World Wildlife Day is March 3rd, We Talk Photo Podcast Pt. 2!


Sunday is World Wildlife Day! With Wild Lives releasing this past fall, 2023 was full of trips focusing on the last few shots I needed to get for the book – from the elusive snow leopard in India, to millions of bats taking to the sky in Thailand. It was a mad dash to the finish line, trying to make  sure this was the greatest wildlife book of my career.

A large focus of this book is how animal species are navigating how they share the planet with rapidly expanding human presence. In some cases, the news is better than you might expect and I think it’s important to focus on the positives at a time when it’s very easy to get lost in the bad news that makes the most impactful headlines. I discussed this and more with Jack Graham and John Pederson on the We Talk Photo podcast. If you caught the first part and were eagerly awaiting part 2, it’s up now!

Have a fantastic weekend, and consider a donation to your favorite wildlife charity!

 

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Photo Close-up Friday – Polar Bears!

This coming Tuesday is International Polar Bear Day! Raising awareness for these great, white bears is important, as their population is vulnerable due to continued climate change that affects their habitat like no other on the planet. In my time visiting the Arctic over decades, I’ve witnessed first-hand the shrinking swaths of ice that these bears use as home and hunting ground.

One of my favorite places to photograph these bears is Churchill, Manitoba in Canada. This location on the western shore of Hudson Bay is known as the Polar Bear Capital of the World, and trips here never disappoint!


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WILD LIVES Officially Published in the U.K.!

Wild Lives has arrived! December has been a whirlwind of events and activity with the release of my latest book, a compendium highlighting a lifetime photographing creatures around the world. Wild Lives shares the stories of survival and growth of animal species that have adapted to the impact of humans around the world.

Wild Lives is now available in the U.K., so if you live across the pond you can avoid those shipping fees – unless of course you’d like me to sign a copy, or inscribe it with a personal message. You’ll have to do that through my website, but we will ensure your book is well-packaged and ready for travel.

Happy Holidays!

Order your copy via Amazon UK | Order your signed copy from ARTWOLFE.COM

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New Photos – Polar Bears in Manitoba, Canada!


This past week has been Polar Bear Week – observed during the fall polar bear migration to Churchill, Manitoba. Here the bears await the winter season and the cold that will freeze-over Hudson Bay, granting the bears access to hunt seals. One of the symptoms of a changing climate has been a shortened ice season. This provides an opportunity to photograph the bears with their stark white fur against darker backgrounds than the ice and snow we are used to seeing.

This was a great trip as several of the bears turned out to be real characters, mugging for the camera and putting on a show for us. Visiting Churchill is always unique experience. This is a town that exist on the fringe where the frozen north pole meets the rest of the earth, that has learned to co-exist with a local bear population that at times rivals the number of people living in the area.

Enjoy the photos!

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From Art’s Bookshelf: Bay of Life by Frans Lanting & Chris Eckstrom

I arrived home from my most recent trip this past Sunday and received an incredible birthday gift from friend and colleague Frans Lanting – the beautifully packaged and presented Collector’s Edition of Bay of Life, Frans & Chris Eckstrom’s epic book chronicling the rejuvenation of California’s Monterey Bay.

An area ravaged by rampant utilization by man during the gold rush which stripped the area of life and resources, Bay of Life documents the resilience of nature and the ways in which like-minded people can come together to help restore an ecosystem to not only a state of recovery, but one in which it thrives.


This message of hope and rejuvenation speaks directly to me. If you’ve caught any of my recent talks regarding my own projects, you’ll know the emphasis I put on describing how wildlife populations in many areas are beginning to recover after an initial decrease due to the influence and reach of man.

Though our climate situation remains dire, nature’s ability to rejuvenate when coupled with human awareness, consideration, and conservation efforts is remarkable. This book project not only documents this significant symbiosis between nature and man – it also helps educate and fund future endeavors to protect this beautiful habitat via the Bay of Life Project.

Both the Collector’s Edition and standard book are available for purchase, with proceeds benefitting this important project.

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Great News for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge!


In a win for wildlife and indigenous communities, the last remaining oil and gas leases on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge have been cancelled. The US is on track to produce more oil and natural gas than ever before and tapping this vital ecological sanctuary was always a bad idea.

Called “the place where life begins” by the Yup’ik and Gwich’in, the refuge is home to 250 animal species including vast herds of caribou that migrate from wintering Canada every year to calve on the coastal plain, grizzlies, wolves, and millions of migratory birds from as far as Antarctica. As long as I have been photographing, which is a long time indeed, it has been the focus of heated debate over resource extraction. One thing we should know is that this ban is not permanent, and more advocacy must be done to make sure this biologically rich area remains wild and untouched forever—a gift to future generations.

