WildPhoto

Mosvatnet og Stokkavatnet

2011-10-24T19:44:00.001+02:00

(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

2011-10-10T20:44:00.000+02:00

I have justreturned from my second trip to the magic place of Maasai Mara in Kenya, and asalways 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 thistime. 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 Gamewatchersthree other Porini camps around the country; Amboseli, Rhino and Lion. The Maracamp was like the others, just great. The staff was friendly, guides were goodand the comfort above what one might expect considering it is a eco-friendly,tented camp.

Maasai dancing at night - Porini Mara Camp.

And thegame… Of course the wildlife did their thing – as always in Africa. We hadgreat encounters with the many species of ungulates, predators and birds foundin the conservancy. We only spent one day in the Mara NR itself, as themigration was partly over. We saw rather few predators that particular day, butwe had a surprise sighting of a pair of Black Rhino. The animals were keepingto the shade, so the pictures didn’t really turn out, but it was nice to thisfascinating 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 wereas many as 330 Rhinos were killed by poachers within the first six months of2011.

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 fourbrilliant 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 cityand I felt really safe all the time. We had a quick visit to the 1994 Tutsigenocide memorial before heading north. The visit was indeed powerful, andseveral questions were raised. The most important being; why didn’t anybodyreact? 1.000.000 people were killed between April and July 1994.

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

With thisin mind we headed through the winding roads of Rwanda north to the VirungaVulcanos NP – home of the Mountain Gorillas. Was I excited!! I could hardly sleepthe first night just waiting for the porter to call us up at 05:30. We came down to the national parkborders and with our guide and rangers we entered the forest in search of theGorillas. 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 wefirst stepped into the clearing I was struck by the non-existing reactions fromthe Gorillas. The 38 year old, 200 kilogram, Silverback didn’t even raise hiseyebrow. But after a short siesta they started moving around and we spend thenext hour enjoying their everyday actions close by. And did we get close? Thesilverback almost ran me over twice, he knock one fellow of the track. One ofthem 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 wecame across a different group and yet again were we suddenly observing thedaily routines of one of the worlds most endangered mammals. Only 780 survivein 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

2011-09-18T20:19:00.004+02:00

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

The forecastwas pretty much crap, with loads of rain. Still I decided to go and trust myD3s to do the job, using high ISO and whatever light was available.

I came upthis 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 sitefrom early morning until mid day, but today was different. Perhaps the heavyrain was a factor. I sure was happy to be sitting in a nice comfortableDoghouse blind.

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

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

Pre-order now!

2011-09-10T20:11:00.005+02:00

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!

2011-09-02T08:10:00.002+02:00

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

2011-08-22T19:48:00.003+02:00

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

2011-06-24T19:58:00.006+02:00

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

2011-05-07T19:49:00.013+02:00

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

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

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

2011-04-03T16:54:00.004+02:00

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

2011-03-29T17:40:00.012+02:00

"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!

Bli med på årets råeste tur til Afrika!

2011-03-09T18:11:00.017+01:00

8. til 16. november 2011 vil jeg reise tilbake til diamanten i den Afrikanske kronen, Botswana, og jeg vil ha DEG med på turen. Dette blir årets beste naturfoto workshop - garantert!

FULLTEGNET!

November 2010 var jeg på tur i Botswana og ble fullstendig hektet! Aldri har jeg opplevd et slikt dyreliv og i så vakre omgivelser. Her ville jeg tilbake snarest mulig, og nå blir det ny tur. Det er viktig å merke seg at dette blir en fotomessig svært eksklusiv tur med 8 overnattinger på 3 ulike camper. Vi vil ha vårt eget fly mellom campene, vi vil ha eksklusiv bruk av campene i Okavango og vi vil være maksimalt tre fotografer i hver bil slik at alle har de beste muligheter til å få sine knallbilder. Til slutt vil vi også bruke en spesielt tilpasset båt med stativfester og fotokyndig guide på Chobe River, et paradis for naturfotografer! Eksklusiv bruk av fly, camper, guider og biler gjør at vi har full kontroll og kan tilpasse måltider og legge opp løpet etter våre behov. Dette blir helt rått!

Uten bruk av kamuflasje og med litt tålmodighet kan vi få nærmøter med pattedyr, fugl og FISK!

Med mulighet for å bevege oss til fots utenfor bilene kan vi jobbe med spennende vinkler på dyrelivet.

Selv om dyrene i Okavango er tilpasset et liv i og ved vann er det ikke alltid de liker å ta den våte veien.

Selv om dette ikke er hverdagskost så vil vi garantert komme hjemme med minner for livet etter en tur i Botswana. Afrika vil alltid by på overraskelser.

Overordnet plan:

8. nov. 2011: Turen starter fra Johannesburg, Sør-Afrika. Derfra blir det rutefly til Maun, nord i Botswana. Fly fra Norge til Maun og hjem fra Kasane er ikke inkludert i prisen, men om vi bestiller som gruppe kan vi forhandle frem gode priser.

Fra Maun får vi privat fly inn til Khwai Discoverer Camp. Khwai ligger i en privat konsesjon rett nord for Khwai River ovenfor Moremi Game Reserve. Khwai konsesjonen er et av de mest mangfoldige områdene i nordre Botswana med skog, gressletter og våtmarksområder og skuffer sjelden når det gjelder dyreopplevelser.

Vi har 3 overnattinger i Khwai og vil bruke morgen og kveld på å jakte på de store dyreopplevelsene i godt lys. På dagtid tar vi det i utgangspunktet litt med ro, om da ikke naturen skulle by på spennende overraskelser. I Khwai kan vi finne alle de store rovdyrene, inkludert de fascinerende villhundene. Området har også unike antiloper som roan- og sabelantilope, i tillegg til mer vanlige kudu, bøffel og elefanter. Den varierte naturen her gjør området spesielt rikt på fugl.

Okavangodeltaet er et av verdens viktigste våtmarkssystemer. Her trives den truede flodhesten godt.

11. nov. 2011: Privat fly fra Khwai til Linyanti Discover camp. Dette er et område som jeg allerede på forrige tur hørte snakk om og som jeg virkelig fikk lyst til å besøke ved en senere anledning. Nå har vi muligheten. Området har mange forskjellige biotoper og følger Linyanti River på grensen til Namibia. Det som er spesielt med dette området er at det er mye åpent vann i form av laguner og elver her, og i dette miljøet finnes store flokker med elefanter som krysser vann og elver på sine daglige vandringer. Det vil bli gode muligheter for å få bilder av dyr i vannkanten her, enten fra bil, til fots eller fra båt.

Vi har 2 overnattinger i Linyanti.

Bilder fra Khwai og Linyanti Discovery Camps can sees på sidene til vår leverandør.

13. nov. 2011: Vi flyr videre i vårt privatfly, opp til Kasane. Derfra blir det en kort biltur til Chobe River. Der vil vi bli guidet av spesielt erfarne fotoguider med spesialtilpasset båt. Denne er en lav aluminiumsbåt med spesielle seter og stativfester slik at man bare kan koble på teleobjektivet, sette seg på stolen og begynne å ta bilder. Ditt eget stativ kan du la ligge i campen. Les mer om båten og se bilder fra Chobe fra vår leverandør her. På denne siden finnes også en video av båten. (Merk at dette er en Nikon sponset båt, men det er ingen føringer med hensyn til fotoutstyr) Dette samarbeidet gjør at vi trolig vil få det mest optimale utbytte fra Chobe. Selv har jeg bare vært her 4 timer midt på dagen, på gjennomreise, og aldri har jeg sett så mye dyr av ulike arter samlet på et sted. Og ved bruk av båt kommer vi svært nær.

Vi har 3 overnattinger i Chobe. Fokus vil også her være på å optimalisere turen for de store fotoopplevelsene. I dette området er det imidlertid lagt opp til en langt høyere standard på overnattingen enn det vi har lagt opp til i Okavango. Vi vil bo på Chobe Safari Lodge, som er et vakkert sted lokalisert på elvebredden. Vi kan derfor tusle fra rommet og ned gjennom baren, forbi bassenget og ned i båten vår. På dagtid er det i utgangspunktet lagt opp til litt roligere aktiviteter, da lyset normalt ikke gir det store utbytte på denne tiden, og det vil da være mulig å benytte seg av de fasilitetene som finnes her, mens bildene lastes ned på back-up disken.

16. nov. 2011: Safari på Chobe om morgenen. Deretter avreise til Kasane og fly hjem.

Fra båt på Chobe vil vi kunne få de mest fantastiske nærmøter med elefanter!

Opplegget i Botswana, og de to campene i Okavango er levert av Wilderness Safaris. Dette er et av de best ansette selskapene i Afrika og leverer kvalitet fra A til Å. De har over lengre tid samarbeidet med amerikanske fotosafari operatører. Jeg har personlig erfaring med selskapet og føler meg trygg på at dette er den beste lokale samarbeidspartneren. Les gjerne mer om Wilderness her.

Fordeler med Botswana som reisemål for fotografer:

- Vi kan være ute tidlig om morgenen og sent på kvelden uten å måtte ta hensyn til at nasjonalparken stenger før solnedgang. Noe som ikke er uvanlig ellers i Afrika.

- Det er fullt mulig å bevege seg utenfor bilene i Okavango, om guiden føler dette er trygt. Dette er normalt strengt forbudt eller regulert andre steder jeg har vært.

- Botswana er et velutviklet land og har siden uavhengigheten i 1966 blitt regnet som et av Afrikas mest vellykkede demokratier. Det betyr at det er svært trygt å reise i landet, og infrastrukturen er svært god.

- Guiden er godt utdannede og bryr seg om naturen og dyrene som finnes her. De snakker også svært godt engelsk.

