November 2012

We’re pleased to learn that our image of two Harris Hawks fighting has been awarded the Grand Prize in the 2012 National Wildlife Federation photo contest – winning against over 28,000 other images. I captured the image on one of our Rio Grande Valley photo safaris, which are always an awesome opportunity to get unique images of hard-to-find species like Harris Hawks and Crested Caracara along with many colorful woodland species and migrants. I’ll be leading another trip back there this year, featuring the award-winning Dos Venadas and Campos Viejos ranches, so I hope you can join me. You never know whether you’ll get a prize-winning image of your own – we’ll certainly do our best to help you with plenty of 1-1 instruction, image critiques as desired, and prime shooting locations.

For more on the Harris Hawk image and full contest results, NWF is featuring them on their website, and you can get a Hawk of your own by purchasing our 2013 calendar.

As expected, Nikon has introduced the new Nikon D5200 DSLR. It is a very solid upgrade from the Nikon D5100, bumping the resolution to 24MP, focus points to 39 like the Nikon D7000, and frame rate to 5fps – a little slower than the D7000’s top speed of 6 fps. A new processor chip helps move the larger number of pixels, and a new graphical user interface should make the camera easier for those photographers not comfortable with the current dials and menus. However, the Nikon D5200 will not quiet the clamor for a Nikon D400, as it doesn’t nearly fill-in Nikon’s product line as a Nikon D300 replacement…