This phenomenal video was shot entirely with a brand new Canon 7D by filmmaker Dan Chung, just hours after he purchased the camera at a local retailer in Beijing. Chung used some top notch L lenses and a professional video setup to make the film, but because of the low light most of the video was shot in the ISO range of 1600 – 6400! I have to say I’m very impressed.
To read more about Chung’s experience making the video and working with the 7D, and to learn about the equipment he used check out his website, DSLR News Shooter. You can also view the video in HD and read Chung’s write-up on Vimeo.
The first year I lived in Minnesota, I heard a lot of talk about the state fair. It seemed like the Minnesotan event of the summer, the one thing that everyone seemed to go to. I was intrigued. I’d never been to a state fair before. Oh, sure, Michigan has one, and New York has one too. New Jersey even has a state fair (although I didn’t know until I looked it up just now)! And yet I’d never been to any of them.
Growing up, I thought only people who raised livestock went to the fair. I was slightly disturbed by the whole idea, having grown up reading and watching Charlotte’s Web. I didn’t want to see cute little(!) pigs and cows that would be eaten when they got home. My parents weren’t interested in going to the fair either, but for different reasons. It seems the Michigan State Fair is held in a somewhat sketchy part of town. Neither of my parents grew up going to fair; it just wasn’t the thing to do there. So I was pretty surprised to find out that it IS the thing to do here in Minnesota. So that first year, Jim and I hopped in the car and drove out to the fair to see what it was all about.
On that first visit we didn’t really check a map and headed north to see what there was to see. It seems the northern part of the state fair is where the farm equipment is displayed. I’d never seen so many tractors in my life, and was in awe of the size and variety of tractors and tillers available. Being a city girl, I didn’t even know what a lot of the stuff was used for! It was a real eye-opener for me, knowing that I truly was in the heart of farm country. We also got to see some of of the logging equipment in use, classic cars and tractors and the dog show. It wasn’t until we started to get hungry that we ventured over to the south end of the fair.
Continue reading Discovering the Minnesota State Fair »
Florian Schulz is a professional nature photographer and a founding member of the International League of Conservation Photographers (ILCP). His Freedom to Roam Project chronicles wildlife migration corridors and shows how each piece of the conservation puzzle connects with the others. This project documents the affects of global warming and human encroachment on wild spaces and makes clear the need for protected wildlife corridors to allow migrating species to be able to move throughout their ranges safely and freely.
Phase one of the Freedom to Roam project documents the wildlife corridor that runs from the arctic down along the coast and through the mountains of North America. The photography from this phase, known as Y2Y or Yellowstone to Yukon, was compiled into a book and selected photos are also on display at the Field Museum in Chicago. Schultz is now starting work on phase two, B2B or Baja to the Beaufort Sea.
The stunning video above puts a face to the conservation efforts and shows just what it is scientists and other conservationists are working to protect. The caribou in this video migrate over proposed oil drilling land, pristine wilderness that the oil companies would have us believe is barren and purposeless but for the oil that lies beneath it. With the effects of global warming diminishing arctic habitat it is more important than ever to protect that habitat, and to make more habitat accessible to arctic wildlife.
For more information on the Freedom to Roam project and award-winning photographer Florian Shulz visit visionsofthewild.com. The NY Times article Home on the Range also provides information on the proposed protection of the Y2Y wildlife corridor.
There’s about an hour in the morning just after sunrise and an hour in evening just before sunset where the sunlight is especially golden. This is the golden hour, or as I prefer, magic hour. Here in Minnesota we really only get it in the spring, summer and autumn – while we do get it in the winter, it’s a lot less noticeable because the sun is low on the horizon all day.
Last night we had a good rain, but the clouds cleared just a bit along the horizon at magic hour and it made for some really beautiful light. Everything seemed to glow against the dark skies. It reminded me that there truly is magic in this world if you open your eyes to look for it.
Last week Thursday and Friday were beautiful days here, sunny and in the 80s. On Friday I headed down to Lake Calhoun with my camera and watched the tall grass near the water blowing in the soft breeze, the buoys bobbing up and down gently in the water and the little children playing on the swings near the beach. But it was this dandelion that I passed on my way back from the lake that I found the most inspiring. It had planted itself in the tiny amount of dirt between the sidewalk and the retaining wall of the adjacent house and had succeeded in sending up not one but two flowers so early in the season, even though we’re really low on rain this spring. We call them weeds, and we look down on them, working to root them out of our yards, frowning on their ability to disrupt our plans for perfect lawns and sidewalks. But I have to admire their tenacity and persistence. They persevere in the harshest conditions and are never afraid of disrupting the status quo. Their little yellow faces shine right back into the face of adversity. Yes, this is exactly the kind of inspiration I need right now.
September 28, 2009, at 8:13 pm
