This is little Noah. If I have even less time for photography in the next few weeks, blame him!

I pick him up from the breeder this coming Sunday, so he’ll be home for Jan 1st. I’ve been waiting since he was conceived!

And yep, his eyes are part blue.

Sorry I’ve been kinda AWOL, I’m not deliberately ignoring anyone (including the poor people who bubblemailed me). Just really really busy right now and hope I can get some good bubble time in soon.

Plus I really MUST clean my computer up before I take more photos!

For those who didn’t see my answer in my last journal, my puppy WAS born and he’ll be coming home on 30 December :)

I’m waiting for my new puppy to be born – and it is driving me INSANE. There are two possible colours in this litter and I only want one – so 50% chance there. I also want a boy, so 50% there too! All could go wrong and it could be females of the wrong colour!

I’ve been waiting properly for three days now – I’ve watched the bitch sitting down a lot on webcam but still no whelping!

Hurry up puppies!!!

There are now two new groups – One for Birds and one for Insects. As such, I will be deleting the now “off topic” work from the Exotic Animals group. Please don’t be offended if you realise your work is gone, just add it to the new groups!

Also if you are interested in being a moderator for the new Birds or Insect group, please bubblemail me!

I am having a stall on Sunday at the Frankston Pet’s Day Out expo :) I will be selling lots of my greeting cards and info on my other artwork and dog photography packages.

Swing by for a visit if you are near the area and haven’t seen the cards in real life yet! My stand is “D’urberville Photography”

:)

The recent decision by Radiohead to release their new album with a user decided cost ( http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2007/10/03/bmcolumn103.xml ) has made me wonder about art and its perceived value in general. The media has gone crazy on this story, musing on whether this will effect the future of the music industry in general.…

Will most people pay for this album and reward the artist, or will they happily consume it as a freebie? Would you pay for something you didn’t have to? Is it just plain stupidity to pay for something you can get for free or is it an ethical question?

I think this issue ties in quite nicely with the issue of “security” that comes up on RB occasionally – the idea that consumers can simply right click and save a copy of your art. Early

Making this my BEST DAY EVER in a long time, Radiohead’s new album “In Rainbows” is released by digital download on 10 October.…

Now what makes this awesome is THIS -

1. You can pay WHATEVER you like for the digital album, or pay nothing at all. Up to you.

2. You can only buy it from inrainbows.com – they are totally against Itunes because they don’t believe albums should be sold as individual tracks.

3. They have no record company – they are totally bypassing the record industry.

4. It was announced on their fan blog, not through some snazzy deal with some industry mag.

5. You can also buy a special box set that includes the album, a bonus CD with 8 extra songs, both of these on vinyl, a book etc. Works out to AU 90.

6. Free shipping!

All in all, I’m very very happy. I’ve heard

I am pleased to announce the group “Exotic Animals”.

Here are some guidelines to make life easier for all of us.

Hope these guidelines help you and enjoy the group.

Natalie

Yay, I have two finalists in this month’s BetterPhoto competitions.

For Mandrill

And Power

Does anyone else enter the BetterPhoto comps? They really do have some beautiful photos on there.

I’m getting really sick of people using the line “all those pet dog, pets and baby photos” as an indicator of the “rubbish” on RB.…

The content is irrelevant. There are some damn good “pet” portraits on RB (and yes, some really bad ones)

I’m actually quite sick of a photo being considered good because of the content. Taking a photo of an exotic looking person doesn’t make you a genius photographer by default. It just means the person isn’t from your country and so is ‘interesting’. Good for you.

It can be much harder to get a GREAT photo of a common subject. You have to work to make it stand out.

Blurring the water in a photo doesn’t mean it’s a great photo, having a pretty sunset doesn’t make it a great photo, photographing someone who has a character lined face doesn’t make it a

My 2008 calendar is now available for purchase.

CLICK HERE
for info.

40% of profits will be donated to the Congo Rangers.

I’ve just published part II of my animal photography info series. I’d really appreciate any feedback :)

Click Here to Read

I ordered 100 cards of my own work to hopefully sell at a few places and received all 100 today individually packed (a big YAY as now I don’t have to do it) and in a handy little box. In good time too! All peerfectly printed too.

Now wish me luck someone actually buys them!

Firstly I want to thank everyone for the overwhelming response I had to my image “Power” – I was surprised!…

Anyway other than photography, music is my second hobby so wondering if people can share their favourite albums and WHY.

