Earth Is My Witness: The Photography of Art Wolfe / October 12, 2017 by Todd Henson

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Earth Is My Witness: The Photography of Art Wolfe is one of the most stunning books of photography I own, and is by far the best collection of Art Wolfe’s photography I’ve ever seen. I love this book!

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The book is 396 pages, most of which are full of photographs. There are full page photos, pages with two photos per page, full bleed photos that stretch across two pages, and pages that unfold with multiple photos per page.

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The book is organized by types of environments, containing the following sections:

Introduction by Wade Davis
Mountain
Polar - Subpolar
Desert - Savanna
Ocean - Island
Tropical - Subtropical
Afterword
Photo Notes
Acknowledgements

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Each photography section has an introduction where Art talks about those environments and his experiences photographing in them. It’s always great reading these kinds of intros, getting to learn more about Art, his history, his photography, and the peoples, places, and locations he has visited and photographed. But as great as these introductions are, the focus of this book is definitely on the photography, with page after page of large, bold, vivid photographs.

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The particular edition I own is the original large fine art edition from 2014. It measures 11 x 14 inches and is 1.5 inches thick. There is also a smaller edition measuring 5.8 x 12.2 inches and also 1.5 inches thick. Both editions are 396 pages in length.

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The large edition has some of the most saturated colors I’ve ever seen in a printed book. It’s almost like a book full of inkjet prints instead of the typical books of photography I’m used to. Don’t get me wrong, I love all my other books of photography, but this one just seems far more punchy, more vivid, more alive.

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According to Art Wolfe’s website the large edition used a new color reproduction technique called Chroma Centric™, which it says is eight times more precise than standard offset printing, and enhances the color gamut by more than 25 percent. And I certainly can see the difference in many of the photographs. I would love to see more books use this printing technique.

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Earth Is My Witness would be a great book for anyone who loves nature, travel, wildlife, landscapes, and photography of indigenous peoples. And for any fan of Art Wolfe’s photography. It has become one of my favorite books of photography and one I’m very happy to have in my collection.

Large Format Edition:

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Regular Format Edition:

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Book Reviews

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Favorite Books A - Z: Photography

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A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson

Steve McCurry: The Iconic Photographs

Dorothea Lange: Aperture Masters of Photography

Sanctuary. Steve McCurry: The Temples of Angkor

Photographs From The Edge by Art Wolfe with Rob Sheppard

The Soul of the Camera by David duChemin

Touching the Mekong by Andrea Baldeck

Irving Penn: Platinum Prints

The Ansel Adams Wilderness: Photographs by Peter Essick

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Used Photography Book Roundup - March 2018

2017 Great Falls Race: Classic Race Winning Run / October 10, 2017 by Todd Henson

Geoff Calhoun won the Classic race and was the overall race winner in the 2017 Great Falls Race, part of the annual Potomac River Festival. This is a whitewater event where kayakers and canoeists from all over congregate in the Washington, D.C. area to run some of the amazing Class V rapids along the Potomac River. The Classic race is a race for speed that in 2017 was run along the Virginia lines, which included the features: U-Hole, S-Turn, and the Spout.

Great Falls on the Potomac River showing major features. The 2017 race ran the Virginia lines.

Below are a sequence of photographs I captured showing Geoff Calhoun during his downriver final. Click on any of the photos for a larger view.

U-Hole

The race began just above U-Hole. Watch as his kayak dips down after going over that first rapid. You can see one of the suspended poles that was used during the slalom event, but it has now been raised up out of the way of the racers. Also notice all the crew and fellow racers along the rocks, most tethered to the rocks.

S-Turn

With U-Hole behind him, Geoff maneuvers his way into S-Turn, taking it from the top for a fast run straight through. He runs a line very close to the rocks on the left side before almost completely disappearing in the center of the turn. After emerging from S-Turn he straightens himself out quickly to continue moving downriver. In a couple of the latter photos you can see another of the slalom poles suspected high over the river.

The Spout

The Spout is the last major feature of the race and is the tallest individual drop at around 20 feet. Geoff angles himself right into the heavy flow of water and flies over the waterfall. The heavy spray of water at the base of the fall almost completely obscures him and his kayak, with just his helmet and paddle visible. That’s when I lost sight of him. It was a short sprint from there to the finish line.

