Mosvatnet og Stokkavatnet

(In Norwegian only)

Boka har kommet!

I dag fikk jeg den første esken med bøker på døren - en fantastisk følelse. Pallene vil ankomme lageret i løpet av morgendagen, og så blir bøker sendt ut til dem som har bestilt.

Jeg er veldig fornøyd med resultatet, og det er uten tvil min beste bok så langt.

Også denne boka tar seg godt ut på spisebordet :-)

Litt om prosjektet;
Boka er en guide til natur, fugler og dyr som finnes i urbane friluftsområder i Norge, eksemplifisert ved Mosvatnet og Stokkavatnet i Stavanger. Disse områdene er under et enormt press og har samtidig stor verdi både for folk og dyr. Pattedyr og fugler er presentert og beskrevet på en måte som gjør det forståelig for folk flest, og med gode bilder i fokus. I tillegg presenteres de ulike miljøene som finnes rundt vannene, og viktigheten av å ivareta denne mosaikken presiseres. Som naturfotograf har jeg hatt fokus på de gode bildene og boka er rikt illustrert med over 230 bilder. Boka er på norsk, men vil ha verdi også for andre gjennom det rike bildematerialet.

Boka måler 27x21cm og har 208 sider.

Prisen er 300NOK, pluss porto.

Du kan se flere bilder fra boka og eksempelsider på denne linken til WildPhoto på Facebook

Send meg en e-post på roy@wildphoto.no om du ønsker et eksemplar eller to.

Kenya - Rwanda 2011

I have just returned from my second trip to the magic place of Maasai Mara in Kenya, and as always Africa brings out something new. I went as a guide for Safari Opplevelsesreiser in Norway and did not know what to expect of the Mara this time. We were staying at the lovely Porini Mara Camp in Ol Kinyei conservancy. Last time I visited Kenya with my wife in 2009, we spent our time Gamewatchers three other Porini camps around the country; Amboseli, Rhino and Lion. The Mara camp was like the others, just great. The staff was friendly, guides were good and the comfort above what one might expect considering it is a eco-friendly, tented camp.

Maasai dancing at night - Porini Mara Camp.

And the game… Of course the wildlife did their thing – as always in Africa. We had great encounters with the many species of ungulates, predators and birds found in the conservancy. We only spent one day in the Mara NR itself, as the migration was partly over. We saw rather few predators that particular day, but we had a surprise sighting of a pair of Black Rhino. The animals were keeping to the shade, so the pictures didn’t really turn out, but it was nice to this fascinating creature up close. Only about 35 of them still remain in the Mara, though very well protected. The situation is a lot worse in South Africa were as many as 330 Rhinos were killed by poachers within the first six months of 2011.

Cheetah sibling playfighting in Ol Kinyei conservancy.

Young Lion chasing after the pride at dawn in Ol Kinyei conservancy.

Lion cubs hiding in the bushes in Ol Kinyei conservancy

Wilderbeest crossing the savanna at dawn in Ol Kinyei conservancy.

Drama on the savanna. A Lapped-faced Vulture is chasing of the mother Thompson Gazelle before killing and eating her sick kid. Life and death in the Ol Kinyei conservancy.

Rainstorm at the Mara. A male Grant's Gazelle is waiting for it to end.

After four brilliant nights in Ol Kinyei we went back to spend one night in Nairobi, before heading to Rwanda on an early morning flight. What a brilliant place! Kigali, the capitol of the country with the thousand hills, was a pleasant city and I felt really safe all the time. We had a quick visit to the 1994 Tutsi genocide memorial before heading north. The visit was indeed powerful, and several questions were raised. The most important being; why didn’t anybody react? 1.000.000 people were killed between April and July 1994.

Virunga Vulcano NP in Rwanda - home to the Mountain Gorillas.

With this in mind we headed through the winding roads of Rwanda north to the Virunga Vulcanos NP – home of the Mountain Gorillas. Was I excited!! I could hardly sleep the first night just waiting for the porter to call us up at 05:30.  We came down to the national park borders and with our guide and rangers we entered the forest in search of the Gorillas. It didn’t take long before we came across the ranger patrol following “our” family group.

Kids come out to the NP edge to look at the Mountain Gorillas as they come out of the forest just briefly. The gorillas are one of the most important sources of income for these communities.

