Wired Presentations

A picture is worth a thousand words. This one is worth 20 degrees, or less.

It is just as cold as it looks

Gangs at Jordan Lake?

It has taken me a while to realize this but I live in a great place: Especially, for those of us addicted to birds and other wildlife. My goal for the day was to find a Prothonotary Warbler. I was able to find one this morning: Mission accomplished. I could not get close enough for a photo. It was way in the back of a beaver pond and I didn’t feel like wading.

The Raleigh area doesn’t have the numbers of these warblers that the Roanoke River has, so tomorrow I may head to the Charles Kuralt Trail in the Roanoke River Wetlands. Prothonotary Warblers like swamps and nest in tree cavities. That trail meanders through a huge swamp. Who knows, in addition to getting a great photo (or any photo) of the bright yellow warbler I may be able to get a photo of a Cottonmouth Water Moccasin or Rattlesnake.

Having met my goal early I made the decision to explore. I have been trying to find a Baltimore Oriole for quite a while. I located some public land close to the North Carolina Museum of Art and quickly found an Orchard Oriole. Hey, I am getting close. One of the folks on the land told me that they have quite a few Baltimore Orioles during the migration. I am embarrassed to tell you how excited I am about this.

Eastern Phoebe

I ended the day in one of the waterfowl empoundments at Jorday Lake. There are lots of flycatchers and phoebes there and I was hoping to get a good photo. I believe that I need to wear camoflauge next time and build a blind. I just could not get close enough to them. I would find a good place and they would quit using it. I would move and they would move. It was really getting frustrated. All I was able to get was this bad photo.

[Jeff Note: I wrote this a while ago. It, too, is about James Nachtwey.]

The TED conference is a big deal. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design. The conference prides itself on the quality of its speakers. Your typical TED speaker is dynamic, famous, and perhaps a little over-hyped.

James Nachtwey doesn’t fit that typical stereotype. He read his presentation — a TED no-no. His voice conveys a lack of emotion that runs counter the the images displayed on the screen. There is a disconnect. You see, Mr. Nachthwey is a famous war photographer. The images displayed during his presentation are searing; they can literally make you cry.

The first thing that James Nachtwey shows it that it is possible to be a very mediocre presenter and still deliver a well received presentation. The comments regarding his presentation are very positive. In fairness, it would be very politically incorrect to criticize the presentation. Not many people would do it. If he were to work ever so slightly on his presentation skills he would be an incredible presence. It would be amazing.

The second thing that he shows is that strong content can overcome ALMOST ANY weakness in presentation skills. An horrendous number of ums and ahs may be the exception. When your content and visuals are this good your presentation skills don’t need to be great. It would be nice if they were great, but they simply don’t have to be.

Make sure you read the comments (This link will also start the video).

Make sure you read the comments (This link will also start the video).

There was some excitement at work today: A fawn, it can’t be more than a few days old, was hiding in a bush. It was there all day. In fact, I drove home after work and retrieved the camera. Bambi was still there when I got back.

Leave a comment telling us your favorite shot — the captions have the photo number.

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