I Okavangodeltaet vil vi få muligheten til å jobbe med motivene til langt ut i de små timer for best mulig resultat.

Generelt om Botswana:

Botswana grenser mot Sør-Afrika i sør, Namibia i vest, Zambia i nord og Zimbabwe i nordøst. Landet er en av Afrikas best bevarte hemmeligheter og et fantastisk sted å oppleve dyreliv på nært hold. To tredjedeler av landet er dekket av Kalahariørken, men i nord renner det inn elver som forvandler ørkenen til et paradis, Okavangodeltaet. Dette er verdens største innlandsdelta og har et unikt dyreliv, tilpasset et liv ved og i vann. Dette er ikke minst en av de få plassene i verden hvor vi kan finne svømmende løver, og kanskje en av de beste stedene i verden for å få oppleve afrikanske villhunder! Med sin begrensede turisme og enestående villmark er Botswana uten tvil den ultimate safaridestinasjonen.

Sammen med de øvrige kattedyrene og afrikanske villhunder er leoparden en av de artene vi vil jobbe for å finne.

For den fugleinteresserte fotografen har denne delen av Botswana enormt mye å by på. En rekke spesialiteter er å finne og fuglene er ofte enkle å komme på fotohold av.

Brakksvale er en av mange spennende fugler vi kan få nærkontakt med.

Ulike vaksinasjoner er å anbefale for denne delen av Afrika. Hepatitt A og B, samt gulfeber må vi ha. I tillegg kan det være lurt å oppdatere poliovaksinen fra ungdomskolen om du ikke har gjort det. Vi beveger oss mye i våtmark så malariatabletter bør man også ha. Nå skal det sies at jeg ikke så en eneste mygg på min forrige tur, men det er best å være på den trygge siden. MERK! Dette er en oppstilling basert på det jeg fikk anbefalt i 2010. For nærmere detaljer; ta kontakt med ditt lokale vaksinasjonskontor og spør hva du behøver.

Leopardskilpadde er en av de "små fem" som vi kan treffe på.

Påmelding:

Ta kontakt på e-post roy@wildphoto.no for påmelding eller spørsmål. Jeg kan også nås på telefon 911 34 022.

Teknisk arrangør for turen vil være Safari Opplevelsesreiser. Jeg har samarbeidet med dette selskapet tidligere og de har alltid levert topp kvalitet i alle ledd. Gjennom dette samarbeidet sikrer vi leveringsdyktighet og vi kan være trygge på at de forsikringsmessige rundt en slik reise er på plass. Påmelding er bindene og baseres på ”først til mølla prinsippet”. Vi forutsetter at turen har 5 deltakere for at denne skal kunne går.

Prisen er todelt og baseres på bruk av 3 eller 2 safaribilder

46.000 NOK per person i delt tomannsrom. Forutsetter 8 deltakere.
47.000 NOK per person i delt tomannsrom. Forutsetter 5 deltakere.

Prisene er beregnet ut fra en maksimal dollarpris på 6 NOK. Overstiger kursen 6 NOK på tidspunkt for innbetaling til leverandør kan det bli foretatt en mindre justering av prisen for å ta høyde for denne endringen.

Prisen inkluderer:

All overnatting (8 netter)
Avgifter i de ulike nasjonalparkene
Alt av mineralvann, øl, juice, og husets viner.
Alle måltider fra middag 8. november frem til avreise 16. november
Klesvask vil være mulig å begrenset (gjelder ikke undertøy)
Alle utflukter med spesielt tilpassede safaribilder (maks 3 personer per. bil) og/eller båt.

Prisen inkluderer ikke:

Fly Norge-Maun (via Johannesburg) og Kasane-Norge (Vi satser på å få til en tur med South-African Airlines, som er et av desidert beste flyselskapene jeg har brukt. Flyet går via London)
Personlige forsikringer
Tips til personal/guide (etter ønske)

Vi vil jobbe fra romslige biler der alle fotografene skal få like gode muligheter til å få sitt bilde.

Det tas forbehold om eventuelle skrivefeil i teksten frem mot påmeldingsfristens utløp.

Nature Photo Blog

2011-03-02T21:26:00.006+01:00

Together with 9 other nature photographers I have been working on an international blog called Nature Photo Blog. We have been working to perfect this for a while and now it is ready to be announced. The list of photographers look like this:

Sven Zacek - Estonia
Werner Bollmann - Germany
Brundo D'Amicis - Italy

Jaak Põder - Estonia
Luciano Gaudenzio - Italy
Stian Holmen - Norway
Meelis Kivirand - Estonia
Sandra Bartocha - Germany
Dieter Damschen - Germany

and myself :-)

About the blog: "10 renowned nature photographers, 365 days - every morning a fresh nature photo from one of us will be here. From the North to the South of Europe - Norway, Estonia, Germany, Italy, and the rest of the World."

Check out the new window to the world of European nature photography:

http://www.naturephotoblog.com/

Eagle hide for rent

2011-01-04T18:05:00.005+01:00

As some of you might now I have been trying out a new eagle hide in southern Norway. The hide is located in a beautiful place called Dalen in Telemark county (see map below), and is run by Jostein Hellevik. Dalen is a stunning place with lots of snow, hills and wildlife. It has a lot to offer all year, but in winter it is all about Golden Eagles!

View Larger Map

I visited the place already in September and was asked for advise on background and construction. When I came back in December I was really happy with the result. The hide is very spacious and has four openings for large telephoto lenses. It is possible for four people to stay, but ideally it is made for two photographers. There is a oven keeping you warm and the view is great!

My experience is that getting to and from eagle hides in the mountains is that it can be a real challenge with lot of equipment. Jostein is a experienced snowmobile driver and takes both equipment and photographer to the hide in ten minutes. The only hassle here is the cold wind on the nose, but I can handle that. On the way up on my first day we crossed lots of animal tracks - including fresh Lynx!! In fact the hide is called "Gaupebu" meaning "Lynx cabin".

From the first day there has been Golden Eagles at the hide. No day until now has been without eagles. This hide is dedicated to Golden Eagles, and there is a lot of them. I had four different birds, but I believe up to 7 different birds have been identified. Most of them are young, but also older birds are frequent.

I was in the hide on one of the shortest days of the year, but still the light was stunning. The background is a beautiful reflector, bringing all changing colors to the scene. I was shooting most of my images with Nikon D3s, using the 200-400mm and the 500mm. Especially the zoom was great as it gave me the choice to include more of the background.

Note about the background: a couple of days ago, wolf tracks were recorded just on the other side of the valley. Who knows...

Until now Jostein and Maj-Lena has offered people to stay at their house, but they have also build a beautiful place near their house with stone walls and a warming fireplace. I hope to stay there next time I visit (no offense Jostein...).

If you would like to visit Gaupebu please contact Jostein on jostein@hovdmyra.no or by phone on +47 900 65 976

You can also read more about what is going on in Dalen and at the hide on their website www.hovdmyra.no (it is all in Norwegian)

Madidi - Bolivia

2010-12-26T17:20:00.009+01:00

Evening mist in the Andean mountains

My second trip to Bolivia has come to an end and my archives have been updated with a great selection of images from this fascinating country. This time I travelled together with my friend and cameraman Marius Harlem. Our goal was to document the stunning ecological diversity stretching from the Andean mountains, through the cloud forest and into the rainforest of Madidi national park.

Cloud forest along the Beni River

We travelled with car from La Paz together with conservationist, feminist and brave spokesman of the Bolivian wilderness Rosamaria Ruiz. Together with her organisation Madidi Travel she had prepared every detail of our trip going with car over the Cordilliera Real, on river boat on the Mapiri and Beni river system to Rurrenabaque, and last but not least our rewarding stay at Serere nature reserve.

Rosamaria Ruiz

Rainforest

Going with Rosamaria, our journey took an unexpected turn. We, and she, were expecting to see lush cloud forest, parrots and toucans, and tracks of Tapir and Jaguar along our trail. However, we became witness to an ongoing destruction buffering the Madidi triangle and also far into the most biological diverse national park of the world. New, illegal, roads have opened the areas to fortune seeking gold miners settling in new areas every day. Along with miners comes burning of forest for growing vegetables and Coca, illegal logging particularly for Mahogany, and illegal hunting.

Drying Coca leaves

The beauty of the place is still breathtaking, but around every corner is another threat building up. We need to be on our toes to make sure this stunning part of the world is not broken into small pieces of memories.

Butterflies along the river

After getting to Rurrenabaque we had a couple of days to recover and charge some batteries. My ankle was badly swollen after multiple insect bites and I could hardly walk. Thanks to Dr. Drew and some antihistamines I was pretty fit after a couple of days ready to head out to Serere sanctuary. Located in breathtaking floodplain rainforest, it is where Madidi Travel is operating their eco-lodge tourist destination. The money made from tourism is all put back into conservation work, benefiting both nature and people living in the area.

Pepe the Spider monkey, at the sanctuary (C)

We spent eight days in Serere and were stunned by the diversity of the place. Only ten years ago it was no more than cut forest and short vegetation. After intense protection work and re-introduction of some species of wildlife the place is now as good a jungle as any. To prove that their work has been a success, Serere now hold a population of four Jaguars and also Tapir, as well as a good number of birds and monkeys, including rare Spider monkeys. We had encounters with Tapir, Wild pigs, Coatis, Anteater, Howler monkey, Spider monkey, Capuchin monkey and Squirrel Monkey. We also saw lots of birds including the Hoatzin and Macaws, and also butterflies, snakes, Black Caimans and fascinating bugs.

Squirrelmonkey

Capuchin monkey

Poison dart frogs

Tarantula

Wildlife photography in the rainforest is no easy task. The light is always challenging, as well as dense vegetation. We had lots of great encounters, but getting the shots were really hard. When Marius twisted his ankle working efficiently became very difficult.

