Updates

Back to the Glades

February 25, 2010 By Drew Fulton 1 Comment

Guzmania bromeliads - Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve, Florida

After a couple weeks of office work and visiting family in Orlando, I am now headed back into the field for another couple weeks in the Everglades. While most of my focus thus far has been on the eastern portion of Everglades National Park, I’ll be spending most of my time this trip working in the west, primarily in Big Cypress National Preserve and Fakahatchee State Preserve.

I’ll be working both from the roads as well as getting way off trail and doing some wading and exploring on foot. I also have at least two canoe trips planned for the trip. I am excited about the possibilities and am looking forward to exploring some areas that are still relatively unknown to me, particularly in Fakahatchee.

I should note that while I have now scheduled posts here on the blog through Monday, I’m not sure when I will next have Internet access and the ability to post. I think I should be able to queue up another bunch of posts early next week, but I make no promises. If the blog goes quiet for a few days, take a few minutes to read back through the archives and see what you have missed!

Filed Under: Updates Tagged With: Big Cypress National Preserve, Everglades National Park, Fakahatchee State Preserve, South Florida

Headed into the Field

January 4, 2010 By Drew Fulton 2 Comments

When this post goes live, I will be on the road headed south to the Everglades to start the first of about 7 weeks photographing in the field in the Everglades and throughout Florida. During this period, I will be spending a fair amount of time in the wilderness, far from computers and the Internet so the blog will be a bit intermittent.

My hope is to schedule posts for publication during these times, but I make no promises that I will have the time to write the posts that I normally put together. We will just have to see how things go and come together. Regardless of what happens with the blog over the next two months, when I return to New York in late February, I will have a wealth of new material for the blog.

For the next week, my wife and I will be canoeing in the 10,000 islands and western Everglades and I know the blog will sit idle. Please bare with me during this time and after that, I hope I can keep up with the posts! Talk to you next week!

Filed Under: Updates Tagged With: Everglades, Updates

What do you want to see in 2010?

January 3, 2010 By Drew Fulton 1 Comment

Happy New Year and I hope you and yours have had a great holiday season.

As the New Year begins, I have been doing a lot of thinking and planning on where I will take Wanderer’s Apprentice this year. I have a lot of big plans and am really excited about a lot of what I have in store for this blog. However, before I get too caught up in what I want to do, I wanted to take a moment to see what you want me to do. After all, this blog is written for you so let’s hear what you want me to write about.

In the last few months you’ve seen posts featuring single photographs, essays with multiple photographs, tips on creating better photographs, insight into the natural history of my subjects, and summaries of cutting edge scientific research. Additionally, each Sunday I have posted a longer essay on a variety of topics. As I begin to put some new plans in motion, I’d love to hear what you have enjoyed reading and what hasn’t spoken to you. Also, what is this blog missing?

Please, don’t be shy, speak up and leave a comment. I truly want to provide content that is thoroughly read and enjoyed so tell me what you want to see! I’m open to any and all suggestions! Thank and I look forward to a spectacular 2010!

Filed Under: Updates Tagged With: 2010, Updates

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

December 23, 2009 By Drew Fulton 1 Comment

Jacky Winter (Microeca fascinans) - Capertee Valley, New South Wales, Australia

Christmas is fast approaching and I am now visiting my wife’s family in central Pennsylvania. It has been a bit of a whirlwind getting ready for the holidays, packing for my Florida trip for the next few months, and trying to wrap up 2009.

I wanted to take a moment and post saying I’ll be taking a short break from the blog for the next week or so. I’m going to step away for the holidays and spend the short time I can with family.

I’ll be posting some reflections on 2009 on New Year’s Eve and then some thoughts for 2010 on January 1, 2010. After that, I’ll be headed into the field for a while and posts may be a little sporadic, at least at first, as I’ll be exploring the Everglades by canoe for a week with my wife and will be far from a computer during the trip. We’ll see how things go after that.

I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a Happy New Year!

