Jurgen Freund’s pictures of a baby turtle, a barrel sponge and other beauties of the deep have been released to back environmental campaigners the WWF.

His photographs are shown as part of the charity’s Blue Mile project to raise money for its global conservation work.

Freund took the photos during an 18-month expedition to the Coral Triangle – the coastline of the Philippines, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.

This the where the world’s marine life is concentrated and its 6million sq km is home to many species of whales, dolphins, tuna, reef fish, rays, sharks and turtles.

The WWF hopes the pictures show what the world could lose if climate change and pollution are allowed to take hold of fragile eco-systems.

As part of Blue Mile, the WWF is urging people to take part in a sponsored event – covering a mile in or by water.

Fundraisers can swim, paddle, kayak, or stroll beside a river, lake or beach.

They can organise an event or join the WWF’s London event on Sunday, September 4, at Stoke Newington West Reservoir. For details, visit wwf.org.uk/bluemile or call 02392 312008.

So inviting and warming was this bed, we managed to sleep through the alarm and miss breakfast. Hungry again we suited up and made our way down the valley to a small cafe for some brunch, it wasn’t nearly as good as the Scandinavian breakfast we had at the lodge but it filled a hole!

Just across the bridge was the small Swedish town of Karesuando. We were on the northern border of Sweden & could see the village across the Muonio River from the lodge. Most notably seen is the church, it’s spiral can be seen from the top of mountain that we had been star gazing the night before.

After a short walk we came to the bridge, with it an old iron sign marking the divide. The river was frozen solid with a thick layer of ice, if it weren’t for the ski, snowmobile and footprints it would have looked like the icing on a cake. People were free to cross the border without any checks, a bit like England and Wales really.

Our first stop was to the church, which we learnt is the most northerly church in all of Sweden! It was quite modern inside, I wasn’t allowed to take photos but it was more like the happy clappy churches you get in America. From the outside however it stood tall and proud at the top of it’s drive, overlooking the river.

There wasn’t a great deal going on in the village, a couple of shops and residential areas but that’s it. It was very pretty though and nice to walk around. The only people we saw were those serving in the shop, a bit if a ghost town. They are probably hibernating, which I don’t blame them for, it’s freezing!

After lunch came the activity I was most looking forward too, Husky safari! Saying I am dog lover is an understatement, I adore them, especially huskies! As we approached the farm you could hear them howling with excitement, they had 92 in total including a few pups. Most of them are crossbreeds, either with greyhounds for speed or arctic wolves for strength. People think its cruel making huskies pull a sleigh but I can honestly say they genuinely love it. The sleighs are tied to a tree with a pack of six huskies tied to the front, they with howl, jump, spin round in circles until we finally until the sleigh and whoosh they are off! The two at the back are usually the matured males, wolf cross breads for strength, they do most of the work, the middle two are younger, very cheeky but hard workers. The front are usually female, they are the more intelligent ones who can lead.

They were pretty easy to steer, a bit like riding a bicycle, you lean the way you wish to turn and you have a foot break. On the up slopes you have to give the dogs a helping hand and push the sleigh.

After two hours out in the wilderness it was time to day goodbye, we were introduced to the leader of the farm, Roy! He looked like a St Bernard’s but was a cross of some other breeds. He looked like a huge White fluff ball, a mini polar bear almost. If any of the heard were to escape he would herd them back into the kennel.

That evening it was time to unwind and relax, the first night we could have a good sleep. We curled up in front of the fire in the Sami lounge, with beer in hand and enjoyed sharing stories with the other guests.

Cheers!

In my two weeks on Sun Island, just south of Male in the Maldives, my camera saw plenty of action. Here is just a snippet of the adventures and the beauty. To see the entire gallery, please visit my flickr: www.flickr.com/bekids

Our mode of transport to Sun Island

Sun Island, Maldives

The Pool & the Bar

Flying Summer

The Pier, the Villa & the Italian

Hermy the Hermit

Walking in Paradise

With this is mind, it was time to get a 50mm f1.8 II prime and finally be able to achieve some low light shots. At only £81 from Amazon, it wasn’t going to break the bank – plus its had such rave reviews it would be silly not to if it were the difference between a virtually black print and one that is correctly exposed.

