David Andrews Photography-Landscapes, wildlife, nature

NEWS AND EVENTS

PRINTS/PRICING
Images on this site are available in print suitable for framing or in note card form. Small prints on note cards are of framable quality. Prices are as follows:

8x (unframed) $50.00
11x (unframed) $100.00

Larger print sizes can be arranged. Please contact me for information.

(Price includes postage)

Matting and framing is available by arrangement.

Cards are sold in boxes of 10 for $25.95. Cards are mounted on recyclable stationery and great for personal use or gifts. If you wish to order cards please use the "contact" form in this site. Draft a brief message outlining what images you'd like. Cards are standard 5x7 size; image size on the card can be either 4x6 or 3.5x5. If you don't see what you want here leave a phone number and we can discuss your needs personally.

Two "coffee table" type books of my photography are currently available from Blurb.com. They are: a "A Touch of Fall" and "Light...at the Edge of Day". Both are available in hard or soft cover. Go to http://www.blurb.com and click on "bookstore" then "art and photography". Payment in the form of credit card is direct to Blurb. You can preview the first 15 pages of each book to get an idea of the book's quality.

1/15/2012 - Blog
Check for new blog entries at http://www.facebook.com/rovingcamera

4/10/2012 - Polar Bears
Viewers to this site will notice that the images for the "Home", "Contact", and "News & Links" pages are polar bears. There are four more polar bear images in "Portraits in the Wild" a portfolio exclusively dedicated to wildlife subjects. These images were all created in November 2010 in Churchill, Manitoba, perhaps the best place in the world to photograph these bears. Churchill is the southernmost location to find the great bears where they congregate in late fall to wait for Hudson Bay to freeze over and give them access to sea ice and their winter feeding grounds. I spent a week with the bears photographing every day with a small group of fellow photographers on the same mission. Each morning we were transported into a wildlife preserve where the bears congregate and photographed from the safety of a tundra buggy which sits approximately 12 feet off the ground, and with its huge tires is capable of traversing practically any terrain, and believe me some of it was pretty nasty. While long telephoto lenses were a must I must say there were times I used a wild angle lens; yes, the bears approached that close. Needless to say it was an experience of a lifetime. A polar bear wild and free within a few feet is unforgettable.

I must put in a "plug" for these bears. That they are in trouble will come as no surprise. I'm told there are only about 20,000 still in the wild throughout the world. They are dependent upon polar ice for their survival. As in the case of nearly every endangered specie loss of habitat is the number one reason for their decline. In the case of polar bears loss of sea ice prevents their access to feeding grounds. Their main diet is the Ringed Seal found only on and under the polar ice. But sea ice is forming nearly a month later than normal and breakup is occurring about a month earlier in the spring, costing the bears nearly two months of feeding time. Consequently they are coming ashore in the spring seriously underweight. They cannot make up that loss on land because they need a high fat diet to maintain body weight; there is literally nothing for them to eat on land. Not only is feeding a problem but the lack of proper nourishment is causing disruption in breeding cycles and number of cubs being born. The bottom line is that these wonderful animals are in the midst of a global warming crisis right now.

Well, what's the big deal? Species come and go, right? Before taking such a cavalier approach you might consider the implications for us humans because I believe that so go the bears so go us. No, we are not dependent on seals but we are dependent on the polar ice being there. I am not a scientist but I do believe the warnings of respected scientists that we are on thin ice so to speak in terms of the implications of global warming. There is no question that global warming is occurring, and there is no question in my opinion that we are experiencing current repercussions because of that. We are experiencing drought in parts of the United States, we are experiencing a rise in the sea level, and we are experiencing a dramatic change in weather patterns across the country. These factors have potential for cataclysmic agricultural damage as just one by product. And, I don't think this is just a cyclical phenomenon as some would have us believe. We need to take our environment seriously, and I mean that in everything we do.

Yes, the bears were exciting and beautiful, but perhaps more importantly they offer us a case study which has serious consequences for us if we fail to pay attention.

Sources for more information:

Lopez, Barry, Arctic Dreams, Vintage Books, 1986
Rosing, Norbert, The World of the Polar Bear, Firefly Books, 2006

4/7/2012 - NEW PORTFOLIOS!
There are four major Portfolio additions to my website in the past 30-days, The Sea, Canyon Country, and Country Roads, and Redwood Forest. The first two and last consist for the most part of images shot within the past year; Country Roads is composed of images shot at various times in the past five years, but the theme has been rattling about in my mind for some time.

One might think of the sea as never changing, but nothing could be farther from the truth. I live by the sea, and though I don't go look at it every day I never seem to tire of it. Sometimes it is peaceful and quiet, at others angry and violent. Most of these images where captured on the Oregon coast; others on the California coast from Big Sur to Eureka. Two were shot in the rain on Washington's Olympic peninsula. But wherever one chooses to watch the sea it is always mesmerizing.

Canyon Country is represented by images from one of my favorite places to photograph, the huge area known as the Colorado Plateau. Within this area are such places as the Grand Canyon, the great national parks of southern Utah (Zion, Bryce, etc.) which make up the Grand Circle, and places in Colorado such as the Black Canyon and Colorado Monument. Quite frankly I can think of no place on Earth that can match this area for rugged terrain and beauty. Simply put it is magnificent. One could spend a lifetime photographing nothing else.

Country Roads is a theme that I think of often as my wife, Jean, and I bumpity bump down some old dirt road (or what pretends to be a road) that I happen to find in our wanderings in our Jeep Wrangler. Now a Wrangler is not the most smooth riding vehicle under the best of conditions; put it on some of these roads and you need more than a seat belt. We have discovered some marvelous places. We've also been as surprised on occasion as the locals as we rounded a turn to find ourselves in someone's yard! Such an occasion happened in upper New York a few years back when suddenly we were surrounded by a flock of chickens, a few cats, and a pig or two, along with four or five startled residents who were as surprised to see us as we were them. They didn't look too happy so we did a quick U-turn and beat a hasty retreat. But those little surprises are of little consequence compared to some of the great subject matter I find on many occasions. Some of these images will illustrate what I mean.

Redwood Forest is a theme I've also thought about for some time. One would think the redwoods would be a major part of my portfolio since I live within minutes of some of the best groves in California, but it's been too easily put off to another time I fear. Last year I made a major effort to correct that neglect and photographed redwoods all up and down the coast from Santa Cruz to Crescent City. A few of those images made their way here. Photography in the forest is challenging and success depends on proper lighting. Generally speaking one wants a cloudy, or better yet foggy, day as sunlight creates near impossible contrast to deal with. Some of these photographs were even made on rainy days. I found myself utilizing camera movement to some extent in the redwoods. I've experimented with the technique for three or four years. Sometimes it doesn't work, at others the results are stunning. What do you think?