Take a virtual journey and check out a few of my favorites taken between July 1st and September 30th. Locations include: Alaska’s Glacier Bay and Katmai National Parks, Oregon’s town of Astoria, the Congo’s Nyirangongo Crater and Virunga National Park, Tanzania’s Katavi National Park and the annular eclipse, Washington’s San Juan Islands, and a quick trip to California’s Venice Beach and London, England.
Check out my events page and join me on an upcoming trip! A couple spots are still available for one I am particularly excited about; an adventure to mystical Myanmar in December, where I’ve collected some of my best shots of the exotic cultures and ancient ruins. Escape the cold and capture once in a lifetime images Gavriel Jecan and myself!
If you like what you see of the beautiful Alaskan wildlife and landscape, sign up for trips in 2017 to Glacier Bay and Katmai National Park.
This past Friday I headed for Custer State Park in South Dakota. I had heard about their annual buffalo (yes, we all know they are bison but it’s not called a “bison head nickel”) round-up. They have about 1200 head of wild buffalo in the park, and once a year they will round-up the herd to check their health and cull as needed depending on the state of the grasslands.
I was met by photographer, Ron Fry, a long time park volunteer and all around nice guy who gave me a tour of both viewing locations and some tips for where I might be able to get the shot I was looking for – namely a pattern of buffalo, thick with animals where one back and shoulder overlaps the next. Throw in some dust kicking up in the air and I’d be especially happy.
I was anticipating the shot – but not the sound and spectacle of the round-up itself. Some 40 men and women on horseback pushed the buffalo into a meadow before driving them to the first of two fenced areas. Out of the stampede, individuals would try and cut away – only to see a horse and rider take off at a dead run chasing them down and turning them back to the group. Constant “Whoops!”, “Yips!”, and “Yaws!” could be heard all-around the valley.
And then the whip! The crack was like a gunshot – never touching the animals, to be sure, but from behind pushing them forward into a run down the hill and into the fenced-in valley below where I was waiting along with some 10,000 others to watch the charge.
Bulls can weigh 2000 pounds, stand 6 feet tall and run up to 35 miles per hour! They are very dangerous animals and in the past have even taken down a horse and rider during this annual round up (the rider was fine though the horse did not survive). This is not a domestic cattle round up by any stretch.
Once in the larger fenced off area they were then herded to the gates of the smaller corrals where a treat of fresh hay, water and a rest lured them in. It was at that bottleneck of the second gate where I got the shot I wanted – a dense crush of buffalo where you can hardly see the ground as one back and head overlapped the next.
From South Dakota, it was then off to Colorado to present Photography As Art to an amazing and gracious crowd in Denver, but first I set my sights on Aspen for what else – Aspen trees of course! The fall colors were in full effect, and the whites, greys, yellows, and greens painted the breathtaking Colorado landscape. It was an excellent and peaceful way to end a busy weekend, and I’m especially grateful to the new friends I made on yet another adventure!
After witnessing the amazing percolating crater of Nyirangongo Volcano and Virunga’s mountain gorillas, we flew to one of Tanzania’s most remote and rarely visited parks, Katavi National Park. Here in the dry season the Katuma River slows to a trickle and becomes the only source of drinking water for miles around. Wildlife in unbelievable densities is forced to converge on the riverine pools. Already the most dangerous animals in East Africa, hippos erupt in territorial disputes and crocodiles lurk nearby in an uneasy truce. This is one of the few places I have been where so many huge, dangerous animals have been so concentrated. In the midst of it all, an annular eclipse occurred, which seemed a sideline to this gritty wildlife spectacle. To answer your question: the crocodile did manage to wriggle away to safety.
The National Park Service turns 100 today, and everyone can take part in the celebration! The centennial will kick off a second century of stewardship of America’s national parks and engaging communities through recreation, conservation, and historic preservation programs.
The National Park Service will be offering free admission to all 412 National Parks for their birthday weekend,Thursday August 25th through Sunday the 28th!
Find your park and discover the parks and programs in your own backyard!
A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of meeting the winners of the 2016 Art Wolfe Next-Generation Photographers Grant and sharing my Katmai workshop with them. They have been gracious enough to send us some of their favorite images from the trip. Enjoy, and definitely give their personal websites a look!
The past week in the back country of Alaska has surpassed all of my craziest dreams and expectations. A week long fellowship with Art Wolfe, Gavriel Jecan and 7 other amazing young conservation photographers has resulted in new friends, endless inspiration, a lot of learning, and a permanent smile on my face. Simply being in the presence of some of the most incredible animals I have ever had the privilege of shooting was amazing, and to have the opportunity to learn from Art and Gavriel made it even more spectacular. Sitting by the river and watching Alaskan brown bears fish for salmon or standing in a wide open field as 3 cubs playfully tormented their tolerant and loving mother are certainly experiences I will never forget. A huge thank you to Art himself as well as everyone else at Art Wolfe Inc. and the Luminous Endowment who made this possible. We are greatly indebted to you and will certainly apply these experiences and what we learned throughout the rest of our careers.
