Photography by Randy Hanna

Serengeti National Park, Tanzania, Jan 2007

Nikon D2x, 200-400VR @ 260mm, ISO 400, 1/320sec @f9

Well, it is almost Christmas and all of the kids are home for a little vacation from their military lives.  It is always fun to have noise in the house.  As I strolled thru REI today looking for Christmas gifts, I found Africa to be on my mind.  Just about 30 days from now, I will start my first African safari of 2008 as I meet up with Andy Biggs for another safari deep into the northern Serengeti.  Following this safari I will have a few days off before I link up with my safari group, starting in early February.  On the 6th of February, I will lead 12 lucky folks into many of the special places of Tanzania that I have come to know.  I can hardly wait to get the dust of Africa back on my boots.  Having acquired a new 500mm lens for this trip, I am facing packing challenges and find myself starting the evaluation of how much risk do I want to take by placing some of my sensitive equipment in checked baggage.   In between the two safaris, I intend to explore a few new areas to include in the Feb 2009 trip.  I am also looking forward to spending time a Gibbs Farm and taking advantage of their room renovations.  I understand that the outside showers are a big hit with recent travelers.  Looks like Rick and Judy have done it again.

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GOD & GEESE

Nikon D2x, 200 -400 VR  ISO 250, f8 @ 1/250 sec

SOFT LANDING

Located about an hour and half drive north of Seattle, is Fir Island in the Skagit Flats area.  This area is known for its rich farm lands and the over wintering snow geese and swans.  Taken last year, these two photos represent how Photoshop can be used to convey motion to a single dimension photograph.  The first photo is the original photo.  I purposely selected the background for the contrasting red barn and the lines of the church against the white geese.  Although most people viewing the photo for the first time fail to make the connection between the title and the background, taking a second look at the image – they usually get it.  The second image is my attempt at photoshoping some motion into the image.  For this trick I used a radial blur in an off-set direction over the entire photo.  I then used a mask and painted around a number of the birds, removing the blur effect.  The result is that some of the birds are blurred and some are not.  Although the effect is not for everyone, it does show what a little creativity can do with not much effort in Photoshop. 

Cheers and happy photo’ing

Randy

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Bull Elephant Warning, Serengeti National Park, Tanzania, Jan 2007

Nikon D200, 200-400 VR f2.8, 1/200 @f5.6 ISO 250

Announcing the 2009 Safari Dates to Tanzania, Africa

FEB 9-21 & FEB 19 – MAR 3

Early in 2007, I decided to take a risk and offer safaris in both 2008 and 2009. I must say that I have been pleasantly surprised with my 2008 bookings, to the point that the registration for this trip is now closed. Furthermore, there are 6 people already booked for the 2009 trip and I am giving serious consideration to offering a second trip, or possibly an extentsion to the base trip. For details, additional information on this once-in-a-lifetime safari, check out www.randyhannaphotography.com. Remember, you don’t have to be a serious photographer to take advantage of this trip. More than 40% of my 2008 participants are not serious photographers, so come along if Africa has been one of your life long dreams.

Cheers and happy photo’ing

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Saturday, I secured my first D300 body from Glazers Camera, in Seattle.  Having shot the D2x and D2h for several years, I must say I am just a little overwhelmed and it will take a few weeks to get my hands around this impressive camera.  BTW, I traded in one of my D2x’s for the D300.  Why you might ask? With my constant low light work, I am always doing a considerable amount of post processing to remove noise.  From everything I have been able to read, this is one “low noise” camera.  I think I will feel just fine shooting at ISO 800 and above, if needed.  Thus far, I have only two gripes: (1) There is no external control for bracketing like you have on the D2x.  This is somewhat of a big deal for me, as I do a lot of HDR panos.  Having this deep in a menu just takes more time (provided I put the function button to another use); (2)  When working with the AUTO ISO function, the highest shutter speed that will trip the ISO Auto adjustment is 1/250th.  Now if you are shooting with a 500mm and need to use the 1/focal length for your minimum shutter speed….well you can get the idea.  PLUSES:  The screen on the back of the camera is just nothing short of pure pleasure.  I no long have to use 1.25x reading glasses to use my camera.  Super Job Nikon!  Once the rain, snow, and wind breaks I’ll get out shooting and start filling in the details.  If everything works out the way I think it is going to, I will be forever leaving my D2xs and using only a pair of D300s, and one D2h as my primary arsenal (remember, it is not about how many megapixels you have, it’s all about the sensor).  For an indepth review of the Nikon D300 try http://www.dpreview.com/previews/nikond300/

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After some pains with my file manager on my server, I have now released my first blog, fully enabled with RSS support. I hope to post frequently from Africa to keep all up to date on my travels as well as general photography stuff.  Stay tuned as the blog becomes more customized and continues to grow.

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