Filed Under: Daily Musings, Updates Tagged With: break, Christmas, holidays

Habitat Panoramas: Series Postponement

November 20, 2009 By Drew Fulton 1 Comment

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Mixed Hardwood Forest in early winter

After only a few weeks of this series, I have chosen to put things on hold for a bit. I made the decision based on a number of factors I’d like to take a few minutes to explore. First, I believe that this series will be extremely valuable and become a great resource, but at this point, I don’t feel like I am doing the various habitats justice. My original plan was to include photographs, text, and even audio to help better describe the habitat. As I am new to this region, and new to many of these habitats, I don’t have the photographic library or even the natural history knowledge I would like to be able to really describe these habitats. By postponing this series for a few months, I will be able to complete a lot of research as well as further expand my photograph library to be able to better accommodate this series.

Lens Pages Finished

November 18, 2009 By Drew Fulton Leave a Comment

I just wanted to quickly post that I have now finished updating all of the lens pages in the Gear Bag article series. You can now learn about both the 12-24mm ƒ4 DX lens and its big brother, the 14-24mm ƒ2.8 lens. Also, I have posted about the older version of the 70-200mm ƒ2.8 and my very little used standard, 50mm ƒ1.8. I’ll start working on pages for flashes, tripods, and other accessories in the coming weeks.

Filed Under: Updates Tagged With: cameras, equipment, flash, gear, lenses, Nikon, tripod

Gear Bag Updates: Lens Posts

November 10, 2009 By Drew Fulton 1 Comment

I have posted six individual lens pages in my Gear Bag article series. I have covered my two super telephoto lenses, the Nikon 600mm f4 and the Nikon 200-400mm VR lens. These are superb lenses and enable me to do the bird and wildlife photography I do on a daily basis. I also have looked at the 24-70mm f2.8 lens and explained why this is my go to lens for general photography. I talk a little bit about my 16mm fisheye lens, why it is a specialty lens, and how I take advantage of the images it creates. I also examine the versatility of the 24-120mm lens and finally, focus on the extremely sharp 105mm macro lens.

There should be more lens pages coming later this week so be sure to check back.

Filed Under: Updates Tagged With: camera, digital camera, dslr, equipment, film, gear, lens, review, Updates

Quick Update: D3 is Back!

October 30, 2009 By Drew Fulton 5 Comments

After about two weeks without my main camera at Nikon’s service department, I just checked the repair status and it has been shipped and will be arriving today! Glad to hear it is on its way and I am pleased about the turn around time. I thought it would be much closer to a month rather than just two weeks. I can’t comment on the repair as it isn’t here yet, but I’ll be sitting at the window waiting for that big brown UPS truck!

Filed Under: Updates Tagged With: Nikon D3, Nikon Repair Service

Kizilburun: Shipwreck Panoramas 150 Feet Underwater

October 23, 2009 By Drew Fulton 15 Comments

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Dockside Panorama - Kizilburun, Turkey

I’d like to take a minute to share a little about the project I worked on all last summer, the Kizilburun shipwreck excavation. My wife and I spent the summer living in a remote camp on the coast of Turkey as part of a team excavating a shipwreck over 2,000 years old. This really is a project my wife has worked on for a couple years now but this summer I was able to join the excavation as a photographer.

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Filed Under: Projects, Updates Tagged With: archaeology, diving, Kizilburun, panoramas, shipwreck, Turkey, underwater

We’re Live!

October 7, 2009 By Drew Fulton Leave a Comment

I have spent the last few months creating this blog, working on the design, and writing content. Today, I have finally gone live. I know this site will become a great resource for photography tips, insight into natural history, and a great community of individuals interested in exploring the natural world. However, this site will only be as good as the community we can create. I encourage you to get involved by posting comments and questions. I look forward to hearing your thoughts and comments so I can improve the blog to bring you what you want to read.

Filed Under: Updates Tagged With: exploration, Natural History, photography, site update