When we first stepped into the clearing I was struck by the non-existing reactions from the Gorillas. The 38 year old, 200 kilogram, Silverback didn’t even raise his eyebrow. But after a short siesta they started moving around and we spend the next hour enjoying their everyday actions close by. And did we get close? The silverback almost ran me over twice, he knock one fellow of the track. One of them even stole my lens cap. Eventually I got it back :-)

The silverback is demanding his respect (and slightly showing of to the visitors from the cold north).

Day to we came across a different group and yet again were we suddenly observing the daily routines of one of the worlds most endangered mammals. Only 780 survive in the wild today – and one of them touched me…

Eye to eye encounter with the Mountain Gorillas of Rwanda.

Leaving the Gorillas after only two days was hard, but surely I must be back soon!

38 year old silverback Guhonda - chief of the Sabinyo group.

Sparrowhawk in Dalen

This time of the year a lot of Sparrowhawks are on the move. Some of them visit feeding stations for other birds to prey on passerines. Until now I have not been very lucky with this little hawk, and you might say I was quit interested when my friend Jostein Hellevik in Dalen, Telemark called a couple of days ago. He was telling about at least two Sparrowhawks chasing Eurasian Jays at his feeders.

The forecast was pretty much crap, with loads of rain. Still I decided to go and trust my D3s to do the job, using high ISO and whatever light was available.

I came up this morning and had a blast with 12-15 Jays going crazy in front of the hide, but the hawk was not seen. According to Jostein they were visiting the site from early morning until mid day, but today was different. Perhaps the heavy rain was a factor. I sure was happy to be sitting in a nice comfortable Doghouse blind.

Suddenly everything was chaos in front of my lens, and there he was. A small bird of prey, with razor sharp claws. From then on my camera was getting warm. The Sparrowhawk stayed for 3 hours chasing the Jays back and forth. I must admit I struggled to get any action today. But by using from 1250 to 5000 ISO I was rather happy with the results. I focused on capturing the mood, and the rain sure added to the scene.

The hawks might stay for a while, but nothing is sure. They might get a good wind one day and go south, so if you like to get your chance with the Sparrowhawk I suggest you call Jostein and book a day or two. Phone: 0047 900 65 976

Pre-order now!

I will start taking pre-orders for my up-coming book "Mosvatnet og Stokkavatnet - en guide til fugler og dyr". Order your signed copy here!

The book will be a guide to the wildlife to be found in the urban recreational areas around cities in Norway. My particular case is the lakes of Mosvatnet and Stokkavatnet in Stavanger. These are areas under enormous pressure and with hugh value for both people and animals. Mammals and birds are presented and described to a level of detail that the average guy will understand. Also, the different habitats in the area are presented, and the importance of keeping them intact is being emphasized. As a wildlife photographer I have been focusing on the images, and hopefully the book will also be of interest for those that only at the pictures.

The book measures 27x21cm and has 208 pages.

The price will be 300NOK plus shipping.

Books will be sent out from the 25th of October.

The book is in Norwegian only, but with 233 photos it will also be of interest to my international friends.

Workshop - Lær å se!

Sammen med min gode venn og kollega Magnus Reneflot, skal jeg holde fotoworkshop i vakre Danebu 21-23 oktober. Vi vil tilbringe hele helga i vakkert høstfjell og jobbe med vår fototeknikk og hvordan vi ser motiver. Dette vil bli en svært sosial helg da vi vil bo sammen på gården.

Kurset arrangeres i samarbeid med Foto&Video. Se side 18 i kurskatalogen.

Disse tre dagene koster 4990.- inkludert overnatting.

Høres dette spennende ut er det bare å ta kontakt på roy(at)wildphoto.no.

Alternativt kan du melde deg på direkte til Foto&Video

Press release - Nature Photo Camp

I november drar den prisbelønnede norske naturfotografen Roy Mangersnes fra Sandnes til opplevelsessenteret Naturama i Svenborg, Danmark, som et av hovednavnene ved det nye naturvernsprosjektet Nature Photo Camp. Sammen med syv av Nordens dyktigste naturfotografer skal Mangersnes holde foredrag for de 150 fotoentusiastene som kommer for at delta i weekendarrangementet, som er det første av sitt slag i Danmark. Hele overskuddet fra Nature Photo Camp går til et naturfremmende prosjekt.

