On April 8th we’ll be able catch a total solar eclipse here in the United States, as well as Canada and Mexico. I’ll be in Seattle when it happens, so my viewing will only be partial – but I’ve had the pleasure of having some incredible opportunities for capturing these serendipitous moments in recent years.
In 2019, I made it a point to get down to Chile to catch the total eclipse. I have shot eclipse moments in the past but this time armed with Canon’s lightweight 600, a 2x and 50mp 5D… I was not only able to get the shot I came for – but cropping in you can even see solar flares along the edge of the sun (below)!
One of the most important tips for photographing the eclipse is to make sure you’re prepared to capture it in a variety of ways, both by zooming in for isolated details of the eclipse itself, but also connecting it to the environment. Framing it with trees or other terrestrial structures to establish a sense of place tells a greater story. My eclipse-shots are generally 1-second exposures at a low ISO around 400 using a long lens with extender, but there are a lot of factors you’ll need to consider. B&H has a great post on their Explora blog about photographing the eclipse.
A few years prior to Chile, I was also able to capture the annular event in one of Tanzania’s most remote National Parks, Katavi. This was a stop on a wildlife trip, and while I was able to capture some incredible photos of hippos and crocodiles, the eclipse stole the show!
I also captured an eclipse in Australia back in 2002. For that trip, I was shooting for Edge of the Earth, Corner of the Sky. I wrote an extensive blog post on that experience a few years back if you’re interested in more photos and stories!
Witness the Real Bears of Katmai featured in my videos and latest book Wild Lives! There is just as much drama happening out in the Alaskan wilderness as there is in any Real Housewives show!
A few spots available in both of my upcoming Katmai Bear tours – they’ll fill up as we get closer to summer, and people begin to make their travel plans – don’t miss out, sign up today and ensure your spot! This is the location where I captured the cover of my least book, Wild Lives. Join me and capture your own iconic photographs!
10 REASONS TO JOIN ART WOLFE IN KATMAI, ALASKA THIS SUMMER!
1. Coastal Brown Bears are beautiful and powerful, and to be in the presence of an animal in it’s lush and beautiful natural habitat is humbling.
2. Experienced leadership! I’ve been coming here for years and our operation is a well-oiled machine at this point. We have a great relationship with our contacts on the ground that will allow for participants to focus on what matters most – taking memorable photographs, and having a great time!
3. Speaking of our contacts, we have two dedicated pilots and four planes at our disposal. Not only is this convenient, but it means we have the utmost flexibility to change our plans depending on weather conditions. If the group cannot fly, we can always take the group up to Lake Clark to see the bears digging for clams, or numerous other opportunities.
4. The remote Katmai Coast is the largest intact stretch of uninhabited coastline left in North America, and provides a rich and contextual backdrop for the bears.
5. The lodge has a top-notch cook, so the group can enjoy delicious meals while reminiscing about the day’s adventures on the tour.
6. Late July and early August is the peak of the salmon run, and is why we reserve these times with our local experts and accommodations well in advance. The rivers are running with beautiful red salmon, which is an excellent secondary element for fantastic photographs.
7. I’ve been such a frequent visitor of this location that I can recognize individual bears by sight and in many cases can predict their behavior and identify their strengths, giving us a distinct leg up in capturing them at their best. If an individual is known to be an expert fisher, rest assured I can point them out to ensure we capture the best possible action on the river!
8. We work with the local lodge owner whom scouts the area before our group arrives to ensure we have a good idea of where the bears are going to be. This cuts down the amount of hiking the group needs to do so we can get right into photographing.
9. We always find several mothers with young cubs and they are generally not intimidated by humans, so our groups can sit and photograph the cubs as they run and play for hours if we like.
10. As mentioned, this is where I captured the cover of Wild Lives as well as numerous other iconic shots – and every year I seem to come away with new ones. The opportunities here are unlimited. Come and create your own epic shots!
Check out the events page for more information. These workshops always sell out, so reserve your spot today to ensure you don’t miss out!
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!