Write your representative:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/
https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative
https://www.senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htm

Environmental organizations:
https://www.protectthearctic.org/
https://alaskawild.org/
https://earthjustice.org/

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New Photos from the Palouse, Eastern Washington!


After eight years away (even though it’s only a 5 hour drive), I led a small group of avid photographers through the rolling hills of grain in the Palouse. This is an area of graceful landscapes shaped first by nature then by man, subtle shadows cast by passing clouds, and opportunities for challenging abstracts. We were unaffected by the recent fires in the area, much of the smoke had dissipated, but it was constantly in the backs of our minds. Many families have lost their homes in Spokane County wildfires this summer, if you would like to help please donate to Red Cross Disaster Relief.

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A Well-Deserved Lifetime Achievement Award for Greg Green!

Happy Cinco De Mayo! Raise a toast to long-time friend and prolific ecologist Gregory A. Green. Greg has received much-deserved recognition with a lifetime achievement award for Leadership in Conservation by the Washington Chapter of The Wildlife Society.

While devoting nearly five decades of his life to conservation biology, Greg is a prolific photographer in his own right. We have been frequent travel companions, and Greg has been the perfect fit as the written voice accompanying the many photos in my latest project,  Wild Lives—due out this October with pre-orders available soon. Sign up for my mailing list to be informed as soon as it’s available. Learn more about Greg and check out his photography on his website, greggreenphoto.com.

Congratulations, Greg!

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Celebrate Earth Day With Fee-Free Visits to National Parks!


Earth Day arrives tomorrow, April 22nd and you can celebrate by visiting your local national parks for a fee-free day. With over 400 national parks and one in each state,  there’s likely at least one near you. . . get your camera gear ready and head out for some photos and fresh air!

Don’t know which one to visit? The National Parks Service has created a handy interactive quiz that will help you narrow down your interests to a location that meets your needs based on distance, activities and more.

Share your photos online tagged with the #yourparkstory / #myparkstory hashtags and interact with others celebrating Earth Day at our protected natural places! Some of my best work, including photos from my upcoming magnum opus on international wildlife has been capture in our national parks. Enjoy the image gallery. Better yet, get out there and create your own!

National parks are powerful places that have many meanings and connections to those who visit them – our shared history, our sense of discovery, and our dreams of the future. They teach us about ourselves and the world around us, and invite us to continue to learn, grow, and explore. National Park Week is a time to reflect on what parks mean to us, enjoy what they provide to their visitors and communities, and commit to protecting these places we cherish.

 

-NATIONALPARKS.ORG

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International Dark Sky Week – Celebrate with 25% Off!

Over the weekend, we officially entered into Dark-Sky Week! I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know the folks over at the International Dark-Sky Association for a while now and along the way I’ve learned much regarding the benefits of curbing light pollution. I’ve long known about it’s impact on night photography  – but the issues that arise from an abundance of artificial light are much more complex than you might believe. To that end, IDA has created International Dark Sky week to bring awareness to many of those issues – from disrupting the patterns and habits of wildlife to artificially manipulating the moods and routines of human beings.

It may seem harmless, but light pollution has far-reaching consequences that are harmful to all living things. Effective outdoor lighting reduces light pollution, leading to a better quality of life for all. The dark sky movement is working to bring better lighting to communities around the world so that all life can thrive.

-International Dark-Sky Association

For more information and to find out what you can do to raise awareness within your community photographic or otherwise, visit DARKSKY.ORG.

To commemorate the increasingly popular topic of light pollution and efforts by the IDA to bring awareness to it’s benefits, I am currently running a 25% discount on my most recently (as of this post!) published book project, Night On Earth as well as my entire print collection – good this week only, until the end of Dark Sky Week on April 22nd.

I’ve picked out some of my favorite night-related prints, found below if you need a starting point. It’s always nice to be able to spark a dialogue with the photographs and artwork you choose to hang on your wall. With the accessible information in Night On Earth and the efforts of the IDA, these make for an excellent conversation piece.

Use code DARKSKY2023 at checkout!

AURORA
STARTRAILS OVER DEADVLEI
NIGHT FISHERMEN
STAR TRAILS OVER CEREUS CACTUS
COMET NEOWISE & MT. RAINIER
TUAREG TRIBESMEN
INLE FISHERMEN
MILKY WAY OVER THE DEVIL’S MARBLES
KOKERBOOM
WAITING FOR NIGHT
EVENING AT THE PUSHKAR FAIR
CELESTIAL MOAI
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