Nature Photo Camp er et felles initiativ, som er skapt av en liten gruppe naturfotografer, som ønsker å gjøre en forskjell med deres bilder. Prosjektet har i sin enkelthet det formål å skape interesse omkring naturen og naturfotografering, og samtidig å samle inn penger til naturvernsformål. Hele overskuddet fra Nature Photo Camp går til et naturfremmende prosjekt, som velges av Nature Photo Camp teamet.

Den 5. og 6. november 2011 blir Nature Photo Camp avholdt for første gang, og her samles noen av Nordens dyktigste naturfotografer for i fellesskap å støtte prosjektet og gjennom deres frivillige arbeide å bidra til vern av vår enestående natur. De kommer fra Danmark, Norge, Sverige og Finland for at undervise og inspirere de 150 fotoentusiastene, som er garantert en unik opplevelse og masser av inspirasjon fra de profesjonelle fotografene. Fra lørdag formiddag til søndag ettermiddag, står tiden i naturfotografiets tegn med fotoforedrag, workshops og utstillinger.

”Det er veldig spennende å samarbeide med mine nordiske kollegaer om et slikt prosjekt, og jeg er enormt glad for, at jeg kan bidra. Jeg gleder meg helt til at holde mitt foredrag om Svalbards fantastiske lys for så mange naturinteresserede fotografer”, sier naturfotograf Roy Mangersnes.

Det kommer hele tiden nye spennende ting på programmet, som om kort tid blir tilgjengelig på www.photo-camp.dk

For mer informasjon:

www.photo-camp.dk

On stage autumn 2011

A moorhen from my coming book in rural wildlife

This autumn I will be busy publishing my next book and guiding a group to Botswana, and perhaps Kenya/Rwanada. I will also find time to do some workshops and have some talks. All is not ready yet, but I thought you might like to see my tour-list as it is at the moment.

Date	Where	What	Cost NOK
19. Aug.	Oslo /Litteraturhuset	Talk on the 20-year anniversary of Profildata. My talk will be on ”Nature photography as a weapon – telling a story”. I will be one of 7 speakers on this day.	690 (all day pass)
02-04 Sept.	Oslo /Foto&Video	3 day nature photography workshop with Magnus Reneflot “Learning to see”	3690
23-25 Sept.	Uppsala, Sweden /BioFoto	3 day nature photography workshop with Magnus Reneflot “Learning to see”	NA
21-23 Okt.	Valdres /Danebu	3 day nature photography workshop with Magnus Reneflot “Learning to see”	4990

Details and links on how to book these events will be posted as they are made available. New events will also be added continuously as they appear. Keep an eye.

In addition these there will at least be a release event for my book on the wildlife around the rural recreational areas of Mosvatnet and Stokkavatnet, in the end of October. Details will be revealed later.

I will also like to mention that I will be guiding a small group of photographer for Peter Cairns and Northshots to Dovrefjell on a Musk Ox photo safari in March 2012. If you are interested go to this link.

Have I forgotten anything?

Catalonia photo safari 2011

The first ever WildPhoto Catalonia photo safari was a great success judging from the smiles on the participants’ faces. Most of the birds performed well and we even got a couple of bonus species.

In early May the drylands of Catalonia is teaming with birdsong and love is in the air. The Little Bustard is displaying among the flowering red Poppies while the Montague’s Harriers are circling the fields in search of nesting material. It seems every pile of rock has a pair of nesting Little Owls in it.

Montague's Harrier

Little Owl

The five photographers group was enjoying the hides set up for them, getting brilliant shots of the different dryland species, morning and evening. In addition to the ones mentioned above the bee-eaters were staring to settle at the colony, giving us great bonus opportunities. A couple of the guys even got the stunning Roller, the nervous Spotted Cuckoo and the elusive Stone Curlew posing close by.

Our four days in the lowlands were spent with the castle town of Montsonis as our base – a stunning place in its’ own right with birds like the Bonelli’s Eagle and Oriol breeding nearby.

Lleida sunset

One of our target species on this trip was the charismatic Lammergeier, a bird with prehistoric appearance. This colourful Vulture is one of the rarest birds of prey in Europe but has its’ stronghold in the Pyrenees. Two days gave us great opportunities for flightshots, feeding and interaction.