Marius charging batteries with a bad ankel

Still, I managed to get some nice animals even if we only stayed for eight days. Many of these images were made possible only because of excellent work by the local trackers Choco Mano and Van Damm (Juan I believe), and also Rosamaria herself.

Waiting for the pigs, sweating like a pig...

Butterflies gathering to eat salt on the beach (Yes the guide peed here...)

I will need to take this opportunity to thank Madidi Travel, and Rosamaria in particular for supporting my work in Bolivia and getting me home safely. I can really recommend everyone a stay at Serere lodge. The service (and food) provided by the staff, as well as the authentic wildlife encounters at Serere is not found anywhere else in the Madidi area.

My next trip to Bolivia is already being planned. Hopefully we will be able to work with some really elusive and rare animals, as well as document some of the most beautiful places in the world found in this underexposed country.

Anteater

Merry Christmas to all!

2010-12-24T16:14:00.003+01:00

I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a productive New Year!

Best regards,

Roy

The Okavango Delta

2010-11-21T16:51:00.010+01:00

Hippos at sunrise, Banoka, Botswana

After a few hot and dry days in the Kalahari Desert NP, we arrived in the Okavango wetland. The temperature was still high, but the fresh green and bodies of water made it a more pleasant experience. Being the largest inland delta of the world, Okavango provides you with the best game watching, and wildlife photography, in the whole of Africa. We stayed a couple of nights at Seba Camp in the western, wet part of the national park, and a couple in the brand new Banoka Bush Camp in the drier part to the east.

Dining area at the brand new Banoka Bush Camp

The combination of these two camps gave us a great variety of wildlife experiences. It usually is very rewarding, working with wildlife in water. Therefore we spent a lot of time near the flooded plains with Elephants, Hippos, different antelopes and reptiles – not to mention thousands of birds.

Flying Kudu, Okavango

Elephant running through the reed, Okavango

Getting in position for the good shot, Okavango

Are there any Crocs her? Yes...

My favorite African cat, the Leopard, Okavango

Lioness carrying a one day old cub, after been attacked by a herd of Buffalos, Okavango

We seemed to spend a lot of time on our stomach, getting the good angle and getting close to wildlife. This technique gave us some nice encounters with birds, Hippos and even Spotted Hyena. The guide was always on guard, and we felt safe throughout our stay. The only time the guide was a little stressed was when a 2,5 metre Black Mamba crossed in front of the vehicle.

Eye-level with a Spotted Hyena at sunrise, Okavango

All in all this was an amazing experience with only good memories, though I nearly was electrocuted as a lightning hit my tent while I was in it. The sound was sharp and loud, and the roof was splintered. I still have another 8 lives left, which means I will be able to go back soon.

A hole in the roof, after it was hit by lightning

If you would like to come with me on a similar trip next year, please send me an e-mail – I would like to know as I am planning a workshop October/November 2011 in Botswana.

Hippo Lagoon with lightning, Okavango

Fire in the Kalahari Desert NP

2010-11-16T22:50:00.011+01:00

What can I say? Botswana was electric!

First of all I would like to say thanks to the people at Wilderness Safaris for providing us with such high quality lodges and guides. Also thanks to Safari AS in Norway for making all the arrangements for this trip. Thank you!

We travelled with South-African Airlines from Heathrow and I was pleasantly surprised by the high quality of this airline. Good service, and spacey seats – recommended. Botswana Airways’ Fokker was a bit more crampy, but the flight to Maun was rather short. From there we headed into the Central Kalahari Desert National Park and the adventure could begin.

Kalahari in the summer is hot – very hot. When the thunderstorms lit bushfires all around us it got even hotter. However it gave us some brilliant opportunities for night photography.

The bushfires were probably the most thrilling experience in the Kalahari, and the pictures came out pretty nicely to.

Dust-devil, made up of newly burnt grass just minutes after the bushfire past through the area, and the soot went through our car.

Lightning struck every night to light a new bushfire somewhere in the desert, often close to the camp

Kalahari is very different from most other national parks in Africa with mainly small game, but some extremely interesting species. We worked a lot with Honey Badgers, Aardwolf, Hornbills, Bustards, Bat-eared Fox and Stenbucks. We also found plenty of Oryx, Springbucks, some black maned Kalahari Lions and a couple of nice scorpions below the tent floor. Actually a couple of the lions also spent the hot hours of the day below the floor of the lodge cabins.

Honey Badger digging for scorpions at sunrise

The shy and seldom seen Aardwolf, a relative of the Hyena

A very poisonous Scorpion we found under the lodge floor

More on my journey to Okavango and Chobe later.

PS! Flying across the 40 degree Celcius Kalahari desert in a 5 seat Cessna was not my kind of journey...

Ole Jørgen Liodden trying to fit our gear in a rather small aircraft

On my way again

2010-11-04T17:56:00.004+01:00

I know its been a while since my last blog, but the thing is that I have found it quit convenient to post short stories and single images on Facebook instead.

Since last I have been awarded Highly commended in BBC Wildlife Magazine and Natural History Museums Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2010, as well as GDT European Wildlife Photographer of the Year.

BBC 2010 - Animal Portrait - highly commened

GDT 2010 - Nature's studio - Highly commended

Funny enough both of these images were taken within 15 minutes from my home, and I am currently posting this from London Heathrow on my way to Botswana. Good pictures can be made close to home, but the adventure of nature photography is always present.

So please come back for a Botswana galley later.

Arctic blues

2010-10-03T16:39:00.006+02:00

Yes I know it´s been a while since my Svalbard trip, but I have kept these images waiting for other purposes. For those of you checking in on a regular basis you might find my WildPhoto Facebook page interesting. This site is regularly updated with notes, images and events.

Anyway, I would like to share some blue images as well from my latest Svalbard trip. For me the color blue is the true color of the Arctic. Blue ice and the blue hours after sunset is truly magic to work with. Enjoy!

Arctic B/W

2010-09-15T18:37:00.006+02:00

I love shooting landscapes in black and white, especially the arctic landscape of Svalbard. The cliffs, rocky shores and the light up here is almost screaming for a b/w shot. I was talking to a friend of mine about b/w photography and he was wondering wether I was shooting with my camera set on greyscale, but I don´t. I always shoot in color, but sometimes I am already planning to convert the images into black and white while I shoot. One of the advantages about thinking b/w is that you will be able to expose differently, focusing on contrast and shape, rather then thinking about getting detail in the shades.

Here are some of my black and whites from my latest trip around Svalbard. Hope you enjoy them.

PS! These look great on the wall as fine art prints and on canvas.

Arctic light

2010-09-12T12:46:00.011+02:00

One of the reasons I decided to go to Svalbard at the beginning of September was the beautiful light at this time. The birds are mostly gone from their nesting grounds, but the landscape is even more stunning than in the middle of summer. On this trip we had a lot of heavy clouds following us, as well as strong winds from the northeast. However, every now and then the light appeared and gave us brilliant photo opportunities.

At a couple of occasions we were lucky enough to have Blue Whales close to the boat in good light. They were circling around as they were checking us out for quit some time. September is a good time for whales, but this was even better than I was hoping for :-)

All of these images were shot from the boat, either using a Redged tripod or handheld. Being able to use high ISO values with the D3S made it possible to take images I could not take before. The image below was taken at 00:30 AM using ISO2000 with the 70-200VRII hand held. It is razor sharp and noise level is more than acceptable :-)

Arctic dream

2010-09-05T13:53:00.010+02:00

Arctic Skua, Stercorarius parasiticus

I just returned from an amazing trip to the Arctic. It was a boat cruise with M/S Stockholm, organized by my good friend and collegue Ole Jørgen Liodden. We arrived a couple of days early in Longyearbyen and spent the first two days photographing the arctic landscape and wildlife in autumn colours. Finding wildlife in this area might seem easy in the summer, but we had to struggle to get what we wanted. In the end however, I was quit pleased with some images of Arctic Fox, Svalbard Ptarmigan, Arctic Skua and the some landscape shots.

Arctic Fox, Alopex lagopus, and Svalbard Poppy

Svalbard Ptarmigan, Lagopus muta hyperborea

Autumn landscape on Spitsbergen

Autumn landscape in Adventsdalen, Spitsbergen

Barnacle Geese, Branta leucopsis

Of course the big question always is; "did you see any Polar Bears?" - YES!

During our 7 day trip we saw an amazing 17 Polar Bears, and several of them were very approachable. At an old whale carcass we had five bears at the same time, showing all sorts of stunning behaviour. We got diving bears, feeding bears, hunting bears and a lot more. We even saw behaviour previously not recorded when a bear attacked a Gull on the water by diving underneath it. More on this later!

Meanwhile I will share some shots with you showing some of the bears we met. Hope you enjoy them.

Nordic Nature Photo Contest 2011

2010-08-23T19:29:00.003+02:00

Natur&Foto invites us to enter the Nordic Nature Photo Contest 2011 (NNPC)

The vision behind the Natur&Foto Magazine is to promote Nordic nature photography and quality images of nature. The Natur&Foto Magazine has provided nature photographers with a showcase for their images and now they raise the profile by inviting us to enter the Nordic nature photography competition of all time, The Nordic Nature Photo Contest 2011 (NNPC) with a prize fund totalling NOK 400 000.

For more information about the contest check out this link!

PS! On Wednesday I'll be leaving for Svalbard so come back later for some arctic wildlife images.

Dancing Gulls

2010-08-19T23:02:00.002+02:00

Yes it has been a while, but things have been crazy around here. I have just moved into a new house, I am switching to Mac and I am designing my next book. On top of this I am going to Svalbard on Wednesday - and no I am NOT complaining. I am just giving you an excuse for why I have been missing out on my weekly blog posts.