This April, my workshops come home with a special two-day Seattle event focused on helping you find YOUR creative vision! This was such a success last time that we are doing it again and I can’t wait to share what the Pacific Northwest has to offer.
We will kick things off with a meet and greet at my home with Hors d’oeuvres and beverages. I’ll also be sharing photos and stories from my latest book Wild Lives. The following day we’ll be off and running, with lectures, field sessions and critiques – all with the purpose of helping you find and/or hone the personal creative point of view that will allow your photos to stand out.
As we get closer to the event, spots will fill quickly – reserve yours today!
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!
Yesterday was World Hippo day! Did you know that the hippopotamus and cetaceans (whales, dolphins, orcas etc.) share many unique characteristics that suggest they shared a common ancestor? Totally different dentists, however!
Hippos are the second-largest land animals on the planet – though they spend the majority of their time submerged in rivers and lakes, so you might not know it with all that hippo concealed under waters that are often murky from all the churn. They also produce their own sunblock in the form of an oily red substance that secrets from their skin.
They spend most of their time in herds of a dozen or more animals – safety in numbers, and in the huge jaws and the massive strength of the dominant maless that protect their groups.
I had the pleasure of photographing a few of these big boys and girls this past January in Kenya. Photograph your own hippos, Lions, Zebras and much more in Kenya, with me in 2025!
I recently joined Jack Graham and John Pederson on the We Talk Photo podcast to talk about wild lives and much more. We had such a great conversation that it needed to be turned into a two-parter. You can catch the first part here – bookmark the page for when part 2 drops!
Today is the official pub date of Wild Lives in Australia! The feedback for the books has been amazing and I’m glad it will be seeing release in another country. Order your copy on Amazon.AUS.
If you want a signed copy, you’ll have to order through my office, and the shipping costs can be steep. While I don’t have any trips to Australia on the calendar currently, I’ll be close in October when I visit New Zealand if you want to track me down for a signature! Better yet, nab one of the 3 remaining spaces and join us!
The Collector’s Edition will also be releasing this March – if you’ve been holding off on your purchase for the ultimate edition of Wild Lives, thats the one!
It’s time for Photo Close-up Friday, and today we are looking at the Komodo dragon. I last photographed these giant lizards back in 2020 – reptiles so unique and impressive that they have their own island! It and the few surrounding islands are also the only place in the world they are found naturally.
Photographing these beasts is not easy. They are obviously quite large, and very territorial. Unlike many lizards who will flee from humans, Komodo dragons have been known to attack aggressively. They will eat any kind of meat, from fellow reptiles and rodents to larger beasts such as water buffalo.
They are also low to the ground, and while I might be comfortable getting on my belly to photograph harbor seals, I’m not dumb enough to try that with these creatures! We created a special rig for my camera so I could get it down low, as if I were operating a vacuum cleaner – only instead of dirt, I was sucking up images!
The hoary marmot (Marmota caligata) is named for the frost white fur on its head and shoulders. The piercing warning whistle of this eight- to twenty-pound rodent is often heard in high mountain meadows and talus slopes from northern Alaska to Washington, Idaho, and Montana. Hoary marmots are inquisitive creatures, and it is not unusual to see them interacting with playful or curious mountain goat kids.
The animal finds refuge from its main enemy, eagles, and other predators in burrows beneath boulders. But grizzly bears sometimes roll the rocks aside and dig apart the underground tunnels to get at the marmot, especially when it is in hibernation. Hoary marmots go into their dens as early as September and enter a dormant state. Their respiration rate and heartbeat become extremely slow, and their body temperature falls to a point only a few degrees above freezing They don’t emerge until June, nine months later. Even then they may still have to tunnel upward through a lingering snowpack to reach the light. Perhaps as an adaptation to the demanding alpine environment, hoary marmots are more sociable, than other marmots such as their common eastern relative, the woodchuck or groundhog. They live in colonies with comparatively little aggression between adults, and the young are not driven out when they mature. Maturity takes two years to reach, a long time by rodent standards. Such slow development reflects the extended hibernation period required to survive in this animal’s high-country niche.*
