Month: February 2018

Bremer Canyon Killer Whales

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Bremer Canyon Killer Whales

Male Orca Bremer Canyon

El Notcho, Male Killer Whale

I spent a wonderful day last weekend out on the water, south of Bremer Bay, in the area called Bremer Canyon.  This is a hot spot for Killer Whales and it’s still  unknown to many West Australians.  Our tour with Naturaliste Charters started at the Bremer Bay Boat Harbour at 8.30am.  We left the coast with some incredible skies which stayed with us for a few hours.

clouds and the sea

Then the first of the mammals arrived, an escort from a pod of Common Dolphins.  They were along side of us and also a number at the bow just keeping ahead of us.  This is the first time to my knowledge that I’ve seen Common Dolphins, it’s usually Bottlenose that I’ve come across.

Common Dolphin

Common Dolphin

Then it happened, just as we were approaching the area known as Bremer Canyon, we had our first Killer Whale sighting.  

The next couple of hours we were kept busy with many Killer Whales coming and going all around the boat.  A kill or two was made.  The Flesh-footed Shearwater are always ready to pick up any leftovers and the odd squawk could be heard around kill time.  They are usually silent at sea and noisy in their colonies. 

Orca tail

A little bit of breaching and tail slapping was happening.  A couple of times we had one dive under the boat and come up the other side right in front of our very eyes except of course I had my camera in the way and she was just too close and too fast to photograph.  After that I made sure that I put the camera down for a while and just enjoyed watching all of the activity.  

Orca Killer Whales Bremer Canyon Western Australia

It’s possible to identify every individual Killer Whale.  The size and shape of their saddle patch (the grey area behind the dorsal fin) acts like a finger print.  Also the size and shape of their dorsal fins and any scars they may have help with a quick ID.  A male dorsal fin is taller and more triangular than the female. 

Orcas of Bremer Canyon

Orca doing a roll sequence images

My last Killer Whale image on this post is of one ‘Surging’ apparently this is a very economical way for the them to swim.

Orca Killer Whales Bremer Canyon Western Australia

The Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross are the smallest of the Mollymawks and are listed as vunerable by the Dept of Environment.  

Albatross at Bremer Canyon

Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross

Flesh-footed Shearwater

Flesh-footed Shearwater

 

 

 

 

 

Free Your Images – What Does It Mean?

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Free Your Images 

Free Your Images, what does this mean?  The days of taking your roll of film to get developed and coming home with 12 or 24 prints which you then put straight into your photo album or shoebox are over.  Now, in the digital age the majority of people are taking photos on their digital cameras and/or mobile phones and then doing nothing with them.  Or maybe they upload them to their computer and post a few to Facebook or other social media sites.  But the majority are kept hidden away.  By freeing your images you are showing them to the world or at least your family and friends.

So how can we free our images?  Get them printed.  Whether that means taking them to your local kiosk and printing your favourites out in 6″ x 4″ and putting them into albums.  Getting large prints made to frame and hang on your wall. Other options are POD’s and Photo books which I’ll go into shortly.  Personally, I print and hang images on my walls.  I have cushion covers, drink coasters and placemats printed and I always have a stash of my images printed onto birthday cards on hand.  I have also started getting photos printed onto clothing, they look great on shirts, leggings and scarves. The prints on my walls are all in wooden frames and they are set up so that I can easily change out the photos every year or two.

Free Your Images

Freeing My Images, cushions and prints from Namibia trip 2016

This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links

Free Your Images with POD’s

What am I talking about you may ask?  POD’s are companies that will print an item when an order is made, even if it’s for just the one item.  They include companies like Redbubble, Zazzle, Society 6 and Blurb  The digital age opened up a whole new way of printing onto the products of your choosing.

 

Photo Books

In the 13 months from December 2016 I’ve made 7 photos books.  I’ve just collected them all into a pile and WOW I can’t believe how many that I’ve produced this past year and a bit.  Well to tell the truth I’ve got 6 books and the 7th is being uploaded to Blurb as I’m typing.  These are great for the coffee table.  I’ve recently come back from a tour through Baja Mexico and have sold a number of copies of the book to others that were on the tour.  I prepare my book layouts through the book module in Lightroom, which uploads direct to Blurb.  You can then buy a copy for yourself and put it up for sale for others to purchase directly.  Blurb is just one of the many book producers, if they don’t suit your needs then look around.

Free Your Images

Photo books by Blurb & Momento Pro

 

Clothing, coffee mugs, iphone covers, notebooks, cushions and much much more

Just a small sample of the type of products available on sites like Society6 and Redbubble.  They also have a collection of wall art ie photographic prints, canvas, posters and wall tapestries.

                              

 

Stock Libraries

My final bit of info with regards to ‘Freeing Your Images’ is, if you have the time.  To sign up with a stock agency to sell your images.  Images of everyday life with and without people seem to sell reasonably well, they’re not looking for that masterpiece that belongs in an art gallery.  I current submit to Shutterstock, a micro stock agency, Stockimo, an iPhone stock agency and Alamy.



I’d love to hear back from any followers just how you ‘Free Your Image’