I thought perhaps I could cheer you up with some dancing gulls?

Next time you hear from me I will probably be on Spitsbergen. Stay tuned.

Getting personal

2010-07-11T13:09:00.005+02:00

I have been visiting Ole Martin three times now, and still I get surprised by the enthusiasm shown by this marvellous nature guide. This time I went together with the product specialist of Nikon Norway and representatives from pro dealer “Stavanger Foto”. They wanted to see how Norway Nature is run, as well as learning about the challenges (and joys!!) nature photographers are facing in their work. We spent three days with Ole Martin, and had a blast!

I wanted to get close up and personal with the eagles and spent a lot of time with the 500mm in a rocking boat. The wind was good however, so the birds came in very close to the boat. Still, the White-tailed Eagle is not a slow diver so I had my challenges keeping up. The framerate is great for this kind of photography, and several shots came out quit nicely.

Now I will be spending the next week moving into a new house, so I guess there will not be much photography done - but I will be back!

Have a great summer!

Diving into summer

2010-07-01T23:02:00.004+02:00

I have just been so busy lately, and it is not looking any better in the near future. This weekend I am heading up north with Nikon and Stavanger Foto to visit the Eagleman himself Ole Martin Dahle. It will be nice to se the great guy again. I am also counting on getting some new White-tailed Eagle shots while I am up there. I will try to post some while I am up north.

The week after we will be moving into a new house! We are really looking forward to that.

Meanwhile I thought I should share a couple of frames from an evening session by the coast. About 50 terns were constantly diving after you Herring in front of me. I was shooting continuously for 2,5 hours and ended up with over 300 keepers on file. For your information, over 1000 images was deleted afterwards - shooting diving terns with a 500mm is no game :-)

Ramsar exhibition

2010-06-21T18:23:00.005+02:00

I just came back from a very pleasant week on Santorini, Greece with the misses. With a maximum of 14-15 degrees in south west Norway at the moment, it sure was nice to dip my toes in the Med.

While I was gone an Ramsar exhibition was opened at Kvassheim lighthouse on Jæren. It is a newly renovated lighthouse with a café and now also a permanent exhibition. The entire upper floor is dedicated to Ramsar wetlands with focus on wetland birds. I have been lucky to supply most of the images for this show which after a while will be exchanged with a version printed on glass.

I addition to the information I also have a separate wall with large prints showing Greylag Geese from Jæren. These pictures will be hanging on display for one year and will be sold on request, numbered 1/30. Please contact me if you are interested in your own copy.

Below are the five images as they are presented.

For those of you interested here is a Youtube link to a television program made for a local TV station called TV-Vest, about my latest project. It is all in Norwegian.

Misty

2010-06-06T23:06:00.003+02:00

Vindafjord, Rogaland, Norway

I have just come back from a couple of days in the field. I really love spending time outdoors at this time of the year when the cool nights and pleasant daytime temperatures create exciting misty mornings. I just wanted to share a couple of images from my last trip all taken with the D3s since my D3x still is hospitalised :-)

No time to write much more as I have to bed - getting up early tomorrow!

Vindafjord, Rogaland, Norway

Eidfjord, Hardanger, Hordaland, Norway

Kvam, Hardanger, Hordaland, Norway

To smash a D3X

2010-05-30T17:40:00.005+02:00

So, how much does it take? The Nikon D3x is a quit costly piece of equipment so you would expect it to take a punch - and it did...

According to my field test it takes just about a double, backwards summersault of a cliff, tripod attached!!, bouncing twice in the rocks before landing elegantly on the 24-70mm lenshood.

The result was a busted house with cracks several places along the top display as well as a couple of minor (compared to the first mentioned) cracks around the tool.

The big question is; how does it perform? Well, the picture below was taken from about the same place as the D3x took the plunge just a few minutes earlier. It works fine! There is of course some difficulty operating the on/off button and the top display is misplaced and showing some hieroglyph like signs, but the output is still outstanding. Since the electronics now seem to be exposed to moisture I decided to put the camera to rest in the car for the remaining of the trip.

OK, now to the really BIG question; how much does it cost to fix? If possible...

TC-20 III and the 70-200mm f/2,8 VRII

2010-05-24T19:34:00.007+02:00

Arctic Tern, Norway
D3s, 70-200mm f/2,8 + TC-20III (focal 400mm), 1/4000sek @ f/5,6, ISO800, handheld

After my post yesterday on my experience on the TC-20 III, I was asked how it performed with the new 70-200mm f/2,8 VRII. Well, it sure was a legitimate question since this is one of the lenses that the TC-20 III was intended for - whilst the 500mm f/4 in my previous post was not. As usual I like to experience how the gear works in the field and not in some clinical lab test, after all that is what matters in the end for most of us... One of the more challenging species to work with is the Terns. I set out to photograph some at my local colony of Common and Arctic Terns, armed with the D3s, 70-200mm f/2,8 VRIII and the TC-20 III. In addition I brought a test specimen of the brand new 200-400mm f/4G ED VR II. This lens will be out in stores on the 28th of May, and I have got the opportunity to try one out for a week. I will post my review later on this week. As a teaser I would like to mention it works well with the TC-20 III.

Now, back to the 70-200mm x TC-20 III combo. I spent approximately one hour with the birds, and shooting about 250 frames under very shifting light conditions. All images were shot handheld, and the VR was on at all time, set to Active mode. I was working with fast flying subjects, which is a challenge even with fast lenses like the 300mm f/2,8 and the 70-200mm f/2,8 straight. That is why I was rather surprised how well the autofocus performed with the TC-20 III attached, both with centre point and other focus points chosen. Sharpness was also good. Of course, compared with the 70-200mm straight it is not as crisp, but is works very well, and would not hesitate to put it on whenever needed. I will let the images below speak for themselves.

I did not try it with the 300mm f/2,8, but I expect it to perform just as well. I can only imagine how it will work with the 400mm f/2,8 - that should be a killer combination!

Arctic Tern, Norway
D3s, 70-200mm f/2,8 + TC-20III (focal 380mm), 1/2500sek @ f/8, ISO800, handheld

Arctic Tern, Norway
D3s, 70-200mm f/2,8 + TC-20III (focal 360mm), 1/8000sek @ f/5,6, ISO800, handheld

100 % crop of the file above - no work has been done to this file

Teleconverter TC-20 III in the field

2010-05-23T23:38:00.003+02:00

Pheasant, Norway
D3s, 1000mm, 1/200sek @ f/8, ISO250, beanbag

I used to own a Canon 2x teleconverter, but it was never used. When switching to Nikon I turned the TC-20 II down, and settled with the TC-14. This winter I was introduced to the new TC-20 III. Still I am quit comfortable with my focal lengths as they come, but lately I have started shooting with the new converter. Yes I know Nikon doesn't recommend the TC-20 for the 500mm f/4, but this is when I need it. If my 70-200mm come out short, I get the 200-400mm, and if the 300mm doesn't do the job I get the 500mm (and perhaps the TC-14). When the longest lens is not enough, is when I really need the extra magnification.

I experienced some difficulty focusing with the D3s, as expected, but the resulting files where very promising. Of course it can not be compared to the clean crisp images I get from shooting directly though the 500mm, but it is good enough. When it comes to a 2x teleconverter, I can settle with good enough. The TC-20 III will definitely be coming out more often in the future.

Tree Sparrow, Norway
D3s, 1000mm, 1/640sek @ f/8, ISO1600, Redged swinghead

Tawny Owl, Norway
D3s, 1000mm, 1/100sek @ f/9, ISO1000, Redged swinghead

100 % crop of the above file

Come to Africa

2010-05-09T23:00:00.007+02:00

From 30th of September till 11th of October I will be guiding a safari to Botswana and Zambia, on assignement for the Safari Opplevelsesreiser in Norway.

Do want to come with me on this adventure to Okavango, Chobe, Victoria Falls and much more? Please visit the link below. I hope to see you in Africa :-)

http://www.safari.as/MigrationRoutes/MigrationRoutes2010.html

Puffin in snow

2010-04-11T18:39:00.006+02:00

One of the main reasons I went to Finnmark was to shoot seabirds at Hornøya bird island. I was especially interested in getting Atlantic Puffins in snow. It seemed however I was just a few days late as the temperature was above zero and the snow was melting rapidly. There was still some snow on the ground so I decided to get down low and shoot at my preferred angle. I really enjoy shooting wildlife against all white backgrounds and with a misty white foreground, especially black and white birds with few other colours. Check out one of my previous awarded penguin images from Antarctica her. With this in mind I was trying to get nice compositions and simple, graphic images of the parrots of the north.

Laying down in soaking wet snow in the rain on an island in the Arctic Ocean was a real cold experience, but the result was warming. I hope you like them too.

Duck!

2010-04-10T17:10:00.006+02:00

Well, I am back from Finnmark and have been going though the many images from this great trip. Me and my good friend Helge Helland have been travelling around for a week working with wintering King, and Stellers Eiders on the Varanger peninsula. It seemed we were a little late, but still there were some nice flocks available for photography. This was the first time I've worked with these two amazing birds in Norway, but it was definitely not the last!

We also visited the Kittiwake colony at Ekkerøya and the bird island called Hornøya where we was able to shoot auks (especially Puffins) in snow. I will share some of these images later.

Hope you like the Eiders :-)

Leaving for Finnmark - soon

2010-03-29T21:52:00.003+02:00

Steller's Eider (Polysticta stelleri) is probably one of my favourite duck species. These beautiful birds breed along the Arctic coasts of eastern Siberia and Alaska, and last time I was lucky enough to experience them was during my Alaska trip in 2005. I spent seven days in Barrow, Arctic Alaska - smack in the middle of Steller’s breeding grounds.

