clark beginning on October 8, I figured it would be fun to organize a casual and fun photowalk of Santa Fe the day before our workshop begins.

The photowalk is open to anybody who would like to join us. Just bring along a camera, comfortable shoes, water and whatever else makes sense. We will meet up at 4mp at the gazebo in the Plaza, and will go from there. We don't have a pretermined path to walk, so please don't be late. In fact, just show up early and be ready to go by 4pm. I am confident that we will end up at a restaurant with good food and margaritas at sundown. :-)

You can read the offical photowalk information on the Photowalklist.com web site:

Santa Fe Photowalk, October 7, 2009

and followed by

Adobe Lightroom and the Fine Art Digital Print, October 8-11, 2009

Only a few spaces left for the workshop

Photo of the Day

Lioness in a Tree

Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. June 2006

Canon 5D, 500mm f/4 + 1.4x, 1/100 sec @ f/10, ISO 250

Safari Testimonial: Jose Antonio Rosas

"I was on Andy's July 2009 Botswana safari, and could not have asked for a better experience. Every aspect of the trip was designed to maximize the photo opportunities for photographers of all levels. The safari operator, the choice of camps, and the guides were all outstanding. And most important of all, Andy himself made sure that this was a great experience for everyone. He clearly knows and cares for the African wildlife, and has his guests' enjoyment and learning as his top priorities. My appreciation for life in the African bush and my wildlife photography skills have grown siginficantly after this safari. The only choice I have to make for my next photo trip is which of Andy's safaris to take."

Some of Jose's images from our safari together are below. All images copyrighted ©2009 and reserved property of Jose Antonio Rosas.

You can see my 2010 African safaris online here. I have spots available on some of my safaris and not on others. If you are interested in one of these safaris, please email me at info@andybiggs.com while there is still space available. My safaris book up early!

Possible solution for Nikon VR and AF problems?

As I was mentioning in my Botswana summary report, I have had issues on my past 2 safaris with my Nikon 200-400mm f/4 VR lens. I am pretty sure it only happened when I had a mounted teleconverter, either a 1.4x or 1.7x, but I was having weird autofocus and vibration reduction issues that would require me to power down the camera, remount my teleconverter / lens and start all over. Sometimes the only fix would be to pull out the camera battery. Very frustrating, indeed.

Well, a friend and former safari traveler of mine sent me an email that I thought might help. Here goes:

"Saw your latest entry on your Botswana trip…sounds like it was really special. Love the photos. I’m envious!

I also noted your description of problems with your D3/1.4x/200-400. You probably know this by now, but I figured I’d tell you just in case you’ve missed it: Nikons are prone to getting oxidation on the body and/or lens electrical contacts. When that happens, you get many of the symptoms you describe in your post…slow/no focus, erratic VR, mysterious error messages. Usually, you can’t even see anything on the contacts. The “commando” fix is to take something like a pencil eraser and rub it on the contacts to clean them, being VERY careful not to let any of the rubbings fall into the mirror box. (I’ve also used a microfiber lens cloth.) The tried-and-true solution is to get some DeoxIT (you can get it at your local Radio Shack or order it thru Amazon) and use that to both clean and protect the contacts. The problem with DeoxIT is that it’s one of those chemicals that you can’t take on an airplane (if you mail order it, they’ll only ship it ground). But it really works—I speak from experience. It MAY fix your problem…then again, it might be something totally different J.

Again, my apologies if you knew this already…just trying to be helpful."

No need to apologize! I have ordered some of DeoxIT and it should arrive this week. Thanks for the tip!

Only 2 spots left for Galapagos next May, 2010

Galapagos Islands Workshop

May 15-23, 2010
Limited to 18 participants (only 2 spots remaining) Sold Out

Well, my Galapgos Islands Workshop for May, 2010 is almost booked up. I have 1 cabin remaining on the upper deck. Once that cabin is spoken for, that's it!

If you have a measurable interest in joining us next year, please let me know as soon as you can by emailing me at info@andybiggs.com. I am confident that these spots will not remain available for much longer.