New Zealand and I go way back: in 1980 I hiked the Routeburn Track in Fiordland National Park and I shot on Kodachrome with an old Canon AE-1. Nearly thirty years later I filmed an episode of Travels to the Edge on the South Island, and last month I taught back to back workshops with a significant upgrade in gear. If you follow me on Insta or Facebook you’ve probably seen Reels of me describing how and what we were photographing, but not showing the payoff pics. Some of you were clearly not pleased about that (I do have to teach a workshop after all). Well, here’s your chance to see them now!
The unseasonably wet weather was challenging and we very nearly got snowed in on the last day, but we were able to photograph the country’s spectacular landscapes and birdlife between the squalls.
If you want to see all my faves head on over to https://www.artwolfestock.com/.
The first weekend of November, I’ll be in Manassass, Virgina for the Mid-Atlantic Photo Visions Expo! This will be a two-day event with incredible speakers, workshops, one-on-one experiences and much more. Make a weekend of it and catch the whole show, or just come and check out my WILD LIVES presentation on the 2nd, from 1 to 3pm. I’ll be signing books after the talk, with copies available for purchase – or lug your own books to the event; I’d be happy to meet you and sign them!
I’ll be sharing photos from my latest book project along with the stories behind them. WILD LIVES represents my most comprehensive collection of wildlife to date, with photos ranging from early in my career to shots I was able to capture and sneak in right before it went to print. I’m proud of this project, and I can’t wait to share it with you!
Recently I posted about my amazing new Canon R5 Mark 2 and some of the features I’m loving about this camera. However for all the technology invested in capturing tack-sharp images and freezing action, its also important to remind yourself to slow down every now and again.
One of the techniques I employ often is dropping the ISO down to 100 and stop down the aperture and let the motion move across the image. This “intentional camera movement”, or “ICM” technique is a great way to convey the sense of motion in an otherwise still frame, inviting the viewer to imagine the subject in action as described by the blurred image. Ernst Haas was one of my early influences, a person who’s work I continue to admire. He was a pioneer of using this technique to show the motion in his subjects.
It takes some experimentation and often you won’t really know if you have any successful images until you’ve edited and evaluated them. Some may still show the eyes of the animal in reasonably sharp contrast to the blurred legs in motion – I like this look – but I also like those images that make me think of ancient drawings on a cave wall, where nothing is particularly defined and the entire animal is abstracted in it’s motion and the background a blurred canvas.
I won’t always see the potential in these images immediately. Some I shot on film many years ago I nearly tossed out but decided to file away at the last second. I pulled them out years later and found a new appreciation for their abstract qualities and I’m glad I did!
If you’re interested in more photos captured with this technique, check out Rhythms From the Wild.
I just returned from another spectacular journey in Southern Africa. While the dunes of Sossusvlei are always stunning, what really made the trip this time was photographing desert elephants. While they are not a distinct species from savanna elephants, they are uniquely adapted to the harsh desert environment. They are constantly spraying sand over themselves to keep cool which creates plumes of light-filtering dust, perfect for those atmospheric images.
The wildlife on this trip was also a great opportunity to put my favorite new feature on the Canon EOS R5 Mark II to good use. This was my first trip using the camera, and the ability to recover frames from a half-second before you’d traditionally expect to has already paid dividends. When the situation is changing rapidly, the best shots often fall into this window where you’re reacting. I highlighted a few more of the new features as well as an important note about the updated batteries in this recent post while I was on-location for this trip.
This was a fantastic adventure all around. Southern Africa continues to provide an amazing array of wildlife, culture and landscapes. The company was especially enjoyable, even if they took a little too much pleasure in my squeals of fear while traversing the dunes in buggies. Our help on the ground was also able to provide some great video content on-location; be sure to follow me on Facebook and Instagram to check those out!
A few years back when most of us were stuck indoors, I took some time to comb through my catalog collecting hundreds of photos and put together Pathways to Creativity. From wildlife to abstracts, Pathways is a comprehensive look at my work and the thought process behind it. This is an exploration of ideas and inspiration, encompassing all aspects of photography from the way I use the technology to how I employ my fine art background into compositions and framing my subjects.
Years before that, I hosted a show exploring the world through my lens. Travels to the Edge is still circulating around the country. It was an incredible experience and I’m honored to have had the opportunity to bring my travels to your home.
Enjoy this content now streaming on my on-demand page for 30% off through Tuesday, September 3rd!
Use code LD24WOLFE at checkout to claim your 30% off – Available on all on-demand video. I recommend setting up a Vimeo account for easy access to your purchases!
Sooooo many cubs! This was a different but also uniquely special trip to Katmai this year. Our usual haunts seemed to have less bears fishing, but that didn’t stop healthy looking families from hamming it up for our cameras. Adults brawling for prime fishing locations is usually a trip highlight, but this time playful cubs took the spotlight. Many of the young bears we came across were just old enough for mom to not be over-protective, and by now these bears are so used to humans that we don’t raise any alarms. This meant a lot of exploratory mischief, and we were happy to capture those moments.
Enjoy the photos! If you’re interested in capturing your own amazing photos of bears, join next year’s Katmai Bear Tour. I recently posted 10 reasons to join me in this location, and they are still as relevant as ever. Though we usually have two on the schedule, my travel only allows me time for one trip – sign up before it sells out.
Working with light is the very definition of what a photographer does, and to that end it’s important to keep the various approaches and angles of light in mind to ensure you’re emphasizing what’s important to you or an essential aspect of the subject you’re capturing.
Here are a few examples of the types of lighting I consider while shooting a subject.
