Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Presentation next weekend!

I am getting excited for my presentation next weekend at the Ingersoll District Nature Club!  The topic has been chosen and it will be "An Island Apart: The Stunning and Bizarre Wildlife of Madagascar."  This is a brand-new presentation, and I can't wait to do it!  For details, visit www.ingersollnature.ca.

I have made some updates to the "Upcoming Presentations" tab (at the top of this page) to reflect some recent changes and additions.  And of course, I always post updates on my Facebook page, and now my Twitter account (I'm so connected)!

Here's as sneak peek from the Mad presentation - I think I'll use it as the cover photo:

Jewel Chameleon (Furcifer lateralis)















:)
Kyle

Friday, November 9, 2012

Photo Editing - Behind the screens?

Hello!

So I was doing some re-sorting and editing some old photos today, and found myself working on some Barred Owl shots from a couple of years ago.  Usually I try to keep my editing to a minimum - I'd really rather nail the shot in-camera than spend hours at the computer - but things don't always go as planned, and I found myself performing an unusually large number of adjustments to these photos.

Although I'm not terribly fond of Photoshopping, I often like to open the original and edited photos side-by-side and see the difference a bit of touching up can make.  I am by no means a Photoshop expert, but I thought it might be fun to post some comparisons just for interest's sake.  So here they are!

The following three shots are of Barred Owls (Strix varia) at Presqu'ile Provincial Park in 2009.  Originals on the left, edits on the right.



















The main correction applied to these photos is the digital removal of a colour cast.  A colour cast is sort of what it sounds like - a wash of incorrect colour, which may be caused by odd lighting conditions or incorrect camera settings (or filters, I suppose, if the photographer was seeking such an effect).  In this case it was a slip-up in the white-balance setting, which left all the photos with a blue-green hue.  Many post-processing programs can correct this by having the user re-define white (or black) and calibrating the image from there.  After that it's just a bit of brightening, contrast and saturation adjustment, sharpening and cropping as desired.  Quick and dirty!

:)
Kyle

Monday, November 5, 2012

Ontario big

In case you've missed all the buzz, Josh Vandermeulen just broke the record for an Ontario big year!  This is an attempt to see as many species of bird in Ontario as possible in one calendar year.  The existing record was 338, and Josh just crashed through on a crazy trip to Netitishi Point in northern Ontario.  Currently sitting at 342 and almost 2 months to go - every additional species now is incredibly difficult, but there are still possibilities!

To see what Josh is up to, visit www.joshvandermeulen.blogspot.ca.

Can't help but be a little jealous...

Kyle

Friday, November 2, 2012

A frightening leap...

After a few recent conversations with friends about the terrifying thing that is Twitter, I decided to take the leap and jump on-board!  I'm still not exactly sure what Twitter is for, but somehow I was convinced that it was a good idea.  I hope I don't regret it!

If you, too are a Twitterer, you may now find me in the Twitterverse at www.twitter.com/KHornerNature.  Hope to see you there!

Kyle

And for today's photo-fix, here's a Jerusalem Cricket from South Africa.  What a looker!

Jerusalem Cricket (Stenopelmatus sp.)

Thursday, November 1, 2012

The winter approaches

It seems that every year around this time, my photography season begins to wind down.  Everything is turning brown and the reptiles, amphibians and bugs are hibernating, or generally escaping the impending cold.  It always leaves me feeling a bit listless...

At any rate, it does give me a bit of time to sort through the looming pile of photos that I never had time to edit in the summer.  Today, it's a few miscellaneous South Africa photos from the giant stack.  Here they are!

First, a really exciting shot for me.  I had always wanted to see a monitor in the wild, and we were fortunate enough to find a handful!  The Nile Monitor does not disappoint - big, powerful and gorgeous.  Everything I expect a monitor to be!

Nile Monitor (Veranus niloticus)















Secondly, the most hideous creature in all of Africa - the Tsessebe!  Evolution has kindly shaped this animal into something too ugly to eat, or at least that is the only explanation I can imagine for it.  Don't be fooled, it's not sick or emaciated, it's just a Tsessebe.

Tsessebe (Damaliscus lunatus)















And lastly, an insect (what's a blog post without bugs?).  Since many of the parks in South Africa require you to stay in your car (and with good reason), I didn't get the opportunity to shoot many insects.  I can only imagine that the country is full of fascinating, six-legged critters, and I wish I had the opportunity to see more of them!

Locusts (unknown species)















That's all for now!
Kyle