This time I go for a week to northern Norway, Finnmark, where hundreds, maybe thousands, of Eiders roost before going east to their breeding grounds on the tundra of Siberia. I will also be looking for King Eider (Somateria spectabilis), and seabirds on the Hornøya bird island.

I will be leaving on Thursday and will try to keep you posted.

Stay tuned :-)

Grey Seal program

2010-03-25T19:26:00.004+01:00

Would you like to see the progam about the Grey Seal and my Kjør book? Check it out on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ux5ageJiSVo

Please note it is all in Norwegian!

The book about these amazing island is in both Norwegian and English. Please go to WildPhoto and send my an e-mail to get your copy.

On TV

2010-03-22T23:26:00.005+01:00

Today I have been out on Kjør island to make a TV program about my book "Kjør - a haven for birds and seals". I was good fun and we saw more than 50 Grey Seals on the rocks. I was also happy to see that there was a lot of seabirds in the nature reserve, including Razorbills. The Fulmars were already in courtship.

The program will probably be shown on TV Vest in the UTE program on Wednesday 24th.

To get your copy and support my upcoming book please contact me on www.wildphoto.no

Good cover :-)

Good weekend

2010-03-22T20:50:00.005+01:00

I have just started downloading some of the images from this weekend. I have been teaching a photography workshop together with the great artist Magnus Reneflot. Together we have guided 15 enthusiastic participants though amazing ice formations and challenging geometrics along the coastal rocks of Jæren. I hope everyone had a good time, and developed their photographic skills.

One step at the time...

Kenya in B&W

2010-03-16T19:54:00.004+01:00

Yes I know it is not even close to Nick Brandt's amazing B&W photography from Kenya. Nevertheless, I was inspired and had a go at some of my own images from 2009. I think these might look good on the wall?

Nikon Norway and I am now, also announcing a workshop in Kenya in September 2010. If you are interested, give me a buzz.

This Wednesday I will have a talk in Oslo, on the BioFoto meeting there. Hope to see a lot of people. Friday till Sunday I will, together with Magnus Reneflot, hold a workshop close to home in Stavanger and Jæren. There is still two places left!!

How to - with the Nikon D3S?

2010-03-11T22:59:00.005+01:00

Several times I've been asked about settings in the D3S menu, and how you can perfect the use of this great camera. For me, autofocus is essential, aiming to get the most accurate focus possible, in order to be able to concentrate on composition and exposure. Nikon has now released a so called "D3S Professional Technical Guide". You can download it as a pdf here. In this guide you will, among many other things, be presented with recognisable situations and the relevant settings used for these.

The D3S is very good out of the box and that is very important for me. If you would, however, like to perfect the camera settings this new guide might be what you need. Next time the Great Grey Owl emerges from the taiga forest you will be ready.

D3S Professional Technical Guide

Need to send large files?

2010-03-10T18:35:00.003+01:00

I have found myself trying out different ways of sending large images to customers, but I have never been very happy with the solutions. FTP-servers and all kinds of plug-ins that shall make your life easier have just given me a headache. However, now I have found something I am very pleased with. The Norwegian made program Filemail is just amazing. It is easy to use, and it works very elegantly.

I have been using a free test version for a while, but have finally upgraded to a corporate version. This is giving me the opportunity to upload as much as 25GB in one load!!! The files will be available for my customers or friends for up to 90 days and there is no limitation to number of downloads. This is very good, but at the same time it is elegant.

I can administrate my own account. As admin I can specify a header and custom colours which will be shown on every page. These branded pages will also be shown to all clients receiving my uploads. I will also have access to detailed day-to-day upload and download statistics, summaries and a detailed view showing tracking data on all downloads.

I have also added my own upload-site as a link on my website. This site has been branded with the WildPhoto heading and colours. As administrator I can decide which filetypes are allowed to be uploaded from this page, and all uploads will be collected in an online filemail inbox. I will also receive an e-mail informing me about my received files. Very easy!

Filemail Desktop is a small application you can install locally on your computer. It is a desktop version of the website, with some extra features such as:

support for sending folders
drag'n drop support
compression before sending

Filemail Desktop can be installed on Windows, Mac and most flavors of Linux.

The program is available in 18 different languages including Norwegian.

Check out Filemail at www.filemail.com

Swans...

2010-03-08T23:14:00.004+01:00

Well, sometimes you just get caught working on a single subject for days, and that is when you start getting creative. During the last few days I have been working with a large group of Whooper Swans waiting for spring to arrive here in southern Norway. The sun has just started warming up, and the snow is melting, but the fields are still covered in a thick layer of snow. White bird (well almost...) on white snow is one of my favourite subjects to work with. I have been out in the evenings shooting in backlight and after sunset, when the light is soft and nice. I thought I should share some of the images with you guys.

Hope you like them?

Good week

2010-02-28T22:57:00.005+01:00

I am sorry I haven't updated my blog for a few days. I just haven't had the time. Already i February I realize that I will struggle to continue my "Red list species of the week", but I am not giving up.

However, I would like to share with you what have kept me away from the computer during the last few days.

Firstly I got some really good information about Long-eared Owls, and have spent some time with to birds. I was particularly happy to get them in the snow.

After that I left for Dovre to work with the Musk oxen. I was hoping for some rough conditions, but the weather was a little bit "to nice" for my liking. Still I got some decent images I would like to share with you.

Red list species of the week - 7

2010-02-18T21:48:00.004+01:00

With no more that 500-600 pairs left in Norway the amazing Eagle Owl, Bubo bubo, is considered Endangered on the Red List. The bird has a stronghold along the coast where it finds most of its food in the marine ecosystem. Being a top predator, the Eagle Owl is highly exposed to toxins in the food chain. However, the high mortality of this bird is related to electrocution by high-voltage powerlines, especially smaller lines crisscrossing their territories.

The Eagle Owl is the largest owl of the world but highly nocturnal and therefore seldom seen by man.

Eagle owl killed by high-voltage powerline.

More Red Listed species her!

Talk in Haugesund

2010-02-15T23:27:00.004+01:00

On Wednesday I'll be pulling my "old" Antarctica images out of the hat and talk at the Haugalandet Fotoklubb in Haugesund. Even though it is just over one year since I was down south it feels like ages ago - perhaps I travel too much?? Anyway, it is always nice to pull does images out again, and look at them with new eyes. Here is a couple that caught my attention this time.

The top one shows Cape Petrels, Daption capense, in flight over the Elephant Island, while the one below showes an amazing predator of the Southern Ocean - the Leopard Seal, Hydrurga leptonyx.

Speedy ducks

2010-02-14T15:07:00.003+01:00

I was out yesterday in great morning light. The lakes are frozen over and the ducks have gathered in big congregations in just a few places. I was shooting into the light as ducks were swimming around in morning mist when a couple of birds managed to break the ice to the left of me. Suddenly all the birds started flying towards me, one at the time. Within 6 minutes I had taken 350 images of ducks in flight. The light was very difficult for the autofocus, but several images came out quit nicely. Here is a small selection.

Hope you like them.

All images are taken with the Nikon D3S and 500mm/4

Workshop!

2010-02-10T21:25:00.004+01:00

Eagles!

2010-02-09T23:01:00.003+01:00

This weekend I was lucky to be invited to try out the hide of my friends Bjørn Einrem and Vidar Lunde in Suldal. The hide is well built and has been used for many years already. I have been here before, and have got a lot of pictures of White-tailed Eagle and Golden Eagle. This Sunday, however, was rather special. Seven different birds visited the site, and a lot of action was going on all around. There is a very dominant White-tailed pair chasing all the youngsters around giving me plenty of opportunity to take flight shots. In addition to the pair and three youngsters, I was also able to shoot two different Golden Eagles. This was a great day in the hide! Thanks for lending me the soft bed and the amazing birds!

I have received some questions about how the D3S performs with birds in flight. Absolutely great! The two shots below are taken in rather poor light (1000 ISO), with a lot of vertical contrast in the background. The whole series was spot on! My conclusion after using the Nikon D3S for two months is that it performs great with birds in flight.

All pictures are taken using the Nikon D3S, 500/4

Red list species of the week - 6

2010-02-08T18:55:00.005+01:00

If you follow my series about Norwegian red listed species, you might be in for a surprise or two. After the review of the national Red List in 2006 we saw several species on the list previously considered rather common. The European Starling for example has a calculated population in Norway between 400.000 and 1 million birds, so how can it be listed as Near Threatened?

These birds, like many animals depending on agricultural areas have experienced a rapid decline during the last decades. According to Birdlife International the European Starling population in Norway was reduced by up to 30% only between 1990 and 2003. Modern agriculture is one of the obstacles for these birds, but also suitable nesting sites are difficult to find as modern society is expanding. The message is: put up a nest box for the European Starling!

Workshop in Kenya!

2010-02-05T18:40:00.005+01:00

Tawny Eagle, Masai Mara, Kenya, Sept. 2009

Together with Nikon Norway and Safari AS, I am planning a one week workshop in Kenya, 8th til 15th of September 2010. We will be travelling to Ol Pejeta Conservancy near Mt. Kenya, a very good place for exciting animals like Black Rhino, Grevy Zebra and Reticulated Giraffe among others. After two nights we will head to the famous Masai Mara were we will indulge in a frenzy of wildlife for four nights. This is the best time to be in Mara with millions of Wilderbeest and all the big cats present. If we are lucky we might see the Great Migration across the Mara River - voted by BBC Wildlife Magazine contributers to be the "World's greatest wildlife spectacle".

Leopard, Masai Mara, Kenya, Sept. 2009

We will be travelling in a group of 12 people. Included will be one representative from Nikon Norway as well as myself as the guide. More information will be posted as soon as we are ready but I thought I should inform you about this event now. I can assure you it will be a great photographic adventure, and based on my previous visit I will make sure we will get the most out of this trip.

