The Pantanal is one of my favorite places on the planet. It offers an amazing display of wildlife, landscapes, and cowboy culture. Recently I had a successful trip there, creating photos for my wildlife opus coming out in Fall 2023.
Have a look at the photos, then sign up to join me for my next trip to this incredible location full of so much to shoot! I’m headed back here at the end of June – sign up today to reserve your spot!
Art and design nerds rejoice! It’s the most magical time of the year – when Pantone announces their color of the year. For 2023, it’s Viva Magenta – a nearly wine-red take on the traditional magenta. As usual I’ve put together a gallery inspired by the color. Enjoy!
Pantone’s Color of the Year, Viva Magenta 18-1750, vibrates with vim and vigor. It is a shade rooted in nature descending from the red family and expressive of a new signal of strength. Viva Magenta is brave and fearless, and a pulsating color whose exuberance promotes a joyous and optimistic celebration, writing a new narrative.
This year’s Color of the Year is powerful and empowering. It is a new animated red that revels in pure joy, encouraging experimentation and self-expression without restraint, an electrifying, and a boundaryless shade that is manifesting as a stand-out statement. PANTONE 18-1750 Viva Magenta welcomes anyone and everyone with the same verve for life and rebellious spirit. It is a color that is audacious, full of wit and inclusive of all.
Warm up your winter with December’s Print of the month! A solitary gemsbok crossing the sandy dunes of Namibia. What I love about this image is that on one hand, you have a simple image and a single subject – but looking deeper there are so many design elements coming together to compose the image. The pattern of hoof prints against the textured sands, the highlighted dust reaching forward – even the shadows on the landscape themselves form interesting shapes. I’m glad that we decided to rent a helicopter for this trip!
Dune Denizen is on sale now, just in time for the holidays – deck the halls with warmth!
I’m happy to announce that Travels to the Edge Season 2 is now available for streaming on my Vimeo On-Demand channel – just in time, as DVDs are getting harder and harder to find. Check out fan-favorite episodes on Mongolia, Iceland, Australia and much more! To celebrate upcoming 2023 international workshops, I’m offering up two full episodes to watch completely free! Just sign up for my email list – don’t worry, I hate spam also!
Art Wolfe’s Travels to the Edge Season 2 Episode 1 – Japan: Hokkaido & Honshu
The Image many of us have of Japan is congested and kinetic. But Japan has a wild side. In winter, beyond its crowded cities, the country delivers quiet, unexpected natural beauty. In the second season opener, Art Wolfe ventures north to the remote region of Hokkaido to view iconic red-crested cranes; south to the mountains to film the mischievous macaque snow monkey; and journeys on to the sacred temples of Mt. Fuji and Koyosan on a photographic pilgrimage.
Art Wolfe’s Travels to the Edge Season 2 Episode 10 – The Kingdom of Bhutan
Known as the “Land of the Thunder Dragon”, Bhutan has survived in isolation for more than a thousand years. As this enlightened Buddhist kingdom greets the 21st century, its greatest challenge is to preserve its soul. In episode ten, Art Wolfe finds a photographer’s nirvana of mountainside monasteries, sacred festivals and chanting monks in an environmentally and spiritually progressive nation.
“Hey Art, Can You Go Pee Again?”
It’s an odd thing, but I’ve had some good wildlife sightings when just standing still and, uh, relieving myself. Mostly owls peering down at me, but just last month I was in the Great Bear Rainforest attempting to photography the Spirit Bear and just when I took a break, one ambled by.
I first photographed these white-phase black bears way back in 1990, long before this region of British Columbia’s coast was designated as global treasure. Now, working on my magnum opus wildlife book, I headed back to this rich temperate rainforest in hopes of seeing this ghostly bear again. We had only four days and the waiting was long. To pass the time I taught a quick class in how to take abstracts; after all, there is always something to photograph, especially when the main objective is proving elusive. We were visited by spawned out salmon, Steller’s jays, American dippers, and a very curious, very black, black bear. Spirit or Kermode bears are merely a color phase of the American black bear. They just happen to carry two alleles of a gene that turns them a creamy white, but they are not albinos.
