JHP Newsletter - 2006, No. 1, 20 January

Web: New structure (Tours & Newsletters)

I'm in the process of updating my website to include tour information and archived Newsletters. The updates will be finished by the end of the month.

Tour: Kenya in October 2006

I will be leading a photo safari to Kenya in the middle of October 2006. I'm still working on the details, but it will be for about two weeks, and we'll visit Samburu, Lake Nakuru, and Masai Mara for some of the best wildlife shooting opportunities in Africa, if not the world. Let me know if you, or anyone you know, would be interested in joining me to capture some stunning wildlife images.

Travel: Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge

I spent four days between Christmas and New Years at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico. For those not familiar with "Bosque," it's a place where thousands of sandhill cranes and snow geese winter. And for those not up on their Spanish, the place name means "Apache Woods," and was given by the early Spaniards who while traveling from El Paso to Santa Fe, were frequently attacked by Apache camped among the cottonwoods in the flood plain of the Rio Grande. After the river was dammed, halting the annual floods, man stepped in and recreated a series of ponds and wetlands that are flooded and drained each year to provide a suitable habitat for the wildlife. The weather was perfect this year, and the birds overnighted in a different location than last year, so I was able to get lots of great, and different, shots. I also shot some ducks this year, and had a blast shooting at dawn on the last morning when the sky was filled with bright orange clouds.