This experience to Alaska, photographing brown bears in the incredible wilderness, far exceeded any and all expectations. Being able to learn from and shoot alongside Art Wolfe, Gavriel Jecan, and the seven other extremely talented recipients of the 2016 Next Generation Young Photographers grant is an experience I will cherish for the rest of my life. Not only did I return home with a portfolio of images I am very proud of, I’ve returned home with unbelievable memories. Being able to have so many wonderful experiences with brown bears, watching mothers playing with their cubs, adults catching the plentiful sockeye passing through the rivers, salmon migrating to their lake or river of birth, I will remember these fondly for the rest of my life. To everyone who made this possible, Art, Gav, the Luminous Endowment, Art Wolfe Inc., Jerry Jacques and the rest of the crew at the Bristol Bay Sportfishing and Adventure Lodge, I can’t possibly thank you any more for providing this once in a lifetime experience!
Today we celebrate one of the more iconic and often symbolic creatures of the animal kingdom; the elephant.
Long revered for their size (African elephants weigh as much as 22,000 pounds) and intelligence, elephants are one of the few species to use tools and employ cohesive teamwork. They are also one of the more expressive and emotional members of the animal kingdom, emoting feelings of empathy and grief for fallen companions.
On this day where we honor these amazing creatures and reaffirm our efforts to conserve and expand their numbers, it couldn’t be a better time to discuss a book project and launch event that I am honored and elated to be a part of. Remembering Elephants is a collaborative effort encompassing the work of 65 of the world’s top wildlife photographers documenting the life of an elephant. 100% of the proceeds from each book sold will benefit conservation efforts.
The book will be published in September. Field Biologist Ian Redmond and myself will be speaking at the launch event in London on September 22nd. If you’re able to make it, I would love to see you there to share our respects for these wonderful animals!
An exhibit representing the book will show from the launch to October 1st at La Galleria, Pall Mall in London.
The Summer Olympics open this evening in Rio, and as a world traveler fortunate enough to have been to so many incredible places all over the globe, it’s always incredible to see nations set aside differences and come together to compete.
As the week comes to a close and the Games begin, I’m grateful to bring you some wonderful images captured on our recent workshop in Katmai National Park, Alaska. 2016 has been an incredible year for shooting, with locations I’ve visited in the past providing me with unprecedented opportunities to capture them. The denizens Katmai must have felt the competitive vibe in the air, as the wildlife in the area was at it’s best.
The bears in the park were active, expressive, and down-right ready for the spotlight as our group captured them going about their business – their every day tasks mundane to them, but a spectacle to us. Enjoy the photos as we celebrate the opening of the Olympic Games and 100 years of the National Parks Service!
Done in question-and-answer format Cats in Question offers authoritative and engaging answers to the thousands of questions about cats that Smithsonian scientists receive annually. All of the world’s cats are here, from fearsome predators such as lions and tigers, to mysterious hunters such as leopards and jaguars, to cuddly pets such as domestic cats.
More than 100 breathtaking photographs by acclaimed photographer Art Wolfe illustrate the questions on cat facts, cat evolution and diversity, and cats and humans. Readers will find the answers to such questions as “What are cats?” “How do cats hunt?” “Do wild cats like catnip?” and “Do cats dream?”.
Subjects dealt with include physical features and senses, diet and predation, social behavior, evolution, decline and recovery, diversity, distribution and abundance, and the cats’ roles in various cultures. Did you know that a male and female lion mate repeatedly, as often as every 20 minutes for several days? Or that lions may sleep or rest up to 19 hours a day? The text is augmented by 120 color photographs and a list of scientific and common names and a glossary.
A conservation biologist at the Smithsonian’s National Zoological Park, author Dr. John Seidensticker and cat specialst Dr. Susan Lumpkin have edited Great Cats and wrote The Smithsonian Book of Giant Pandas, Cats and Wild Cats, and several children’s books. They live in Washington, DC.
I started doing workshops in Glacier Bay back in the 1980s and this remains one of my favorite trips of the year. The small boat experience in the midst of a wilderness wonderland cannot be beaten. We saw more orcas than I have in a long time and I even added a new species to my list, the endangered marbled murrelet.
If you are interested in taking workshops & want first notification when they are posted, please sign up for my newsletter.
Take a virtual journey and check out a selection my new imagery taken between April 1st and June 30th. Locations include Chile’s Torres del Paine National Park & the Atacama Desert, Argentina’s Los Glaciares National Park, the Bolivian Altiplano, the Galapagos, birding in Texas, Washington’s temperate rainforest, and Tanzania. It’s been a busy schedule to keep, but these locations and workshops have provided wonderful opportunities to shoot along with the chance to get to know some new faces. I’m looking forward to what the rest of 2016 brings!
