Checking in from the banks of the Chobe River in Botswana.
We had an excellent day today photographing from a boat. We did a lot of work on elephant and hippo, managing to get really close and then were lucky enough to see a leopardess and her cubs come down to drink in the middle of the day – very rare sighting. We got some great shots of the sunset with elephants that I had been visualizing since arrival and I actually pulled it off!
We have been “roughing it” at Sanctuary Retreat “camps” in both Zambia and Botswana and they have really looked after us well.
I am so excited to be on this trip! The wildlife viewing in Zambia’s Luangwa Valley is tremendous. We saw giraffe and baboon, as well as the colorful bee-eaters which make their nests in cliffsides. The leopard we saw had killed a big female impala and the ungulate was too big for the cat to stow in a tree. So instead, she buried it, which is highly unusual.
Later in the day we came upon a lioness with a wire snare embedded in her neck. Luckily we were able to call the local lion research team who responded quickly because they happened to be in a nearby part of the park. We waited with the lion until they arrived. They then darted the snared female and we helped with the processing of data and removal of snare. I got to be right in the middle of the action and hit these shots as things got a little tense as the lioness’ temperature spiked. We took all the ice from our cooler box and pushed it against her back to keep her temperature from getting critical–I shot this moment from above.
The workshops I lead in the Olympic National Park always seem to bring out the best in everyone at all skill levels. The late summer fires in Washington make for breathtaking sunrises and sunsets. But it’s always the details that are the most interesting: backlit seaweed clinging to rocks battered by the surf.
We’ll be posting a gallery of workshop participants’ photos soon so watch for it!
I just finished a workshop with PODAS (PhaseOne Digital Artists Series). Washington’s wheat growing belt, the Palouse, is a dynamic landscape shaped by both nature and man. Up early and late to bed make for a tired but satisfied photographer. This landscape holds so much drama as the light changes. Fun to meet everyone and hang out with friends Michael, Jeff, Mark, Kevin and Murray. What a great program.
Ben Eby: “This workshop was unequivocally an incredible experience, which I will always appreciate. Both Art & Gavriel are great personal mentors, who are most accommodating when it comes to sharing their applied knowledge, and personal experience. I look forward to reconnecting in the future.” To contact Ben about his photos and experience, email him at ben@greystonedesign.on.ca
Kevin Mullen: “I have had the pleasure of taking two different photo workshops with Art Wolfe this year. Once in Zion in April and the most recent one in the Canadian Rockies. As a result of these two great workshops I have taken my photography to a new level. Through the well prepared teaching presentations, the portfolio reviews and the personal attention of Art, I have been able to change how I view the world around me to photograph. With these improved skills from these two workshops I have produced some of the best photographs I have taken in my life with a camera. Thank you for making photography even more enjoyable!”
Ken Carroll
May Wong
Ben, Kevin, Ken and May – Great work all the way around! Thank you!
The Canadian Rockies never disappoint. The scenery is the finest you’ll ever want to see, and I was so pleased to share some of my favorite locations with a small group of fellow photographers. We rode on horseback into Jasper National Park’s Tonquin Valley and rose before dawn to photograph the fleeting sunrises. The weather was mercurial: one moment the sun was glinting off the Amethyst Lakes, the next we were being stung in the face with granular snow blowing sideways. We huddled for a few minutes in a defensive circle like muskox and let the storm blow by. There was still ice on many of the lakes and we were able to experiment with abstract macro shots, which was a terrific contrast to the expansive landscape around us. Glacial powder blue Peyto Lake never disappoints and Lake Louise with its bloodred canoes is always iconic. I look forward to taking another group back soon!
See the amazing photographs some of the participants got last month in Art’s Lake Clark National Park Workshop, with narration by Art and some video shot on location in Alaska.
I just got back from Alaska leading a workshop in Lake Clark National. I promised bears & we got bears! We stayed at Silver Salmon Creek Lodge and had a terrific three days of photography.
