A 5:15 BLOG what's that all about? Well it comes from my corporate days when a sadist used to make me prepare a report on a Friday night of my weekly activities that took me 15 minutes to write and him 5 minutes to read!! Now this one may take a little longer as there are two videos included in case you missed them!
Week Gone By - Tiggers and TV!
It's been a very very busy few weeks hence the lack of 5.15 BLOGs. For two of the weeks I was in India working with tigers again. It was a wonderful trip and one where I used the EOS R for the first time as my main camera. So here's a few of my favourite pictures...
Plus a bit of the local birdlife!
All taken with the EOS R on jpeg. It was such a nice trip, great clients and as always working with my dream team. As part of a new venture I am doing I shot a lot of video, both 4K tiger movies on the R and zany travel stuff too. I published the first of these this week and for those of you that didn't see it then check the video here, it's 3 minutes of fun!
And for those photographers who missed my video on the EOS R and my initial thoughts here it is, but be warned it's 13 minutes long so grab a coffee or a stiff drink first!
Yesterday I did a BBC Radio Wales interview with Lynn Bowles and a live TV interview with Nick Owen on BBC Midlands Today. It was all about tigers and great fun, I love doing this kind of stuff and really miss doing it as I love spreading good messages about wildlife.
To listen to the Lynn Bowles radio interview simply click here and fast forward to 2.22.57 where it starts. As with all BBC apps you now have to sign in. The interview is around 20 minutes long and is very cool.
Suzie's Conservation and Lifestyle thoughts - plates
Of course we all want to do our bit to help the environment but, as always, our priorities in our lives sometimes means that this gets forgotten. My partner Suzie is very into a sustainable lifestyle and so each week she will give her thoughts on something simple that you can try to make a difference to the world.
It's been a while since our last blog and I've been busy getting the train to and from Cardiff. Sometimes if the upgrade price is reasonable I even treat myself to a first class ticket. It was under these circumstances I found myself on a Cross Country train in the first class carriage. Such is the luxury of first class you get a free sandwich! But my subject of this blog is not the luxuries of first class, nor is it the unreliability of the trains (normally cancelled halfway through the journey!) No, my subject today is what the sandwich was served on. It was a totally biodegradable plant based plate. I couldn't say exactly what it was but it was completely effective - it held my sandwich for the two minutes it took me to scoff it!
I always wonder though with companies like this. If they can take a step like this, then why not do more? My cup of tea was still in a non recyclable cup and plastic bottles were still readily available. It's a start though and one that Cross Country trains should be commended for - but as always it relies on said eco product being correctly disposed of. But why stop there? What about rolling out more sustainable packaging and products? Biodegradable wooden cutlery - canned drinks - even china mugs for drinks.
Instagram Image of the Week @wildmanrouse
The most successful image of the week on Instagram was this one:
Yes amongst all the tiger pictures it was this simple picture of a Red Fox that got over 10,000 likes and was picked up by a few hubs here and there. As always now on IG I put up a daily tip so here's what I put for this image:
A very simple image of a Red Fox in the snow. Nothing more to be said really, it all works and came together nicely. .
💡I shot the original much wider than this as I like to decide the crop afterwards without emotion. Too many times we make the wrong cropping decision when we press the shutter so it pays to shoot slightly wider than you would think to. .
📷 Canon 1-DX with 200-400 lens 😢 , ISO 400, f11 @ 1/250th hand-held
The Week Ahead
A simple message here, thanks to everyone who takes the time to read these blogs, your support really is very much appreciated. From both me and Suzie we hope that you have a wonderful holiday (whether you celebrate Christmas or not) and a wonderful time with your friends and family. And a final message from Suzie - please don't forget to feed our feathered friends, especially if the weather turns cold. They really do rely on a few extra nuts or seeds during the winter months.
Happy Christmas everyone!
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