Happy Thanksgiving

I have so much to be thankful for on this holiday in the USA. I am thankful for my wife (it is also her birthday today), my 3 1/2 year old son Christian, my 17 month old son William, our collective health, my parents' love, my in-laws and the rest of my extended family. I am also thankful for a successful career switch from the software industry to being a photography workshop instructor and African wildlife photographer. I started making that switch from my 'day job' in 2002, and a couple of years later I was leading six safaris each year and had lectures across the country. I have so much to be thankful for, both personally and professionally.

What are you thankful for?

Black Friday deals deals deals deals deals

For the ultimate shopping destination for photographers, B&H Photo has a plethora of deals available right now. They have holiday specials, rebates, new products, open box specials, and of course their used department.

B&H Photo has some great prices (and free shipping) on Apple Macs and iPods too!

Outdoor Photo Gear is including a Gift Card Code in your shipment good for $25 off of a future order when you purchase from a select group of products.

Naturscapes.net has some great combo deals, as well. They are also throwing in a free Ultra Spudz microfiber cleaning cloth with all orders.

And, of course, Gura Gear is offering free UPS Ground shipping for all orders through the end of day on Monday. For international shipments, there is a code that can be used for a $25 coupon that can be applied to the entire order.

iFotoGuide - Arches Natl Park iPhone app released

My friends Dan Baumbach and Brett Edge have created a really cool application for the iPhone and iPod Touch devices. It is called iFotoGuide, and their first national park to be released is Arches National Park.

iFotoGuide provides traveling photographers with all the resources to organize a photography trip to Arches and make stunning images while on location. iFotoGuide has some really cool features, but my favorite feature are sample photos of locations in the park, how to get there and what types of accessories to bring. You can also find places to photograph by time of the day, such as sunrise, sunset or middle of the day.

I wish this application was available for my first trip to Arches N.P. 10 years ago. The price is $4.99, which is much less than a guide book, and this application will be updated over time. Updates get synced back to your computer. Highly recommended.

Safari Testimonial - Rajesh Khanna

Andy-

My trip to Botswana with you was simply fantastic and beyond expectations. I had booked the trip a year in advance and was looking forward to it with a lot of excitement. As a result, it took quite some doing to achieve an outcome beyond my expectations. This was certainly one of the best vacations in my life in one of the best places in the world. Andy, I think of your role in 2 parts: (i) thorough preparations in arranging the best guides, accommodations and logistics, and (ii) more importantly, coach, friend & guide to help us take better photographs. On the first part, the arrangements were flawless. The guides at each camp were outstanding & extremely knowledgeable - unlike regular guides, they understood the needs of photographers and the appropriate positioning of their vehicles to enable all passengers get a good angle for their photos and to position us well in terms of the angle of the available light. The camps were also well selected with abundant wildlife, high quality accommodations and highly courteous/ friendly staff. Many thanks to James & Nicky at Eyes on Africa for taking such good care of the arrangements.

Andy, you were fabulous - great knowledge of African wildlife, highly passionate about photography, always willing to go the extra mile, always helpful (even when you were sleepy!), genuinely keen to teach/ share your knowledge and keen to ensure that all participants have a great experience. I must have asked you hundreds of questions & you answered all of them with a smile. You are a warm and great guy to spend 2 weeks with! Equally importantly, you were also sensitive to our special needs - such as ensuring that I was comfortable on game drives since I have a bad back. I also observed that while you were keen to take wildlife photos, you put the needs of the group above your own. For example, you did not hog the best seats or determine where we would drive solely based on your own personal desires. I took hundreds of great photos during the trip and have shared them with many envious friends.

I definitely will go on more photo safari trips with you and am tentatively planning a trip to Botswana in 2011!  

Thanks again.
Rajesh

Here are some of Rajesh's wonderful images from our safari together from our safari to Botswana in July.

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!

PDN Virtual Trade Show - keynote speech

I will be giving the PDN Virtual Trade Show keynote speech on digital printing on December 3rd at 11:00am EST. If you are not familiar with the PDN Virtual Trade Show, all you need to do is register online and go from there. Here is some text from their web site about the trade show:

The PDN Photographers' Virtual Trade Show is a FREE online trade show for professional and advanced amateur photographers. While on the site you will have the opportunity to visit virtual booths, receive personal attention, discover and buy the latest equipment and participate in webcast panel discussions and presentations online—all from the comfort of your home or office.

Very cool. Anyway, I will be speaking for around 45 minutes, and can take questions from participants. Here are some specifics about my talk:

The Perfect Print
Keynote presentation by Andy Biggs
 
While having the ability to print your own photos at home is a tremendous convenience, quality is often elusive. This Webcast will focus exclusively on improving your fine-art digital printing, concentrating specifically on inkjet printmaking. Topics to be covered include old-fashioned testing and how to execute careful color judgments, as well as workflow issues such as color management.

PDN also has a great FAQ worth reading here.

Good Day New Mexico TV appearance now online

My 3 minutes of fame was recently aired on Good Day New Mexcio on October 28, and the video is now online.

Back home from safari in Tanzania

After two weeks of excellent photography in the east African country of Tanzania, I am back home. I had 10 travelers with me, and I have to say that this was one heck of a group. We got up early each day, had some excellent experiences, took some great photographs, and above all else took the time to laugh until our bellies ached. Thank you to all who came on this unforgettable safari!!

I will be sure to post some photographs in the following days. My favorite images are almost all chimpanzee photographs from Mahale National Park, and all are high ISO images that require delicate processing. I will try my hands with the new Adobe Lightroom 3 beta application, but I may end up having to rely on my standard high ISO processing workflow with Photoshop CS4 and different plugins.

Time for a cup of coffee. It's early and I am jetlagged.