Mine are:

1. Ok Computer – Radiohead
Stil the best thing I’ve ever heard, 10 years later.

2. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot – Wilco
Sometimes it gets really close to being equal with OKC. This album is like a best friend to me, it’s hard to put into words.

3. In the Aeroplane over the Sea – Neutral Milk Hotel
Like nothing else, it really captures love, life and pain and mixes it up into something amazing.

4. If you’re feeling Sinister – Belle & Sebastian
10 years old too now – wow.

5. The Sophtware Slump – Grandaddy
Similar to OK Computer but without the coldness. Really l

I’ve added part one of three journal entries on how to take great animal photos, focusing on captive animals.

Click here

It’s also now possible to join my website and become a member – members receive extra special stuff :)

I’ve updated my special offers page.

Click HERE

Includes info on the Gorilla sale, a new “Brothers” print offer and card sales.

Enjoy :)

Looking through RedBubble, it’s interesting to see the differences in how different artists approach their photography. I’ve begun to notice that RedBubble really is a haven for the more “out there” photography, the kind of art that may not win traditional competitions, but breaks the rules or is a real expression of the artist.…

While some people walk the line between both, it seems that often you are a conceptual photographer, or the kind that tries to find a photo anywhere. I belong to the latter group. I love waiting for moments to just happen, to find great photos in banal settings, or to go and photograph something quite common that every now and then becomes brilliant, through chance lighting or a rare interaction.

Even in my pet photography I rebel against setting up the anima

I have done a journal entry over at my site about these horrific killings. Everyone needs to know about supporting the Congo Rangers.

JOURNAL ENTRY

For those that haven’t heard, a family of Mountain Gorillas were shot dead execution style. The Congo Rangers spend their lives trying to save these animals without pay or assistance and often end up murdered themselves :(

Please please help in some way, even if it means mentioning this to someone. No one wants to live in a world without these animals :(

I have added a new journal entry on my website about the misconceptions of photoshop and how it relates to art and music :)

Click Here to read the entry…

Cheers!

Just because I love to make things easier on buyers :)

Remember I am currently available for dog photography sessions in Melbourne!

You can visit my website my clicking here:

Contact me by email – contact me

Sign my guestbook

Add me to your myspace as I will be updating regularly
on my photographic work.
Myspace – Natalie Manuel

You can also subscribe to my news and updates or journal feeds

Cheers!

I decided to change where I hosted my website and completely redesign it – this time integrating my redbubble work available for sale into it.

I’d love everyone to check it out – still the same domain name :)

http://www.durbervillephotography.com.au

Any hints, tips or comments would be great!

Also, I have decided to keep the gorilla sale going until the end of the year. In fact I will assigning various charities to different photos as I go along and donate percentages to each. I will update!

Yes it is, and what would be the best gift for me? Buy lots of my photos!

Ok very bad sale pitch, I could not resist :)

As you can tell by my portfolio, I’m an animal lover and get no bigger buzz in life than I do from photographing all animals – large, small, domesticated and wild.…

It saddens me to realise that every wild species I have in my portfolio is under immediate threat from extinction. That we could some day live in a world without Gorillas and Orangutans is frightening and devastating. My reaction is to use my skills to bring awareness and funds to conservation efforts. We must do what we can.

Recently I donated some of my Orangutan photos to be used in an auction to raise money for BOS (Borneo Orangutan Society). It is simple things like this that can help raise both awareness and money for such a vital cause. I hope that everyone who loves taking animal shots considers donating some of the pro

Happy 10th year anniversery to my favourite album – Ok Computer.

I can’t believe it was 10 years ago….but OKC has got me through many things, good and bad.

Cheers Radiohead :)

I’ve never really been in print before so I was excited to win Australian Digital Photograph of the Month and be published in “Camera” magazine.

I just picked it up yesterday at the newsagency.

I won the competition with this image:

Mandrill

:)

Has anyone seen the book “1001 albums you must hear before you die”?

I like music a lot and have a fair few bands and albums I really love, but there is also heaps of stuff I simply haven’t heard.

So I’m following this list and blogging about my reactions. I don’t really know a lot about the er, musical side of music, so it’s just my thoughts, not an analysis of someone’s guitar skills!

Anyway the list of the albums is hear:

http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/steveparker/1001...

and here is a link to my blog :)

http://1001albumsreview.blogspot.com/

Oh and if anyone has any recommendations I’m always keen to try new stuff :)