First Glimpse of the Honduras Expedition

The past three weeks in Honduras have been, without a doubt, one of the biggest adventures of my life. Over the course of the trip I spent several days living with a group of Pech Indians, walked for hours upon end through the jungle, held on for dear life sitting in the back of a pickup as we raced through the surf on the beach, spent a couple nights with the Honduran military, ran into a hog-nosed pit viper and saw the most brilliant of night skies.

Below, you will find a small sampling of photos that I took during the expedition. I will be placing all of the photos on my website once they are sorted and edited but, since it takes some time to go through 70+ GB of photos, I thought I would give you just a glimpse...

Dr. Chris Begley and the team travel through the jungle during phase 1 of the expedition. Phase 1 team members included Dr. Chris Begley (archaeologist), Onán Reyes (ethnobotanist & speleologist), Chad Gilpin (photo assistant) & Joshua Howard (photographer).

Exploring a hidden cave for ancient pottery shards and relics.

We spent several days living on the waters of the Rio Platano during phase 2 of the expedition. Phase 2 team members included Dr. Chris Begley (archaeologist), Dr. Larry Hassebrook (engineer), Eli Crane (engineer), Mikhail De Long (hydrologist), Sam Friley (geologist) & Joshua Howard (photographer). This part of the expedition was funded by a Waitt Grant from The National Geographic Society.

After being poled upriver by our Pech (pronounced Pesh) guides, we finally arrive at the petroglyphs. The etchings on the boulders depict things such as faces, dragons and monkeys.

The team conducts 3d scans of the petroglyphs (as well as a tapir footprint on the beach). The data will be brought back to the lab to be studied. This documentation is very important to preserve these rare petroglyphs before time and water erode them away. This incredible 3d scanning technology is an environmentally friendly science that can be utilized for non-invasive archaeology and has the potential to be used in many other disciplines as well. (Several more photos of the scanning process will be available in the finalized photo gallery).

Did I mention the night sky? One incredible benefit to being on the edge of civilization is the extreme lack of light pollution. Layer upon layer of stars were visible to the naked eye and even more through the lens of my camera. Sleeping under the stars doesn't seem too bad when you're staring up at this.

A dad and his kid...

In honor of yesterday being Father's Day, I thought I would share a great moment I was able to photograph back in October 2009. I had spent the early morning hours watching a pair of bull elk dueling in a foggy meadow in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. The loser finally conceded to the other and limped off while the winner strutted back to his herd. I then watched as he made his way through the group to the youngest member who seemed to have just woken up. The large bull then proceeded to lick and clean the young elk for several minutes before laying down to rest from his busy morning. It was the first time I had seen such a unique display of affection between a father and their young in the wild.

The Roosevelt elk in northern California are the largest of North America's elk subspecies. They were named after President Theodore Roosevelt who was also a passionate conservationist and activist for this planet.

I hope all the dads out there had a wonderful Father's Day!

Celebrating the Ocean

Since today is World Ocean's Day, I thought I would share one of my favorite underwater photos. This particular photo was taken in the waters off of Key Largo back in January of 2009. It's sort of a landmark photo for me personally as it marks the first time I allowed myself to think creatively for an underwater composition. I really wanted to move away from the standard underwater portraits that are so easy to snap... I really wanted to capture the essence of the scene. So, I slowed the shutter speed down considerably to allow the motion of the damselfish to be captured. I snapped the shutter, and followed the movement of the fish through the coral with my camera. The result is an abstract look at the reef that I believe captures the scene with much more life and vibrance than could have been captured with a fast shutter speed. Freezing time can be great but can often miss the intricate details that would otherwise make a photo worth that second look.

Mother's Day Wildlife Pics...

Well, I hope all of the moms in the world had a great Mother's Day yesterday! I had a great time hanging out with my own mom, sitting on her front porch, enjoying the weather and sipping on some ice cold Coca Cola.

