I recently had the pleasure of reading the latest book from National Geographic, "Visions of Paradise." At a whopping 306 pages (including bios,) this coffee-table style book is jam packed with images provided by a bevy of talented photographers. The book is divided into three categories--land, water and air--and each section begins with an eye-opening essay.
The "land" essay, written by journalist Linda Kulman, begins by stripping away romantic notions about aboriginals that many people don’t even realize they hold, then goes into some shocking realities regarding our lack of adequate land usage and maintenance.
The "water" essay, written by Joel K. Bourne, Jr. (a former senior editor of National Geographic,) points out the fickleness of human memory--the danger inherent in not knowing how things used to be. He also touches on some good news, but the message is clear; there is some good news, but not nearly as much as there should be.
The "air" essay, written by Brian Doyle (editor of Portland Magazine,) has a more poetic feel than the first two. Not only does he write about the environmental challenges we face with the modern, mass-pollution of our breathing medium, but he reveals just how little we truly know about our atmosphere.
There were only two things about the book that I may have done differently. Although the essays center on our lack of proper resource management, there are photos taken from and of places where this mismanagement is clearly evident; photos taken from taxis and airplanes, photos of cities, a helicopter and a tiger at a now-bankrupt Six Flags facility. Although there’s good and bad in everything and there are certainly few easy answers, personally I wouldn’t consider these images "Visions of Paradise." Others are free to disagree with me, of course. In a similar vein, the book doesn’t seem to be printed on recycled paper (if it is, I couldn’t find any mention of it.)
The other, occasional disappointment was that some of the photos were printed across two pages, in which case the crease of the book swallows part of the image. The effect is minimal in most cases (landscape photos are more forgiving in this respect,) but it’s noticeable in a few (particularly in the case of photos with singular, main subjects.)
Despite these, the book is stunning. The wide range of photographic styles and subjects are a joy to behold. The book, itself, is well made. I expect it to outlast me and I look forward to passing it on to my nephews. The message of this book is as insightful and dire as it needs to be. I only hope that the news will be better by the time my nephews reach my age.
In conjunction with the release of this book,
National Geographic is also holding an online photography contest, requesting YOUR visions of paradise! Winners (which will be announced Jan. 12, 2009,) will receive a copy of the book with their image on the cover.
Saw this great white egret during a hike at Northlake Nature Center the other day.
The boardwalk at Northlake.
3 blue jays (a cardinal pair wasn't far off.) Shortly after taking this shot, a handful of mourning doves came down to eat, followed by a flock of 12 red-winged blackbirds, the most I've ever seen here (or anywhere, to be honest,) at once. I also saw my first 2 goldfinches of this Winter yesterday.
One of our 30ish chipping sparrows.
Yesterday there were 3 huge leaf footed bugs on our front door & windows. (Thanks to Marvin for the correction!)
(Update, Jan. 23, 2009; This photo was featured on the front page of the St. Tammany News.)
I recently had the pleasure of reading another book from National Geographic; "Odysseys and Photographs; Four National Geographic Field Men." This coffee-table style, high-quality book weighs in at 224 pages and details the adventures of Maynard Owen Williams, Luis Marden, Volkmar Wentzel and Thomas Abercrombie. Spanning 75 years of the magazine's history, the book is also a window on history, a testiment to how far and fast humanity has progressed, technologically. 
I was given this award recently by both Laughingwolf & Demon Hunter (thanks, y'all!) Again, I have to break with tradition due to lack of time, but if you want it, the rules are over on either of their pages.
The annual explosion of chipping sparrows is officially "on." There are 11 in the photo to the left (click for large view,) but I counted 20 altogether this morning. There was also a blue jay & a female cardinal out there at one point, but they're "regulars." I saw a brown rat amongst the bird seed the other day, as well. The last we'd seen of mama rat or her 2 babies was before Hurricane Gustav.
Michelle at Artscapes - Musings on Art & Life was kind enough to give me this award the other day. She's an incredibly talented, Canadian artist & I highly recommend a visit to her blog, particularly as she celebrated her 1 year blogiversary on Nov. 9th.
Honeybee on asters.
Unfortunately most of the fall colors in our area come from the highly invasive Chinese tallow trees.
A variegated fritillary.
More Chinese tallow trees.
Potter wasp on asters. (Thanks to Nina & Marvin for the wasp ID!)
Purple asters & goldenrod.
Little wood satyr butterfly.
Today I participated in an art market held by Art for Madisonville. It was a lovely day, if a tad windy from time to time (fortunately I had no wind-related problems!) I met some very nice & interesting people & sold a couple of pieces; Among Them & Bold. I'm $11.91 in the hole overall, but it was a nice day to be out, regardless.
The entrance to the playground, which has a Choctaw theme.
This fountain was installed nearby for kids to play in. It shoots water in different heights & configurations.
There's the panel I painted for the park.
Changing leaves on a sweet gum tree.
Thanks also to Punam, who gave me this award the other day. I'm going to break the rules, again, as I'm still too swamped with other projects to engage in all of that work, but if you'd like the award, all of the details are over on her blog.
I recently had the pleasure of reading the latest book from National Geographic, "Visions of Paradise." At a whopping 306 pages (including bios,) this coffee-table style book is jam packed with images provided by a bevy of talented photographers. The book is divided into three categories--land, water and air--and each section begins with an eye-opening essay.
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