Geoff Calhoun won the race with a downriver final time of 53.89 seconds, bettering his qualifier run of 56.88 seconds.

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More from the Great Falls Race

First Attempts at Photographing Action Sequence Panoramas

Best Photos of 2017: My Favorites of the Year

2017 Great Falls Race: Working the Race

2017 Great Falls Race: Classic Race Winning Run

2017 Great Falls Face: Slalom Event

2017 Great Falls Race: Facial Expressions

Eastern Cottontail Rabbit with at least 4 ticks. Look at its snout and ear. Click on the images in this post for a larger view.

We know to avoid ticks, that they carry disease, and that they can be very small and sometimes difficult to notice. You generally don’t feel them when they embed their head into your skin, so you have to go out of your way to search yourself for them after a hike through their territory. And they survive by feeding on the blood of their hosts.

But how often do you see an engorged tick? Do you know what a tick looks like when it has been attached and feeding for several days? Well, if you hike through enough parks where they live you’ve likely seen them on rabbits, deer, or other wildlife. They may be very difficult to see when they first attach themselves to their host, but they are very easy to spot when they have engorged themselves on their host’s blood.

Closer view of the rabbit with 2 engorged ticks on its snout, and at least 2 ticks on its ear.

These photos show a small Eastern Cottontail Rabbit at a local wildlife refuge that is host to several ticks. Rabbits and deer are very prone to hosting ticks because they frequent just the sorts of grassy environments where ticks often hang out, waiting for something to walk by.

Closeup of the rabbit's snout. You can easily see the 2 engorged ticks.

During one visit to a park I kneeled down on the trail to look closely at the grass growing down the center of the trail. The trail was a dirt service road with grass in the center. Just in that one spot I could see dozens of ticks perched at the top of blades of grass, with their front legs open and stretched out, ready to grab onto anything that brushed against them.

Closeup of the rabbit's ear. There is an engorged tick, and one higher up that hasn't been feeding quite as long.

Thankfully, I have not seen quite this concentration of ticks since then, but I do still pick one up from time to time. I’m usually able to find them on my clothing, but sometimes I don’t find them until they’ve attached themselves. That’s why it’s important to check yourself very carefully after every trip to this sort of environment. If you can find the ticks quickly, before they have embedded themselves too deeply, they are much easier to remove. And I’ve read there is much less chance of them passing on any of the diseases they carry if you can remove them within 24 hours.

Avoiding Ticks

Please don’t let ticks dissuade you from visiting the beautiful parks out there. But do be aware of their existence if they live in your area. Take precautions to avoid being bitten:

Use tick repellents. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend tick repellents that contain 20% or more DEET, picardin or IR3535 for protecting your skin. They recommend using permethrin on clothing.
Be careful where you walk and perhaps avoid leaving the trail. If possible, avoid grassy areas.
Check yourself over carefully every so often as you hike. It’s best to find them and knock them off your clothing before they bite you.
Carefully check yourself when leaving the park. I like to do this before getting in the car. Once I didn’t do this and found a tick crawling on me while driving. Not a good distraction.
If you use a tripod be sure to inspect the tripod before packing it up. I have found them crawling up the tripod legs.
Don't forget to check any bags or backpacks you carried with you, especially if you set any of them on the ground.
When you get home, the CDC recommends throwing your clothes in the dryer on high heat for 10 minutes to kill any ticks crawling on them.
When you get home also look yourself over even closer to catch any ticks that made it under your clothes and might have attached themselves. Taking a shower can help you find any and possibly wash them off. But don’t scratch them off if they’ve bitten you, that might leave the head under your skin.

Removing Ticks

If you do find a tick that has latched onto you follow the directions from the CDC on removing the tick. They recommend using fine-tipped tweezers. Grasp the tick as close to the skin as possible and pull upward with a steady, even pressure. It can take more pressure than you might think, especially if it has been attached for any length of time. Ticks don’t want to let go. So just keep slowly pulling upward until you do remove it. Then be sure to thoroughly clean the area of the bite. In the coming days and weeks watch the area of the bite. If any rashes appear or if you develop a fever, go see your doctor and mention the tick bite.

To recap, please continue to visit all the wonderful parks in your area. Just be aware of ticks if they are in your area. Take precautions to avoid them. And if you are bitten remove it as quickly as possible.

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