So when the spirit bear appeared for the first time, I zipped up and grabbed my camera. That session lasted a total of fifteen minutes. My fellow travelers implored me hourly to pee again, but that charm wore thin as did my stream. The next day she regaled us with another 15 minute appearance. Half an hour in four days and we all felt very lucky. That is the nature of wildlife photography.
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Print of the month is back just in time for the upcoming holiday season! It seems like a good time to spread a message of family and affection, so I’ve chosen a classic film shot from the early 1990’s of an emperor penguin chick and adoring parents. It takes both dedicated parents to ensure the chick is able to survive and thrive in the harsh Antarctic climes. Around the months of May and June, a female penguin will lay a single egg which is then passed on to the male to protect and incubate for the next 65-75 days. The female then heads back out to sea to recoup and feed for the next several weeks.
A collection of four penguin prints are on sale in the online store – purchase today and I’ll get my signing pad ready! If you’ve never purchased a fine art print before, our process is fairly simple. Each print is reviewed by our image editor to ensure quality before being printed on high-quality acid-free paper. The print is then allowed to off-gas before being signed and carefully wrapped and placed in a shipping tube to be sent your way. From here you can take your new fine art print to any local framer to be displayed to your liking!
Of course, we can also suggest framers and mounting services to meet your specific needs. If you have any specific questions give us a call or contact us and we will answer your questions!
The Mala Mala Reserve in South Africa was the last stop on September’s southern African sojourn. As promised, we were able to photograph some big cats doing their big cat things. One memorable pair was a singleton cheetah and its mother. Having no siblings, he relentlessly harried his mother and had epic solo zoomies. Learning how to successfully hunt and navigate its environment is of primary importance to young cats and this guy was doing his best under tough circumstances.
This is the last batch of photos from Africa for the time being – stay tuned for photos from our fall workshops! We’ve been kicking around the PNW and this weekend we are headed down to Sedona – and then it’s on to Oaxaca, Mexico for Day of the Dead!
It has been an exceptional three months of photographic opportunities! I am feverishly finishing up work for my wildlife opus to be published in Fall 2023 as well as teaching photo and travel skills to fellow enthusiasts. Check out the new imagery from Mongolia, Madagascar, Alaska, Namibia, Botswana, and South Africa.
Enjoy the photos – looking back, I’m pretty happy with the sheer number of various critters, beasts, and birds I’ve been able to capture this year!
Now is also the time to be looking ahead to my 2023 workshops and events. Trips like our Katmai tours and abstract workshops sell out early, so If it’s something you might be interested in – lock your spot up early!
We are also just a couple of weeks away from what is going to be special treat – Day of the Dead in Oaxaca, Mexico. If you’re looking for a small-group photo retreat with experienced professionals to guide you and top-notch amenities, this is the ultimate Oaxaca experience!
Following our trip to Namibia (Photos here if you missed them!) our group moved on to Botswana to capture an abundance of wildlife. Lions, leopards, elephants, giraffes, a plethora of birds, and much more! Not only was this a great opportunity to capture a wide variety of different animals – it was also a chance to explore various animal behaviors as well. Enjoy the photos!
Lots of fish, lots of bears, lots of action—what else would you expect from a couple weeks in Katmai National Park!? The cubs are always precious but this year they were FEISTY! We enjoyed watching and photographing one group of three siblings get in a row over a fish as mamma bear looked on. The two bigger cubs went at it, while the third smaller cub sneaked in and made off with the fish. Live and learn!
2023’s Katmai Bears workshops are up and there are a few spots available. If you anticipate that you might want to join, don’t hesitate to sign up, as they generally fill up faster than your average workshop! Who’s with me?!
