Scott Bourne's stunning crane image

Scott Bourne, host of the podcast This Week in Photography, recently made an image that he wanted to make for 12 years!

He titled this absolutely STUNNING image "Cranes in the Fire Mist". 

Photo from twipphoto.com

Taken at Bosque del Apache, this captivating wildlife shot is now one of my top 10 favourite wildlife images. When I first saw this on his flickr stream, it was so beautiful that I let out a "wow" and stared at my screen frozen for a few minutes.

As Scott has written, this is a very emotional image for him, and (I think) probably one of his best works. He details the entire story behind this shot at the TWiP blog, and you definitely should check it out. He writes about how lucky he was to have all the elements of the shot come together... the light, fog, golden sunlight, weather, birds... and how he waited patiently for 12 freakin years to get these conditions!!! But in the end, it's all worth the wait.

This is a very inspiring shot to me, one that leaves me amazed, awe-struck and at a loss for words. But more than the aesthetic beauty, this shot has reminded me of the importance of pre-visualisation and patience in photography.

TWiP: a must-subscribe!

Many close friends know that I am an advocate of podcasts, and for a good reason. Listening to podcasts is a great way to kill downtime, especially when you are commuting, because it allows you to spend your time wisely and improve your knowledge in a certain topic of interest (tech for me).

So I am a regular listener of a few tech podcasts, namely Windows Weekly and MacBreak Weekly (hosted by the entertaining Leo Laporte), and also a security podcast by anti-virus company Sophos.

Recently, I got to know of this new podcast entitled This Week in Photography (TWiP) hosted by Alex Lindsay and Scott Bourne (they appear on MacBreak Weekly too) and I'm hooked on it! It's surprising how many people who are into computers are also into photography, and that's expected somewhat since digital photography has a lot to do with computers and photo manipulation software. TWiP is a podcast about everything to do with digital photography, such as photo editing software, latest news regarding cameras, lenses, reviews, shooting tips and techniques etc.

So if you're a photo buff, and also happen to take on an interest in tech, then this podcast is a must-listen. After all, it did appear in the 'new and notable' section in iTunes... highly recommended! (BUT... a word of caution, this podcast has it's emphasis on more Canon and Apple.)

Visit the TWiP site!