Wildlife Photography: Japanese Snow Monkeys

The snow monkeys from Joshin'etsukogen National Park in Japan are famous.

Famous for taking a bath in the hot springs while outside it is snowing. This should be a target for every ambitious nature and wildlife photographer.

Here a National Geographic documentary: link

Influential Photographers - Thomas Marent

Thomas Marent from Switzerland is a nature photographer specialised on tropical rain forests.

His photographic career started at age 16 when he took his first SLR camera out to the local Flachsee in central Switzerland to shoot his first nature images in local wetlands.

In 2006 he released his first book with an international editor which allowed him for the first time to make a living out of photography.

On his website - http://www.thomasmarent.com - he features a series of amazing nature photographs. His portfolio is endless with a very strong focus to image composition and detail.

The job of the nature photographer is heavily driven by the ability of being patient. To get the one perfect shot in nature and wildlife it can take days and weeks of patients, adaptation to the environment, and building the right setup.

To be close to animals can be dangerous, but also extremely rewarding in terms of images and experience.

To get these impressive close shots, such as the gorilla drinking in the river (see below) one needs a whole lot of experience. Experience, not only as a photographer but mainly as somebody who understands nature and wildlife and who can read the behaviour and reaction of wild animals.

Get some stunning poster prints at: all posters.ch

Whalesharks in Cenderawasih Bay

Once upon a time in Cenderawasih bay from Nu Parnupong on Vimeo.

Wildlife Photography Using Hidden Camera-Traps

This is a short documentary by wildlife photographer Will Burrard-Lucas on using hidden camera-traps to capture African wildlife in Namibia.

Saturday Morning at the Zoo

Saturday morning at the Zoo. - When wildlife
awakens.

Some weeks ago I went to the Basel Zoo together with some of my photography friends. An opportunity to use once more the big glass sitting most of the time in the storage at home.




My setup for the day was the following:

Camera: Nikon D4
Glass: Nikkor 300mm f2.8 VR II together with teleconverter TC-20E III
Support: Manfrotto

For results visit my 500px profile.

Main difficulties taking photographs at the zoo using long focal length setups are caused by finding the right perspective across the fence and finding the right background.
Most of the time, even tough not in focal plane, the very geometrical structure of the fence causes blurred areas in pictures to end up with certain unwanted structure.
Same applies to background. In a zoo the farfield background often is something one would not expect the main subject - exotic animals - to sit in.

More images of my friend Joe Lackner using Nikon D800 with the Nikkor 200 - 500 mm lens can be found at http://joephoto.jimdo.com/tiere/zoo-basel/