If YOU are interested in joining us please send me an e-mail and I'll put your name on the list. There will not be any booking yet, but I would like to know if you are interested in such a trip. This way you will also make sure that you'll get the updated information about the trip as soon as we have it!

roy(alf)wildphoto.no

African Elephant, Amboseli, Kenya, Sept. 2009

Still cold

2010-02-03T23:01:00.004+01:00

Feistein Lighthouse, Jæren, Rogaland, Norway

Not since 1952 has there been such a long period of cold weather and snow on the ground in my part of Norway. Last night surprised a lot of people with another load of fresh snow. I just had to get out for a couple of hours and play at the beach.

Feistein Lighthouse, Jæren, Rogaland, Norway

The next couple of months will be pretty good with talks and workshops, starting already tomorrow at Rotary Sandnes. I'll be talking about my Bolivia project. Next up is Haugesund Fotoklubb on the 17th of February, where I'll be talking about my Antarctica trip in 2008. I am also planning a three day workshop together with fellow photographer Jan Magnus Reneflot (www.fotorefleksjoner.no). The workshop will be held on 19th-21st of March. More info about the program will come shortly. If you are interested please send my an e-mail.

Red list species of the week - 5

2010-02-01T20:43:00.007+01:00

The Whooper Swan, Cygnus cygnus, is a large bird relating to the northern parts of Norway. Less than 1000 breeding pairs are found in the country, but several thousand birds can spend the winter in our lakes and estuaries.

The Whooper Swan is listed as Near Threatened on the Norwegian Red List.

The images above is fresh of the card, taken yesterday on Jæren, Rogaland.

International Year of Biodiversity - 2010

2010-01-28T19:00:00.004+01:00

The UN declared 2010 the International Year of Biodiversity (IYB). Throughout the year countless initiatives will be organized to disseminate information, promote the protection of biodiversity and encourage organizations, institutions, companies and individuals to take direct action to reduce the constant loss of biological diversity worldwide. UN Secretary-General, H.E. Mr. Ban Ki-moon delivers his video message for the 2010 International Year of Biodiversity on this link to YouTube.

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species is currently posting "Species of the Day". I will try to do my part to promote biodiversity in Norway by posting "Species of the Week" - yes I know my limits... The list will include threatened animals and plants listed in the national red list of Norway.

Starting of this new series I present the Northern Goshawk, Acipiter gentilis - habitat loss is still a great threat to this magnificent predator and it is therefor listed as Vulnarable.

NN Galleries

2010-01-23T12:17:00.004+01:00

The Norwegian association for professional nature photographers (NN) has got a nice website with galleries and news (in Norwegian) concerning their 49 photographers. I have recently added a gallery to this site called "A black and white world", showing wildlife on black and white backgrounds. You can see the gallery on this link.

Another gallery has just been added with images from the cold spell that struck southern Norway this winter. Many stunning images have been added. Check out the gallery on this link.

Enjoy

BBC WPOTY winner disqualified

2010-01-20T18:25:00.005+01:00

I feel nothing but disappointment when I tell you that the overall winning image of the 2009 BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year - "Storybook wolf" - by José Luis Rodriguez, has been disqualified. After a thorough investigation the jury concludes that the wolf in the picture is a model animal and not taken in the wild.

This is probably the biggest blow to the community of professional nature photography in Europe ever.

Read the official statement on her,

and here is an Norwegian article on Fotopia.

What else is there to say...

Portraits of survival

2010-01-18T22:13:00.003+01:00

I just came back from a weekend at Fotomessen 2010 - an amazing fair with thousands of visitors. My talks were all fully seated and more, and people seemed very happy with the show.

No I am back in the office trying to find some images, not previously published for the portrait article in the next issue of Natur&Foto. That is how I came across these freezing Reindeer from Spitsbergen. I took these images last year in March in freezing temperatures and strong wind. It was late in the evening and the light was very poor. The animals were really struggling to get through the ice in order to put their teeth into some frozen yellow grass. I started to export some files as B/W and the scene came out even better than before. I really like these animals, and it was a privilege to spend time with them. I hope we meet again soon.

Fotomessen 2010

2010-01-14T17:38:00.003+01:00

It has been a couple of beautiful weeks with extremely cold weather. The highest waterfall in my county, Månafossen, at 92 meters is one solid piece of ice. I wish I could spend some more time taking pictures, but in a couple of hours I am heading to Oslo and the biggest photo fair in Norway, I believe?? I will be joining the Nikon NPS lounge and will also have a talk on the "Magic of Nature Photography" both Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I hope to see you there!

Read more about the fair and take a look at this amazing program her.

PS! All in Norwegian, but you are all welcome ;-)

Hunting the hunter

2010-01-05T23:31:00.005+01:00

Wild Grey Wolf, Canis lupus, Finland

Yes I know I should not be calling out loud sitting in Norway, but I need an answer to this one question: Why do we need to kill wolfs like we now witness in Sweden? 12.000 hunters went out into the woods of Sweden on the first official day of legal wolf hunting in the country and killed as many as 22 animals. In total 27 wolfs will be shot. Living in Scandinavia we are blessed with a lot of unspoiled wilderness with plenty of room for wildlife to flourish. Or are we really? In Sweden they used to have 230 wolfs according to the officials - they want to have 210. In Norway we have only 20-30 animals at best. The official statement is that Norway shall not have more than 3 litters of young per year! Why? Conflict with farming interest... It seems Norway, and possibly Sweden, are run by farmers and hunters.

It is worth noting that Spain with their 46,7 million people (90 per. sq km) have wild Iberian Wolfs population of between 2000 and 2500 animals. Norway has 4,85 million people (12,5 per. sq km) and Sweden 9,3 million (20,6 per. sq km).

My wild Wolf image above is taken in Finland, September 2008.

...and a Happy New Year!

2010-01-01T13:13:00.003+01:00

Full moon on New Years Eve in Stavanger, Norway. D3s, 500mm and 1,4x, 1/400sek @ f/11, ISO 2000

I am on my way out for the first photography of the year, hoping to test the D3S to the limit this weekend. 15th-17th of January I will be at Fotomessen in Lillestrøm with Nikon. There I will be having talks both Friday and Saturday on the large stage, as well as being in the NPS lounge (the aquarium) during the entire event. So I hope to see you there.

2010 will be the best year ever!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-24T11:42:00.002+01:00

To save the environment and the postmans back I've decided to post my Christmas greetings on my blog instead of sending it by mail. Of course I could send it by e-mail, but the chances I would forget one of you is unfortunately there.

Therefore I hope you can enjoy this Christmas image from Stavanger, a very rare moment with lots of snow, and receive my best wishes for the Holiday and a prosperous year 2010!

All the best from,
Roy and Irene Mangersnes

D3S in the field

2009-12-20T21:37:00.005+01:00

Vigdel, Sola, Rogaland, Norway, Nikon D3S, 14-24mm, f/2,8, 1/15sek @ f/22, ISO 100

Finally I got the opportunity to test the new Nikon pride - D3S! The last couple of days have been crazy with a lot of snow and wind along the south west coast of Norway (and I guess the rest of Europe). It very seldom fall very much snow in this part of the country so todays shoot was one of those when landscapes, light and pretty much everything came together in one big photography frenzy.

At first I was concentrating on landscapes with fresh snow on the beaches of Jæren - a very rare sight. The D3S also gave me the chanse to use rather high ISO values on landsvapes freezing the splashing water on the coastal rocks.

Vigdel, Sola, Rogaland, Norway, Nikon D3S, 14-24mm, f/2,8, 1/125sek @ f/16, ISO 400

Later on I even got the chance to capture some Yellowhammers feeding on Lyme Grass in the snow. I left my 500mm in the car and had to use the new 70-200 VRII with a 1,4x. The result was very pleasing.

Yellowhammer, Rogaland, Norway, Nikon D3S, 70-200mm, f/2,8 with 1,4x 1/2500sek @ f/4, ISO 1250

As I am working on a project on the local parks of Stavanger I went to get some winter shots as the nearby lake. The trees were heavy with snow and the ducks were gathering in the open water. It was very pleasant to be working so freely without the tripod and still get good depth of field in low light. The picture below was shot at ISO800 and noise is non existing.

Stokkavatnet, Stavanger, Rogaland, Norway, Nikon D3S, 24-70mm, f/2,8, 1/40sek @ f/7,1, ISO 800

In the evenings Crows and Jackdaws are gathering at a communal roost at on of the city lakes. I always wanted to get a picture as the birds come in. The majority of birds come in very late and previously I had to settle with a lot of movement in the birds on the sky - witch could turn out nicely. Today however I wanted to get sharp birds in flight on the night sky. The D3S has given me a brand new way of looking at my subjects. Using ISO 2500 I got what I was looking for. I was also surprised to learn that the noise given by this camera at high ISO is very similar to the grains I used to get on sensitive film (like Provia 400). The world of nature photography has taken another long step forward - where will it end?

Mosvatnet, Stavanger, Rogaland, Norway, Nikon D3S, 24-70mm, f/2,8, 1/50sek @ f/2,8, ISO 2500

Free Desember wallpaper

2009-12-14T23:34:00.003+01:00

A new wallpaper has been added to my website. Check it out and download a free copy on www.wildphoto.no

Cheers!

Images in the dark

2009-12-13T18:46:00.006+01:00

D3x, 14-24mm, 495sek, f/9, ISO 100

Winter in Norway can produce some real challenges for the nature photographer, especially related to the short days at this time of the year. However the rewards can be even greater. Last week I was up north for a few days, shooting mainly night shots as the sun doesn't even rise at this time of the year. After that I had a go with the Goshawk in a dark Spruce forest.