Lammergeier

Lammergeier

In addition we got to witness the feeding frenzy of the Vultures. While the food was put out about 200 Griffon Vultures were circling the scene, waiting anxiously to get their piece. Eventually one bird landed on the ground and the rest fell like rags from the sky worried they would get a chunk of the meat. Our guide was not even finished feeding when the birds entered. Driving away, leaving us in the hides, he shook his head at the crazy Vultures. The next few minutes definitely gave us an experience of a lifetime. After 20 minutes it was all over and only bones were left – all ready for the Lammergeier.

Griffon Vulture

Griffon Vulture

In addition to Lammergeiers and Griffons we had four Egyptian and one Black Vulture, which is all the Vulture species in Europe.

I will have to thank my great group making this a memorable experience, and also the crew in Catalonia; Steve, Jordi B., Ramon and Jordi C.. Thank you for your hospitality and for making this a lifetime experience!

If you would like to join me on a later safari to Catalonia and experience this spectacle for your self, please feel free to get in touch. I am already planning the 2012 program.

One happy bunch!

NNPC Fotoreisen - Botswana Workshop 2011

6 av mine bilder fra turen til Botswana i november 2010 vant Nordic Nature Photo Contest i kategorien "Fotoreisen". Nå har DU mulighet til å bli med på en tilsvarende eksklusiv tur til Okavango og Chobe i Botswana i november 2011. Per i dag er det 3 ledige plasser igjen og kun 4 dager igjen til påmeldingsfristen går ut. Så vær rask og hiv deg med på årets råeste fototur til Afrika!

Les mer om turen på innlegget under eller via linken her.

Les mer om konkurransen og se bildene i innlegget under NNPC

Nordic Nature Photo Contest 2011

"Whiteout Grouse"

Today I´ve been attending the first ever NNPC award ceremony at the Norwegian Natural History Museum in Oslo. The event was a great success in all ways - it would be stupid of me to tell otherwise. In total 4500 images was evaluated in 7 different adult categories, and one junior award. I was rather optimistic myself but you never know. Well, I got my awards!

Tom Schandy, representing the organizers Natur&Foto magazine, called me when I was at Schipol airport on my way home from the Pyrenean Lammergeier shoot and was happy to tell me I was the winner of the Birds category, the largest of the 7, with my “Whiteout Grouse” image. This is a favourite of mine and I was very happy to get recognition for this type of photography that I love to do. In a way it is related to my winning Gentoo Penguin image from the International Wildbird Photographers Award back in 2006. In addition, Tom told me, my image “Hunting hawk” was commended in the same category.

"Hawk and crow"

I was very happy to get this recognition but it didn’t stop there. I also had the winning image in the People in Nature category with my “Night on the rock”. This image was taken during an overnight stay at the Bolt at Kjerag in Lysefjorden. This rock is sitting 1100 meters above the fjord and most people have second thoughts entering the rock in daytime. My friend Jonathan Björklund didn’t think twice and made a perfect model against the starlit sky. Meanwhile I was sitting crutched in the crevice below only seeing the water from the small stream disappearing below me. Good think my tripod didn’t slip…

"On the bolt in the night"

I always think of the camera as a tool to create, and further to provoke reactions from my viewers in some way. If I can raise an issue on conservation through my photography I am very satisfied. This is however very hard. Sometimes however, it is rather straightforward. The chairman of the jury Arne Nævra took an iconic image of the Polar Bear hanging on to the last piece if ice floating through the cold Arctic ocean. This image was given a special award in the BBC WPOY some years back. When I got my Polar Bear picture I was actually thinking this was the next image in that sequence; the ice is all gone and the bear is sinking into the deep, giving us a last wave. Being a rather funny picture it also have some impact in that way. The “Last Polar Bear” image was commended in the Threatened Nature category.

"Goodbye"

Tom now asked me if there was something I was missing, but I was already stoked as they say (I used to be a wave-surfer J). “Well, you see, you also won the Travelling Photographer category” he said. It meant my 6 images from stunning Botswana was the best selection from outside the Nordic countries.

"Kalahari thunderstorm"

"Leopard"

"Lioness with cub"

"Flying Kudu"

"Evening Elephant"

"Honeybadger"

To sum it up I won three categories and had two commended images. This means I have 10 images are on display at the Norwegian Natural History Museum as well as in the NNPC book.

“So are you happy with that Roy?” – yes!