Power and Grace

I love the idea of capturing action and power in wildlife. There is just something about that raw, unhindered spirit that is absolutely captivating. This image is Richard Peters', entry (and one of the winners) for the 2012 World Wildlife Photographers of the Year.I actually tumbled (haha) across this image on Tumblr (my insatiable addiction to the site is rather alarming, but I regret nothing).

What I find most intriguing about the image is the effect of having the subject mostly out of frame (I bet that breaks a few 'rules' as we have learned throughout this course so far). However, the subjects face and intense expression along with that lush tail and spindly legs still allow to viewer to immediately recognize the creature. That empty white space from the bottom left extending up to the fox in the top right really creates movement in the image as the eye follows toward the fox. You can imagine the motion where the fox had started before its jump to where it is now and where it might land just barely still in frame. The color scheme of course is very beneficial with the white snow and the striking contrast of the orange-hued fox. This photo was taken in Yellowstone back in 2010. With a little more web searching I found article highlighting some of the various winning images. Wildlife Photographer of the Year Highlights All of 100 winning images are on display that Natural History Museum until March 2013. Museum Of Natural History

Because we can

"on the 65th anniversary of the day that U.S. test pilot Chuck Yeager became the first man to officially break the sound barrier in a jet" 43 year old Austrian Pilot(and daredevil) Felix Baumgartner made a 128,100 foot plunge to earth over New Mexico. Hey guys, that is like 24 MILES above the Earth's surface. Felix hit Mach 1.24, or 833.9 mph, this is a PERSON not a jet or spacecraft, free falling for 4 minutes and 22 seconds. Did I mention over 800 MILES PER HOUR? What. I can't even imagine that sense of thrill. Some days I really enjoy the part of humanity where we do things because we can and even better when it works out and everyone walks away safely. WOW.

Nat Geo's Photo Of The Day

On occassion I browse through the National Geographic website to check out recent news on new species and whatnot. Today I stumbled across the Photo Of The Day page and was really impressed by the image for Oct 4, 2012. Coming from a state where big thunder storms are a regularity, I often miss those looming clouds and lighning shows out here in Montana. Every time we get even a hiccup of a thunder storm here in Billings I just crave a big storm, curled up in my basement at home watching the county blocks on the weather channel light up with sever storm warnings and tracking funnel clouds and tornados that have touch down.

I find such power and beauty in the scene of a storm and photographer Mitch Dobrowner truly captured the mysterious and dangerous spirit of the storm in this photo. He works generally in black an white landscapes, bringing great depth and adding a dramatic element to this photo. The scene is also quite reminiscent of home to me, giving a sense of ease and familiarity. I feel that had the photo lacked the lightening, it still would be a fantastic image. The lightning strike simply adds an element of interest, especially as it weaves within a cloud. The road dead center leads the eye into the image toward the almost black horizon line that really makes the lighting contrast stand out.

Mitch Dobrowner's website is full of equally amazing photographs of different natural and urban landscapes: http://www.mitchdobrowner.com/index.html