Front Lighting:
Front lighting is a common but difficult angle to work with. With the light coming from behind the photographer and illuminating everything from the front, shadows can be weak or non-existent as they fall behind the subject. It can also wash out colors as light is reflected directly back at the camera. This overall lack of contrast can create images that look flat, but when used correctly it can also create shots that emphasize colors, textures and patterns in more unified ways than other forms of lighting.
Side Lighting:
Conversely, side lighting provides an obvious falloff from highlight to shadow, resulting in dramatic contrast. This image, from the same location as the previous in Sedona, Arizona shows how two similar shots can look drastically different in two different lighting scenarios, in this case determined by the time of day. Side lighting can help emphasize the volume and overall shape of a subject. It will also emphasize texture quite a bit more than front lighting.
Silhouette (backlighting):
Backlighting can be used to great effect to show the shape of a subject without defining it’s volume when used to create a silhouette. It simplifies the scene, removing unimportant details. This shot of Samburu warriors in Kenya might still be an interesting subject in full light, but as a silhouette the forms of the men and their tools become one.
Rim Lighting (backlighting):
Another form of backlighting very similar to silhouette is rim lighting. This is when the light bleeds around the edges of your subject, creating a halo of light around a darker or silhouetted form. This is achieved by having a light either directly behind your subject, or behind and at a slight angle. This creates a dramatic effect that not only informs the shape of the subject, but begins to hint at volume and texture as the light bleeds over the edge of your subject. The rim lighting on these guanaco in South America hint slightly at their furry texture and brown color.
Reflected Light:
Reflected light is most often used in portraiture to provide soft, even illumination to the subject that helps to diffuse textures. In nature, it most often occurs when sunlight reflects off one surface and illuminates another, such as the walls of a canyon, or light bouncing from a lake to illuminate the forest at it’s edge.
Spotlighting:
Spotlighting is often associated with artificial lighting setups, but when it’s found in nature it can be dramatic and provide a unique look at a subject. I have many shots of tigers in full, even light. This shot stands out as the subject steps into an illuminated pocket of an Indian forest.
Overcast:
Overcast lighting, also known as diffused lighting is one of the more frequently used and successful lighting types. It provides even illumination from light to dark, without creating harsh shadows or blown-out highlights. It does the most to show all aspects of your subject, allowing for detail in light and dark areas that shows texture while still including enough information to identify shape and volume.
Your assignment, should you choose to accept it: Go out and capture a subject or similar subject in two different angles of light, noting the elements that stand out and conversely fall back out of interest in each – feel free to share in the comments below!
I’ll be leading a tour in Brazil’s Pantanal this November, and spaces remain to join us on this epic tour of wildlife and culture! We’ve got great people on the ground ready to help us achieve some unique one-in-a-lifetime opportunities – this will be a Pantanal trip like no other!
Here are a few highlights and reasons to join me in the wilds of South America this fall –
Escape late fall and winter to the comfort of the southern hemisphere – November is when this region begins to warm up.
Escape the election nonsense – I’m sure by the time mid November rolls around, we will all want to unplug a bit!
Immerse yourself in one of the world’s most diverse wildlife regions: 463 species of birds and 236 species of mammals, not to mention reptiles, amphibians, and invertebrates.
Stay in a floating lodge with spacious rooms to view ocelots, tapirs, giant otters, and jaguars, sightings of which are guaranteed by our expert guides.
Photograph from Jaguar boats that are specially designed for photographers with rotating seats and camera mounts.
Photograph and take an optional horseback ride with the iconic pantaneiros—the cowboys of the Pantanal—as they go about their daily activities.
Photograph flocks of macaws flying at eye level and below you as you stand at the edge of a 450 foot deep limestone sinkhole.
Snorkel with piraputangas, colorful South American trout, in crystal clear springs.
Closely observe giant anteaters, some of the strangest and most beautiful animals on the planet.
Art Wolfe has photographed in Brazil’s Pantanal numerous times and worked with the same local guides for his PBS series Travels to the Edge.
July is Wild for Wildlife Month! This observance was established in 1984 by the International Fund of Animal Welfare to draw attention to the important job of conserving our natural places and the threats facing wildlife and their habitats.
The ultimate goal of my recent book Wild Lives was much the same – to share photos of incredible creatures from every diverse biome on the planet, as well as many of the positive stories that see many species reconciling their place together with human populations ever on the rise.
Enjoy the photos, celebrate Wild for Wildlife month, and have a spectacular summer!
Q2 2024 photos are here! Spring kicked of with a trip to Kyoto, Japan where I aimed to capture more images of life amidst a Buddhist temple for my upcoming book on world religion and spirituality. Nestled harmoniously within the surrounding flora, this was also an opportunity to photograph landscapes and abstracts.
It was quite a shock to the system, then, to go from the serenity of temples and silent forests to the bustle and buzz of Delhi, India where millions gathered in celebration of Eid al-Fitr. I managed to find myself a perch up above the worshipping crowds and came away with the photographs I was here for.
From there I came home for a bit before visiting California for our Carmel Coast workshop, and then it was off to Iceland. If Delhi was the polar opposite of Japan in terms of activity, it was the weather in Iceland that proved to be the difference here where heavy, cool rains exposed flaws in my usually meticulous packing prep. Still, the landscape was as beautiful as ever. The iconic puffins were sparse in the areas we explored – however many other birds were present, and I’ll take variety every time.
Enjoy the photos, and while you’re here check out my upcoming tours and events. I’m always excited to get to know new travelers!
Happy Labor Day Weekend!