I thought it might be fun to have a Mother's Day photo post today. These first two images are from Alaska (keeping up with my AK theme). A mother sea otter and her pup lounged about in the frigid waters of Prince William Sound and the two little moose were following their mom into the Alaskan bush in Denali National Park.

The photos at the bottom are some of my favorite wildlife family photos I've taken over the past couple years. The locations range from the White Mountains of New Hampshire, to the Appalachian foothills to an icy stream in northern Wyoming. Wildlife photography is one of my greatest photographic passions and when I'm able to capture an intimate family moment between a parent and their youngster, it is incredibly exciting. I cannot adequately describe in words the thrill of being alone in the wilderness with only a camera in-between you and the amazing moment occurring only a few yards away.

Dissecting a Stitched Panorama of Alaska's Surprise Glacier

In honor of my good friend, who is heading into the Alaskan wild for the next two months, I thought I might go back and look at some of my images from my own time spent in the 49th state. In fact, I thought over the course of his stay there, I would post a new image every few days or so to highlight just some of the pristine beauty found in the heart of Alaska. Today, I look at a glacier named Surprise, located in the Prince William Sound.

Now, the Prince William Sound was the location of the Exxon Valdez oil spill back in 1989. I decided to revisit the Sound on the 20th anniversary of the disaster and was encouraged by what I found. Marine life was thriving and the pristine beauty was, once again, staggering... revealing nature's power to roar back. I'll show some of the wildlife in upcoming posts.

For now, I will focus on Surprise Glacier. I've always loved a good panoramic image, and nothing is better for the vast Alaskan landscapes. My normal setup includes a heavy duty tripod head and a lot of leveling to make sure everything is perfect for my post-production stitching. It's a little different being on a boat. I decided to ditch the tripod as that would only exaggerate the steady rise and fall of the boat's movements. I figured I would hand hold the shot with a nice loose grip (sort of like when you're holding a cup of coffee when backing down the driveway) in order for my arm to act as sort of a steadycam. I braced my leg up against the corner of the boat, chose my settings, took a deep breath and snapped away 22 vertical images, slowly rotating at the waist, all before my breath was out. The results are below. If anyone is interested in a 4 feet x 16 feet canvas for their office, let me know! :)

Settings:
f/18, 1/250th of a second, 200 ISO @ 85mm.

FYI...in case you were wondering where I was exactly...

Colorado...good for skiing and testing out the Canon G12

I just recently got back from Colorado for a little ski and photo trip with my dad. Our schedules finally lined up so we decided to hang out on the slopes of Arapahoe Basin about an hour and a half west of Denver. We had a great time skiing in the Rockies!

I wanted to keep the gear to a minimum on this trip so I left the 5d Mark 2 and the 600mm on the shelf and chose the latest addition to the lineup...the Canon G12. So far, I've actually only used the camera for some B-roll video footage on a recent commercial shoot so I was excited to see how it would handle the landscapes and wildlife of Colorado. I must say that it lived up to my expectations nicely. I will label it as an incredible backup camera for the pro shooter. It has 10mp's and shoots in RAW which is great. For a photojournalist who doesn't want to get noticed, it's also an incredible option. It also handled the cold and snow quite well. A couple of chinks in the armor is that noise is somewhat evident even at only 400ISO and you're limited to an f/8 aperture which limits some of the sharpness that you would desire for a vast landscape image. All in all though, a great camera to add to the arsenal. All of the photos below were taken with it, btw.

Macro Photography

I had a great time in the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area this past weekend with one of my good friends. We armed ourselves with our macro lenses and headed off to see what we could find. Macro photography is so much fun and can make even the most mundane of locations look extraordinary. FYI, all of these photo subjects are less than an inch in size...

Supermoon

The moon was closer to the earth last night than it has been in 18 years so I thought I would snap a photo. This phenomenon deemed a 'supermoon' by astronomers occurs when a full or new moon coincides with a close approach by the moon to the earth. It was a perfect evening to be in the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area which is well known for its absence of light pollution. Two and a half hours later, this was the result...