Going north in the winter I was obviously hoping for some northern lights, but even in the clear cold night the Aurora was very weak during my stay. The moon on the other hand was full and bright giving me beautiful light to work with even in the middle of the night.

D3x, 14-24mm, 180sek, f/8, ISO 200

The Goshawk was shot in low winter sun on a cold morning yesterday. A young bird came in during the day and sat for a while before being chased of by a Buzzard. Luckily it came back in the afternoon while the sun still lit up the top half of the trees. Even at ISO 1250 the result is more than sufficient. However, this week I will be getting myD3S and I can't wait to have another go with these birds then.

D3, 200-400mm, 1/160sek, f/4, ISO 1250, D-lighting on high

First try with Nikkor 70-200mm 1:2.8G II ED

2009-11-29T16:44:00.011+01:00

D3x, 70-200mm f/2,8 II on 70mm, f/22, 1/2 sek @ ISO 50

On Friday I got my hands on the brand new Nikon zoom lens; AFS Nikkor 70-200mm 1:2.8G II ED. Yesterday I held a bird photography workshop, and didn't get the chance to get any shots with the new lens even though it was almost burning a hole in my backpack. Today however, I took it for a spin.

The 70-200mm has always been one of my favourite lenses for both wildlife and landscapes, and especially the combination of the two. Therefore I was very excited when I got the news of an updated version of this lens. I have been using the 14-24mm and the 24-70mm with great joy for a while and have thrilled by the quality produced by the ED glass elements and Nano Crystal Coating. Together with the two lenses mentioned above Nikon has now completed their selection of high quality lenses sufficiently answering the demands of FX digital cameras like the D3x and the new D3s.

According to Nikon the improvements include:

Vibration reduction (VR II) equivalent to increases in shutter speed by four steps
A new optical design utilizing seven ED glass elements
Ghost and flare suppression with Nano Crystal Coat
A Silent Wave Motor (SWM) for superior autofocus that is smooth and quiet
Three focus modes built in: M, M/A, A/M
Aperture diaphragm utilizing an odd number of rounded blades (nine) for natural blur characteristics
Shooting at distances as close as 1.4 m throughout the entire zoom range
High-quality exterior design

The shoot to day was rather short and didn't involve very challenging light or subjects. However, my first impression is that this lens is SHARP!

D3x, 70-200mm f/2,8 II on 200mm, f/22, 1/2 sek @ ISO 100

I shoot a couple of landscapes just to check the overall sharpness of the lens at the edges and it looks very good. The conditions were not perfect as there was some mist in the air, softening the scene, but the result was still very pleasing.

D3x, 70-200mm f/2,8 II on 70mm, f/22, 1/4 sek @ ISO 100

All these images were taken on a RedGed RTC-332 tripod, but according to the Nikon performens test the new Vibration Reduction (VRII) stabilisation technology provide me the ability to shoot at shutter speeds up to four stops slower than would otherwise be possible!

Now I can't wait to test it on wildlife!

PS! Click images to see larges versions!

Bird photography workshop

2009-11-16T17:22:00.004+01:00

Saturday 28th of November I will be holding a one day workshop in bird photography together with Stavanger Foto.

The workshop will be held in Stavanger at the end of the photography fare, Fotomessen 26-28.11.

The workshop is aimed at photographers with a interest in nature wanting to take a step towards wildlife photography, and birds in particular. We will include technical background and inspiration, as well as an introduction towards "necessary" equipment. During the practical part we will visit Stokkavatnet were we will have plenty of opportunities to try out different techniques, including telephoto, wide angle, flash photography and different creative techniques. We will end the day with a step-by-step introduction to how images are transferred, stored, indexed, developed and displayed, using Adobe Lightroom as our tool.

If you are in Stavanger on Saturday 28th of November, you are welcome to join us.

Read more about the fare, and book the workshop on Stavanger Fotos site her. (All in Norwegian)

Late November wallpaper

2009-11-15T18:46:00.006+01:00

I have been so busy after my return from Bolivia so the monthly wallpaper has been put on hold. This is unfortunate, because I really want to continue this "tradition". Therefore I choose to publish it now even if it is a little late.

This image was taken one evening just after my return from the Antarctic trip in 2008. After such an adventure it is hard to adjust and focus on local subjects. Therefore I spent one evening on a very special location near Stavanger. The costal rocks here are very dramatic and the evening light is perfect. This small pond is green is only possible to photograph when the waves are small, which they seldom are in November.

This image is now available for download as a 1920px free wallpaper on www.wildphoto.no

Enjoy!

Slideshow on Youtube

2009-11-13T19:00:00.006+01:00

Yesterdays talk on the Antarctic was a success. The place was packed and I believe people were very happy with what they saw. Thanks for visiting!

I have uploaded a small slideshow on Youtube from my latest trip to the Bolivian Altiplano. I hope you like it.

More talking

2009-11-07T21:20:00.003+01:00

First I would like to thank all the people that came to see my talk in Vennesla. It was good fun, even if I didn't come home until three in the morning!! The road was closed and I had to take an alternate route.

This week I will be having a talk at Vitenfabrikken in Sandnes, my home town. On Thursday 12th at 18:30 I will have a presentation and talk about my trip to South Georgia and the Antarctic exactly one year ago. I will also sign my two books if anyone would like a copy.

I hope to see you at Vitenfabrikken on Thursday for some seals, penguins, and lots of ice.

Talk

2009-11-04T22:52:00.008+01:00

After returning from Bolivia I have been extremely busy. Images have been shipped, invoices written and the telephone has not been still for a moment. Parallel to this I have been preparing for my talk this Thursday, 5th of October, at Vennesla Fotoklubb in southern Norway. I hope to see a lot of people there. My presentation will include adventures in Alaska, Antarctic, Africa and the latest to Bolivia, as well as some real close to home action.

I will also bring my books if anyone would like to support my work and get their signed copy.

The picture above shows a comfortably striding Giant Coot from the Lake Titicaca in Bolivia.

GDT Awards 2009 - landscape

2009-10-29T15:56:00.005+01:00

In my first attempt at the GDT "European Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2009" competition I was happy to receive a "Runner-up" in the landscape category. I was informed of the award earlier this autumn, and should have been at the ceremony in Lünen, Germany, on October 24th. The "European Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2009" competition has grown to be one of the biggest in Europe and it is considered a real treat to be recognised. Hopefully I'll get the opportunity to attend next year :-)

Read more about the competition and view the other winners at GDT her.

The image was taken this January and shows Okshornan mountains on the photogenic island of Senja in Northern Norway (Berg kommune, Troms). This spot has actually been recognised as the most picturesque landscape in Norway and I guess that says a lot? However, most people go in the summer, but I wanted to show the true nature of the place under rough winter conditions. In January the sun doesn't rise and the westerly winds are howling, constantly producing heavy swells from the freezing Arctic Ocean.

Hope you like the image?

Second week in Bolivia

2009-10-27T21:50:00.001+01:00

At the mo I am resting in the hotel in La Paz after driving into the city at 6 o'clock this morning to avoid traffic. All went well, luckily.

After my last post I travelled to the national park of Sajama. Nevado Sajama is also the highest mountain in Bolivia, at 6542 m. The weather was good and I got some classic shots of the glacier covered volcano. However on day two it all changed and I got heavy rain and thunder. I am quit fund of these conditions since they give the opportunity of getting something else. Above is the top of Sajama behind a rain shower.

There were plenty of wildlife in the park. I spent a night and a morning by a lake, getting nice light on some water birds. The park was also a good place to spot Vicuñas, the wild relative of the Llamas. Estimates suggest there were more than one million Vicuñas in Bolivia during pre-Inca times, however in 1965 just 6000 remained. The numbers are now up again, but the beautiful animal is still considered threatened.

After Sajama I wanting to experience more of Bolivia I travelled further north to Lake Titicaca, on the border to Peru. The lake is enormous and is situated 3810 meters above the ocean. There was plenty of birds along the shore to observe and work with. However, for me it is more important to include more of the landscapes in pristine places like this. Below is a flock of cormorants moving above the Lago Menor in the evening.

The climate on the Altiplano is rather challenging, but at the same time predictable, hot in the day and bitterly cold in the night. Differences during my stay varied between about 25-30 Celsius in the day and -5 in the night. At Titicaca every evening brought winds and as the day turned into night, lightning and thunder struck the shores.

On my last day I went to the nice town of Sorata. At only 2695 it was clearly easier to breath! The town is right in between the Altiplano and the Yungas, and the rainforest. In a way it was a short glimpse of what I might expect on my next trip to this stunningly diverse country.

PS! Now I am really curious to learn more about the new Nikon D3s released two days after I left!!!

Bolivia update

2009-10-22T14:27:00.003+02:00

Salar de Uyuni

I have now spent one week in Bolivia and thought I would give you a heads up of what is going on over here. Travelling in this vast country needs a lot of patience. The distances between the locations was a surprise to me, and I feel like I have been spending a lot of time on the road. However, the rewards are even greater. I have met some brilliant people in Bolivia as well as seen some of the most breathtaking landscapes on this planet. In fact you need to go to Mars to something like it (NASA trained for their Mars mission in these deserts).

Sol de Mañana

Anyway, I have spent some time in the far south and am now moving further north to the national park of Sajama. The scenery and the wildlife is surpose to be stunning. After that I have to get the car back into La Paz city. I am not looking forward to that - I have never seen traffic like it in my life!

The rare James Flamingo

I hope the images turn out OK. The screen I am working on is very old, gives some strange colours and doesn´t give the whole image :-)

On my way to Bolivia

2009-10-11T23:32:00.002+02:00

First of all I would like to thank all of you who came to see my talks in Oslo. Nice to see so many people at the FotoVideo photo fare.

