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| My month long assignment in Indonesia in August and September, 2004, continues to excite me and others as well. Gulf Shore Life ran an eight page Expedition Journal in the March issue, and Outdoor Photographer’s June issue will feature a three page article entitled ‘Digital in the Extreme,’ highlighting the challenges and rewards of using digital photography in remote areas. I offered a multi media program featuring several endangered birds as well as the other wildlife of Indonesia to the Audubon Society, and in November, I will present another, multi-media Expedition Journal to the Explorers Club. |
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The
Island of Moloka’i, birthplace of the hula, is a
sacred island where the Hawaiians sent their kahunas (shamans) for
training. I will be at the Hui Ho’olana Retreat Center on
a hill called Pu’ukolea in an area called Kaolae. Ho’olana
is a Hawaiian word that means “to balance, to right your canoe,
to encourage, to be of good cheer, to inspire – the kind of
inspiration that floats up from within the heart. The main lodge
was formally the Cook’s family hunting lodge. It is secluded
on 77 acres with a spectacular view of the western half of Moloka’i,
the Pacific Ocean and distant islands. A rock swimming pool, organic
garden and fruit orchard compliment the grounds. The Hui is known
for its fabulous homegrown salads and delicious healthy cuisine.
They grind their own flour and make their own breads. Here, for
a week in June, I will work with Dewitt Jones and
George Lepp to hone my advanced digital photography
skills. |
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New
Mexico, Land of Enchantment, my home state, beckons, and
in July my daughters and I will travel in the north, to Taos ranchland,
to Ojo Caliente, a place of tranquility and inspiration, to the
Anasazi cave dwellings at Bandelier, ten miles from our old home
in El Rancho, to the breathtaking Valle Grande where, in my youth,
elk were commonplace, and then down to Alamo Farms to visit Casey
Darnell’s legacy, the get of the horses I grew up with. Growing
up I thought the whole world had clear, crisp, air and vistas of
hundreds of miles ….. Now we will see again, and open our
hearts, again, to the Enchantment of New Mexico. |
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Alaska in late September and early October should be cold, and with luck the other five photographers and I can photograph the Grizzlies in snow. Both Mittermeiers, both Robles-Gils, and I will explore the north, we softies from the sub-tropics, before participating in the 1st Conservation Photography Symposium at the 8th Wilderness Congress. Cristina organized it all, and it is destined to put conservation photography on the map, and all those who participate in better position to influence conservation throughout the world.
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| Then Madagascar? I hope so, and hope to be immersed in production of a major book on Madagascar by then. It is a good news story that needs to be told – all of it. Stand by for news, and stand by for news about Midway Island. With its 2 million nesting pairs of sea birds, its WWII artifacts and history, and with fairytale seas supporting fish and mammals and embracing sunken ships, it’s a story waiting to be told in words and images.
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All contents copyright Connie Bransilver© 2001-2005 -Concept and Design GVI-