Sleeping Beauty by Marsel van Oosten

Polar Bears of Svalbard I photographed this sleeping beauty on last year’s polar bear tour in Svalbard. We had chartered a small boat for just our group to search for polar bears on the sea ice. On this year’s tour we will have to sail further North than ever before because of the extremely warm winter – there was a record low amount of sea ice in the Arctic this winter. The polar bears need the sea ice to hunt, but they den on land. This situation is a real threat to the polar bears, and unfortunately it’s not the only one. Earlier this week, both Greenpeace and WWF showed their true colors by supporting the slaughter of polar bears. Greenpeace and the WWF justify their support for polar bear hunting by saying that Inuit hunters earn money by acting as guides for big game hunters who will pay an average of $50,000 to kill a polar bear. Greenpeace and the WWF argue this is sustainable, but scientists disagree. What’s really behind their despicable decision, is political correctness. The fact that the inuit have been killing polar bears, seals and whales for centuries is enough for Greenpeace and WWF to put all their principles aside – it’s part of the inuit culture. But the fact that something is part of someone’s culture, does not mean that it’s a good thing, nor does it mean that it should never be changed. Our history books are filled with traditions that we once had, but that we have abandoned over time for a multitude of different reasons. Some 300 Polar bears will die this year, brutally slain by high-powered rifles in the hands of rich psychopaths and all for the purpose of protecting the jobs of a few dozen hunting guides. Last year Greenpeace brought in 375 million Euros in donations and spent $170 million Euros on fund-raising campaigns. Compensating those Inuit hunters for their loss of income if they were to stop hunting polar bears, would cost $15 million. Just saying. Polar bears already face an unpredictable future with climate change and pollution and every loss of a bear to a trophy hunter’s bullet diminishes the chance of survival for the species. A few years ago we set up a photo tour to photograph this magnificent animal on the sea ice around Svalbard – the most spectacular polar bear habitat on our planet. One of our reasons was that we realized that with current climate change the extinction of the polar bear is closer than ever before. And that was before we knew that trophy hunting would be supported by the very companies that should protect them. – – – If you would like to photograph these magnificent kings of the arctic before they’re gone, then this is surely one of the best trips out there. We’ll be sailing on a small ship with an ice-strengthened hull, so we can actually move into the sea ice, something that most larger ships don’t do. And as we have chartered the ship for just our group, our itinerary is extremely flexible. This year’s tour is already fully booked, but you can still reserve a spot on next year’s trip. That one will be led by world famous Wildlife Photographer of the Year winner Greg du Toit, who is not only a great guy with a very creative eye, but also one of the best wildlife photographers on the planet. If you’re interested, please check out the Polar Bears of Svalbard tour page on our website: www.squiver.com/tours-workshops/svalbard-2017/ Marsel WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | TWITTER ©2016 Marsel van Oosten, All Rights Reserved. This image is not available for use on websites, blogs or other media without the explicit written permission of the photographer.

Marsel van Oosten: Photos

Now imagine that it’s your life’s work as a composer, and you have an idea of James Pinkstone went through with Apple Music. Pinkstone relates his agony on a blog post where he explains that after he subscribed to Apple Music, iCloud Music Library was automatically enabled. Fortunately, Pinkstone had backups of his music, but he notes that if he hadn’t, his only option was to redownload everything from Apple Music, a process that would take thirty hours.

Roses Are Red by Jake Olson Studios

Sign up for my newest webinar and watch me work on this image series LIVE through this link -> JAKE OLSON WEBINAR LIVE beginning May 10TH! Have a great day everyone!

Jake Olson Studios: Photos

Kissing in the rain by Marco Redaelli

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Marco Redaelli: Photos

Light by Sergey Piltnik (Пилтник)

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Sergey Piltnik (Пилтник): Photos

Golden Spikes, Kofa Mountain Range, AZ by Patrick Marson Ong

www.patrickmarsonong.com QUICK TIP ON GETTING SUNSTAR AFTER THE STORY! **********View on black********** Don’t be fooled!!! They are so so pretty to look at but damn it hurts like !@#$ when you brush yourself against one. This place is called Kofa Mountains. It is a hidden gem tucked miles away from civilization and home of the most feared and hated cacti in the southwestern desert, the jumping cholla (pronounced as choy-a). And yuuuup! had a first hand experience with cholla-pain. it’s like a road down memory lane while I was processing this image. My most favourite location in our two week trip to US last year. Inspired by Peter James Coskun Photography, big thanks to his generosity in sharing the how-to’s of this place. It’s also the place where we met Dustin Wong shooting by himself! Ha! What an amazing trip!
______________________________ Sunstar? Sunburst? Do you like it? Me, I really love shooting sunstars! i believe it add’s that “pop” on an image. There’s a technique for you to easily nail one. If you want a clean, un-messy and no flare sunstar, then get rid of filters and make sure that the front lens is free from dust! For a sharper and more distinct hands of the sunstar, go for f22, hide part of the sun on any edge then opt for 1-2 secs shutter. That’s it! Easy right? Take it to the next level by exposing multiple shots (sunstar included) from brightest to darkest so that you get the entire dynamic range of the scene. And for your last shot, place a finger in front of the lens (covering the sun) to get a well balanced, properly exposed, without any flare foreground. Then blend everything in processing. For this image I had 5 exposures for the background and 1 exposure for the foreground! Enjoy!

Patrick Marson Ong: Photos

Sugar & Spice… by Sacha Leyendecker

Don’t miss our Sugar & Spice workshop tour this september in Germany… with sensational Miri Be and Franzi: www.sacha-leyendecker.com/workshops-i/#sugar-spice-tour-2016 If you like my work you can also follow me on: www.facebook.com/Sacha.Leyendecker
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Sacha Leyendecker: Photos

Tuscan D’Light by Lars van de Goor

This famous spot has been captured many many times of course, but certainly is a place worth to visit. To witness the waking up of the valley and feel the serenity of the Tuscan landscape in the morning is a pure pleasure.

Lars van de Goor: Photos

Fall by Veselin Atanasov

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Veselin Atanasov: Photos

Orange Dusk by Warren Keelan

I love to swim in a sea of colour. Orange Dusk //
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Warren Keelan: Photos

Color Conversion by Stian N

A fall scene from Norway’s west, only a day or two before everything turned white for the season. This panorama is shot hand held at 200mm iso 2000. With editing this image I mixed up my ‘regular’ workflow. Among other things, I left out LR/CR/CO entirely and went with an alternative converter. Didn’t use a single channel based selection (or luminosity masks I guess people call it now). No perfecting of the dynamic range. The image is edited entirely free hand using custom artistic brushes in ps, for a less polished and more painterly look. I feel I sometimes have to explore new approaches and turn things on their head a bit to keep the pp part interesting and maybe try and avoid stagnating in a “editing paradigm”. 🙂 Thanks for looking, any feedback appreciated!

Stian N: Photos

The Rolling Stones have become the latest musicians to ask US Republican presumptive presidential nominee Donald Trump to stop using their songs in his campaign events. "The Rolling Stones have never given permission to the Trump campaign to use their songs and have requested that they cease all use immediately," the rockers said in a statement. Trump has used hits including "You Can't Always Get What You Want" and "Start Me Up" to fire up his supporters at campaign events.