Blog

To say it was cold was an understatement. The early mornings, when the natural light was good for our photography, hovered around -20 F.  Thank goodness there was no wind and the sun was out to help warm us up. Mornings were so cold that glasses were frosted and not usable Ardak's horse had some frost also I dressed in 5 layers on top and 4 on the bottom. The boots I purchased in town worked great. I filmed the full moon one evening, and it was just as cold as the morning My breath at minus -20 F illuminated by

Action shots of golden eagles do not come easily. They don't feel obliged to follow the script for our movie most times, so filming them can be seat-of-the-pants. My experience with wildlife photography in general was a big help. The biggest help was Ardak, the master eagle falconer we stayed with. Without his significant help and cooperation, along with Bek and his assistant guide Jupar, we we not have obtained any pictures or footage for our movie. Our two great assistants in action.  Oops, wrong photo, sorry about that! Bek up early, making sure all of our equipment was in the

In September Dr. P met his cousin in the Puget sound area to enjoy the beautiful scenery and look for Orcas. We hired a private boat and guide from Maya Legacy in Friday harbor. Allen our guide did a great job, and we learned much and saw many pods. His assistants April and Zoe also helped out. We were in a part of a large ecosystem called the Salish Sea that is filled with salmon breeding grounds, which has attracted Orcas. The resident (there are transients here also that eat marine mammals) Orcas are in serious danger of extinction. This is due to

Kenya has well over a thousand species of birds. We would awaken in the morning to their calls, and see them all day long in the air and on the ground. This page has a few of the more interesting ones. At the end of the page we have a sequence of a martial eagle, the biggest in Africa, flying off its nest. This page also has a phenomonal set of photos where an eagle attacked a vulture in mid-air. One of our goals is to teach photographers how to capture the colors some of these birds exhibit. Another goal

Ardak's skills were taught by his father, a tradition that goes back thousands of years. The female eagle lives with him literally, and he takes it out almost every day. It is a major commitment of time for a nomad that has grazing livestock to attend to. Our first view of his eagle when we first arrived and it was outside sunning The neighbor has an eagle also, and they would both be outside at times The eagle lives in the house with Ardak and his family. It sits there calmly with all the action of cooking and visitors going on around it