I am no almost ready packing my gear for a exciting expedition to the Bolivian Altiplano. Tuesday evening I'll be leaving for London where I have to spend an overnight. Wednesday morning I head for Miami and then La Paz, Bolivia. Being the administrative capital, the city is also considered the worlds highest capital city 3660 meters above sea level. From there I will be travelling south along the Andean mountains. My destinations include the Salar de Uyuni, the Reserva de Fauna Andina Eduardo Avaros, the volcan Sajama (6542m) and lake Titicaca. I am really looking forward to start exploring these areas and the amazing wildlife that live here.

I will spend some time camping in the desert and don't expect to have internet access so don't expect many blog updates. But hopefully I will be able to get online every now and then. I will for sure put out some images upon my return at the end of this month.

The picture above shows the southern Andean mountains in Chile and was taken at the beginning of my trip to the Antarctic last November.

Nikon talks in Oslo

2009-10-06T22:55:00.005+02:00

This Friday I'll be having two talks for Nikon on the photography fare at FotoVideo in Oslo. The talks will be held at Galleri Pingvinen at 12:00 and 15:00. I will present some of my images from the last six months, all taken with Nikon D3, D3x and some D300S. There will be a range of pictures from Finland, Svalbard, Norway and Kenya.

To find out more about the fare check out this link (in norwegian): Messekatalog

I hope to see you there!

Ringed Seal, Spitsbergen

Pine Marten, Norway

Lioness and cub, Masai Mara, Kenya

Kenya gallery added

2009-10-03T12:31:00.005+02:00

I have just added a new gallery on the WildPhoto website. Here I present ten selected images from the great trip to Kenya in September. Click your way into www.wildphoto.no and check out this new gallery and all the others.

All these images will be available as high quality prints.

The African Elephant shown above was photographed in Amboseli NP, south in Kenya. The park was extremely dry, having not seen any rain for three years. Amboseli is famous for its great herds of elephants roaming the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro, but now almost all of them have moved someplace else. The few that remain are very thin and surviving only by risking their lives in the soggy swamp in the middle of the park. Getting to the food is a great risk as many animals get caught in the mud and drown. But some animals take their chances rather then dying from starvation. October usually brings rain to this part of Kenya, so we can only hope...

Nikon D3, 500mm, ISO 400, 1/1250, f/8

Free October wallpaper

2009-10-03T11:28:00.006+02:00

The October wallpaper is ready for download on www.wildphoto.no

The picture presented this month was taken while I was going to eastern Norway for the 2008 annual meeting in the Norwegian association for professional nature photographers (NN). I can not recall seeing such strong autumn colours as nature displayed this year. It had been a very dry and warm early summer and not to much rain during the second half. This probably made the colours really come out. Normally, like this year, the heavy rain and winds make the leafs rot on the tree and the forest just goes from green to brown, and then it's winter.

Check out my website and download this months free wallpaper!

Nikon D300s field review – with a twist

2009-09-22T18:11:00.014+02:00

According to many the D300 was for long the best semi-pro DSLR on the marked, and with the upgrade to D300s I was rather interested to see how it preformed in the field. Carrying my D3 and D3x with me to Kenya people might start wondering why I bothered taking the D300s as well. Honestly I was intrigued by the opportunity to shoot 720p HD video with contrast autofocus, as well as seeing how this range of cameras have evolved and what the D300s could deliver in the field.

I realized soon, however, that testing the new camera under good conditions should be more difficult than expected. Firstly I love my D3 and D3x and the files I get from those cameras, and at the same time my wife, whom never used a SLR in her life, just wouldn't let go of the D300s. After only a short introduction to the art of photography she picked up the camera and started shooting good images of the African wildlife. I was quit fascinated at times, how easy she picked up the controls of the camera and how quickly she managed to do essential changes in the camera during action photography. After only a couple of days she was already catching eagles and vultures in flight!

Eventually I managed to persuade her to lend me the camera once and again, and I got to try it in the field as I wanted. Usually when I got my hands on the D300s the light was hard and conditions challenging with high contrast scenes. The first thing I noticed was the light weight of the camera. In addition to the body I took the new 18-200mm, also compact and light weight. This was quit a difference from the D3 and 500mm f/4! The combination turned out to be very handy, especially when trying to get close to wildlife in urban areas along the Kenyan coast. The Sykes’ monkey (ISO 250, 1/320sek and f/5,6) and the rare Angolean Black and White Colobus (ISO 400, 1/250sek and f/5,6) below was shot using the D300s and 18-200mm. Both using the build in flash.

It was also a good combination when I was going for snapshots during lunch breaks and between gamedrives. The build in flash was very convenient rather than having to pull out the SB900 every time I wanted to take a picture of the Masai guide and driver. The image below was taken on 18mm, ISO 200, 1/50sek and f/22. VR on the lens came in handy here. The picture is taken mid day under the harsh African sun and I believe it shows the great dynamics of the files from this camera.

However, when I needed to get serious with the big cats I put the tiny DSLR on my monstrous 500mm. Adding the 1,5 DX crop to this lens gave me an opportunity to compose interesting close ups of the resting Cheetahs below.

Well, then it was the 720p HD video. This seems to be great stuff. I didn’t really get to test it as much as I wanted since I was to busy getting my shots with the pro houses when something really good happened, and partly because my wife wouldn’t let go of the camera. I did however get some sequences. I have never used DSLR video prior to this and I was surprised just how simple it turned out to be. Choosing the preferred settings in the camera, press LV button and start filming (centre button on main wheel). The contrast autofocus on the AF-ON button was smooth and not jumping around as I would expect from a DSLR. I think Nikon defiantly have pulled it of with this focusing system. Unfortunately I didn’t get any great stuff for you to see, but I have attached a sequence of Lion cubs on a Wildebeest prey. The file is uncut straight of the camera and is taken under difficult lighting conditions. The animals are in the shade from a rather hard after noon sun.

PS! Press the HD button to see the true quality if the file output.

I am hoping to try the video function a bit more before I have to return the camera. I would like to see how the autofocus performs with moving waders on migration. Hopefully I have something more for you next week.

If I would have to conclude I must say that the D300s is a brilliant DX semi-pro DSLR that obviously is easy to use (according to my wife) and that delivers dynamic image files, and I wish my D3 could take HD video.

NOTE! Press on the images to see the 1400px version of the files.

Kenya images

2009-09-21T23:44:00.006+02:00

It is taking some time to get through all my images from Kenya, but as a lot of people are asking me about my pictures I thought I would share just a couple of images showing typical big predators of the savanna, Cheetah, Lion, Leopard and Hyena. I also added a Tawny Eagle landing I was quit happy with. Hope you like them. My field review of the D300S will appear shortly.

Just chilling out

2009-09-15T08:55:00.005+02:00

This has been one of the most memorable trips I have ever done! Kenya has given me so much good light, wildlife and friends I don't know where to begin. Together with my wife, I have been experienced the droughts of Amboseli, the Black Rhinos of Ol Pejeta and of course the Great migration and big cats of Masai Mara. I am still enjoying this beautiful country, but now more as a holiday on the southern coast of Kenya at the Pinewood Village beach resort. It sure is nice to catch up on some sleep and just hang around like the cute Lion cub above, but we are already longing back to the simple life in the bush. Well, I just wanted to give you a short update, and will return with my experience with the D300s in the field, the RedGed tripods and of course some more images.

On my way to Africa

2009-09-03T19:20:00.006+02:00

As the Common Cuckoo, Cuculus canorus, I am flying to Africa, or more accurately Kenya. This will be my first trip to this Mecca for wildlife photography. Together with my wife I will be visiting Amboseli, Ol Pajeta and Masai Mara national parks. This is truly a dream come true, and we just can't wait to go.

On this trip I'll be carrying the whole lot from Nikon from 14-500mm and both D3 and D3X. As a bonus in the bag I packed the brand new D300s to test it in the field, and hopefully try out the HD video recording on some large predator action. I am hoping to show you the result upon my return at the end of September. I will also bring a new line of tripods, specially made for lightweight travelling. Together with Stavanger Foto I am trying out the RedGed carbon traveller series and also the monopod. First impression is that these are very sturdy for their light weight, and they do pack well into the already full bag. We will see how they work in the field.

Cheers for now!

September wallpaper

2009-08-31T22:03:00.004+02:00

The September free wallpaper is now available from my website. Please enter and download at www.wildphoto.no

The image show a lake in northern Finland near Kuusamo. I took the picture on my trip up there last September. I was invited to have a talk at the Nature 2008 festival in Kuusamo. What a great experience, where I met a lot if brilliant people.

Hope you like it!

Fresh Martens

2009-08-30T21:25:00.004+02:00

My fourth day in my Pine Marten hide was finally a good day. After a couple of hours the first Marten showed, but it was nervous and left shortly after. After another hour a new animal came in to feed of the honey I left for them. He stayed a little longer and gave me some pictures to take home. He even came back half an hour later for another go :-) Then a third Marten decided to join in on the meal and I had my fourth visit in only four hours.

Finally I got him up close and by the tree I wanted. I went for the short end on my 70-200mm and included some landscape before getting a few portraits of this cute little girl (I think it is...).

Nice to eventually succeed!

Signing books

2009-08-29T00:22:00.004+02:00

Saturday 29th of August I'll be signing books at Sola Bokhandel in Sola together with text writer Gunnar Henriksen. We will be signing from 11:00 until later that day... To get your signed copy of the Kjør book, come to Sola on this day.

We still have quit a few copies of the Kjør book on Grey Seals so please contact to get your signed copy.

For those of you interested I have less then 200 copies left of the Exotic Rogaland book from 2006 left. To get your signed copy please contact me.