PixelatedImage Blog

It feels like forever since I’ve been online, but what a trip it’s been. We’re packing our bags, wrapping up the last sad goodbyes, and getting one last morning game drive on the mara before boarding a small plane back to Nairobi, leaving Kitchwa Tembo, Sekenani Camp, and the magic of the Maasai mara behind us. We’ve spent the last 8 days in awe of the light, the land, and the incredible animals that live here. Coming here in January, things are quiet, the tourists aren’t here in mobs, and the camps are quiet – giving this place a wildness and solitude that it doesn’t have during migration.

Mornings have been early and cool, but waking to a cup of coffee or tea at you bedside makes it a little easier to slide your jeans on and drag your big lenses to the trucks. We’ve traveled with some amazing photographers, shared laughter over long meals lit by a hundred hurricane lanterns, watched the sunrise from high over the savannah in a hot air balloon, and watched the sun vanish, large and red, over the Oloololo escarpment. And we’ve made some lifelong friends, amazing memories and beautiful photographs.  Thanks to all who joined us!

Want to join us at some point? We’ve got a killer line-up of new adventures coming for the rest of 2012. These trips aren’t for everyone, but if you like a mix of small groups, easy-going itinerary, killer locations, and the unpredictable adventure of travel in Africa, Asia, and point beyond, we’d love to talk to you about being part of the next Within The Frame Photographic Adventure.

The next stop for me is Zanzibar for a few days of personal shooting and beach-lying. Some places you just have to go for the romance of the name alone. Say it with me: Zanzibar.

I’m on the great plains of the Maasai Mara in Kenya right now. In the last year I’ve created photographs all over the world, and more than ever can’t wait to return to Vancouver at the end of 2012 and print my work. Problem is, my print skills are minimal at best. So one of the projects I’m tucking into on my return is learning to really print my work. I’m starting with Martin Bailey’s new Craft & Vision Masterclass book, Making The Print.

There are some amazing resources out there when it comes to printing, and eventually I hope to spend time with friends like Andy Biggs and John Paul Caponigro, both of whom know far more than I ever hope to about fine-art printing, but as a solid introduction, to get my brain around some of the basics and a bunch of the intricacies, I’m beginning with Making The Print because what I really need is a solid primer.

I tell my students that they need to print their work. We all do. We need to print it, look at it, live with it, and react to it. And we need to share it. The downfall of the digital revolution is that so much of our work never makes it past the pixels. It sounds morbid but when my life is over I want to leave my work on prints, large and stunning, for as long as they themselves will last, not just sitting on hard-drives. I want my work hanging on walls, out there in the world. I create it to share it.

Martin’s 65 wide-page ebook covers it all from choosing a printer and papers, to profiling and sharpening, and then he moves on to calibrations, fine-tuning, adding borders, basically everything you need to get competent, which is what most of us are looking to accomplish. And Martin explains it all in a simple, easy-to-follow, way. When you think most of us don’t print because it’s just too darn intimidating, this one $5 investment can take you one step closer to making beautiful, frustration-free prints. I know this stuff feels complicated and scary, but Martin is really good at what he does, and he’s good at teaching it.

Special Offer on PDFs
For the next five days only, use the promotional code PRINT4 when you checkout so you can have the PDF version of Making the Print for only $4 OR use the code PRINT20 to get 20% off when you buy 5+ PDF eBooks from the Craft & Vision collection. These codes expire at 11:59pm PST January 21, 2012.

Wow, this might be longest I’ve ever gone without fully functional internet. Nice to take a break but the few times I tried to get online were fraught with frustration. After almost 2 weeks in northern Ethiopia, and most of that among the pilgrims of Lalibela, I’m now heading to Nairobi for two days of R&R before beginning the Maasai Mara Within The Frame Adventure.

Lalibela itself was amazing. There is a quality of light there, among the throngs of pilgrims and the stone churches that is simply beautiful. Add to that a feeling of participating in something that seems to take place over a thousand years ago, and you’ve a sense of what an adventure this trip was. Then add traveling with a wonderful group of talented photographers and running into Mitchell Kanaskevitch a few times, and it makes for an amazing start to 2012.

My flight boards soon, and then I’m out of touch for a bit. Hope your 2012 is off to a running start, full of adventure and beauty. I’ll check in when I can, but don’t hold your breath! Cheers!