Out of the box, the lens felt more like a toy than a piece of optics & I didn’t expect it to be that small! They do say however, great things come in small packages. There wasn’t much to play with at first, no distance window, no markings and a small focus ring – it did keep me occupied for a good hour though.

The autofocus is driven by a micro motor and has been said to be fine only in good light with subjects that are not moving. I have to disagree – running in AI Servo mode at the weekend at f1.8 and a shutter speed of 1/500 I found the AF speed to be just fine – not as quick as that of an L series USM but good enough to achieve results. With this lens not being USM is noisier than most other Canon lenses but as this isn’t a wildlife lens I shouldn’t think that would bother two many people. I suppose a positive aspect of the sound is that you know when it is working – and when focus is locked.

Where this lens scores highly is its 1.8 f-stop – very fast. Images are definitely soft at this aperture but acceptable in a pinch. What I had to bear in mind is that I may not have got the shot at all if I didn’t have the f1.8 setting so a bit of softness is the trade-off. Noticeable improvement in sharpness is seen at f2.2 and it just gets better from there on in. Stopped down to around f4 – f11 the lens displays stunning levels of clarity and sharpness for the price. It also focuses down to 45 cm.

So there you have it, the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Lens delivers very sharp images as inexpensively as Canon lenses get.

70% JPEG Web Quality | Shot at 1/500 at f1.8 ISO 1600

]]> http://www.joesblogg.com/2010/01/canon-ef-50mm-f1-8-ii-lens-review/feed/ 0 http://www.joesblogg.com/2010/01/me-my-camera-habit/ http://www.joesblogg.com/2010/01/me-my-camera-habit/#comments Tue, 19 Jan 2010 11:58:09 +0000 admin http://www.joesblogg.com/?p=162 Photography for me has always been a hobby, a way for me to express myself with digital stills. I would be lying if I said I am photographer, I am merely an image scavenger with a camera habit. For me, creative observation is only a starting point, digital technology is jumping leaps and bounds and with it I can make any subject my own. I believe in freedom to capture and record whatever one sees. I may not be a camera but in my experience what started life as snaps may end up as art. But all this could start to change; I may one day make it as a photographer.

Since leaving University, I haven’t been able to do much “hobby” photography apart from the odd holiday or road trip. I have however been busy at work with various forms of photoshoots. From a River Island launch event to a trip to Kent to photograph an inventor with her scrudle - I’ve started to be exposed to more and more commercial photography… and it doesn’t stop there!

Over the past 5 months I have been putting my skills to the test with some Horse photography for my other half’s new magazine – Hooked on Horses. With the combination of dressage, show jumping and cross country, I decided to get myself a quick & cheap purchase in the form of a Sigma 28-300 in order to get the focal length required for the different disciplines. Now I must start by saying that for the price I paid, it really isn’t a bad lens but more so for everyday walk in the park type stuff. Even for outdoor horse photography, I was still able to acheive some good results but no where near the standard of the 70-200 F2.8′s for example. Being an f3.5-6.3 meant it was just too slow to handle the action and I soon came to realise that my impulse purchase had to be replaced.

Then it started… my transformation from image scavenger to photographer. I found myself reading a book called Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson which quite embarrassingly made me realise how much of an amateur image scavenger I am! Don’t let the dry title fool you, this book helped me understand the art of composition, depth of field and all other aspects of field such as the exposure triangle and the difference between correctly exposed and creatively exposed photos. After a few hours of reading I felt my transformation had begun, I now have a greater understanding on how exposures are created and how the creative element must never be taken for granted.

The next step is my kit, and more importantly my lenses. With the Sigma being too slow and having out grown the 18-55 IS – a whole new set of lenses are due. Watch this space… my glass list changes ever day, I did however decide to get the cheap and cheerful 50mm f1.8 for the weekend which I am just about to review… adios!