30 Second HD TV Spot for New Horizons Scuba Diving

Last week I had a great time filming and editing a commercial for New Horizons Scuba Diving Center here in Lexington, KY. Filming began at the University of Kentucky pool where we captured detailed shots of divers and their gear as well as some underwater action. Two days later we gathered people together at the shop to capture imagery of the store as well as the training facilities. Thanks to Ed Gabe who narrated the piece (and acted as my assistant DP) as well as Steve Williams who provided the HD ocean footage. The commercial is currently running on Fox 56. Check it out!

Begin Your Adventure at New Horizons - 30 second TV spot from Joshua Allan Howard on Vimeo.

Been a little busy...

Well, it's been a while since my last post but I've been staying busy wrapping up my National Geographic sponsored project on mountaintop removal in Appalachia. It's been an incredible opportunity. The photo study and documentary film were successfully completed and handed over to Nat Geo last month. I'll be updating the blog soon with more images from the project.

Florida Springs & Caverns

I recently got back from a great trip to central Florida to explore the freshwater springs and flooded caverns. I've spent a lot of time exploring the state in the past and was even born in Daytona Beach but this was my first time visiting the waterways of central Florida.

Due to the heavy rainfall in the area, the water was a bit murky but I had a wonderful time hanging out with the West Indian manatees that reside in the Florida spring systems. An eight foot juvenile male seemed to take a liking to me and kept inching closer and closer until he was literally right underneath me. Although not recommended, bodysurfing on a 1000lb manatee can be kind of fun. :) Crystal River, the place where I spent the majority of the trip, is one of the few places in the world where PADI offers a manatee awareness specialty... I got my certification so if you ever have any questions about the animal, I'm your man.

Manatees are an endangered species and efforts are being made to increase their population through The Florida Manatee Recovery Plan which was developed as a result of the Endangered Species Act. The recovery plan is coordinated by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) and sets forth a list of tasks geared toward recovering manatees from their current endangered status. A big issue that Manatees have to deal with is the increasing boat traffic in their living environment. They are in danger of being struck by a boat every single time they come up to breathe. Every manatee I saw had at least some form of boat-collision scarring (those slices on his tail are not natural).

Here are a few images I took along the way...



After finishing my time with the manatees, I also had the opportunity to explore some amazing underwater caverns. There's definitely a huge rush descending down into the murky green water to find a dark gaping hole in the ground that you're getting ready to explore. The caverns are pitch black other than the illumination from your dive light and are home to several species of crab, catfish and a myriad of fossilized remains of ancient sharks and alligators.

National Geographic Stock Image Collection

So, two of my landscape images were chosen to be featured in the official National Geographic Stock Image Collection...which I consider sort of exciting. As soon as the images are processed, high and low-res versions of the image will be made available for purchase on the official stock site.

Here are the two photos:

Some of my latest work...

Here is a look at a new underwater photo mini-series that I just completed. It is the first part of a larger commercial underwater portrait series showcasing an artistic look at various outdoor adventure sports. The first showcases rock climbing/bouldering and is titled "Climb Higher"...

Art Avenue 2010

I was invited back to the Art Avenue show in Prospect, KY - the VIP event was last night and was a blast. I met some great people and got a lot of nice feedback on some of my latest photographic work. The indoor exhibit, which features both local and international talent (including a piece by Picasso) will be on display until August 29th. 25% of the art sales go directly to help benefit Kosair so go check it out!

Here are a couple pics from the event. The top image is my outdoor booth with my photo gallery and the bottom photo showcases a couple larger pieces I had in the indoor gallery that will be on display until next month. And yes, that's me with the goofy grin. :)

Trailer #1 for my upcoming documentary...

The Power to Move Mountains: Mountaintop Removal in Appalachia

Directed by Joshua Howard
Written by Chad Gilpin

Sponsored in part by The National Geographic Society

Shooting will conclude November 2010...