Svalbard expedition 2013
“This was the best holiday of my life”, I heard one of the participants say. For two years I had planned this expedition to the northern parts of Svalbard. I was so grateful to have brought such a motivated group of photographers on board of our vessel, the MS Origo.
Japan in winter
When my buddy Ben Cranke invited me to join him on his Japan trip, I did not doubt for a second! He knew where we needed to be since he’d already spent a month in Hokkaïdo. The plan was to start with the snow macaques in Jigokudani and then fly to the island north of Honshu, Hokkaïdo. That’s the place to be to photograph red-crowned cranes, whooper swans and white-tailed and Steller’s eagles.
Eagles in the snow
I can’t seem to get enough of eagles. They keep fascinating me, even after I’ve already spent so many successful days in hides, observing and photographing them from a close distance. When I heard about a place in Poland were about 30 birds came to feed on carrion that was provided for them, I needed to check it out.
Bonelli’s eagles for Christmas please …
As is my tradition, I escaped the festivities again last Christmas (sorry, family!). This time, I went to Spain with my friend Bas to photograph some eagles. The perfect country for nature photographers in search of peace and quiet during these overly celebrated days.
Commended picture in the Veolia competition 2012
Very happy to announce that my picture of the red-breasted geese was selected as a Commended Picture in the prestigious Veolia BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition! The image was taken with a Nikon D3x and a 600mm F 4 VR lens at the Black Sea Coast in February of 2012. Here’s the story behind the picture.
Hungary colours
Presenting today: a colourfull collection of images I took in Hungary in June, mainly taken from fixed hides. June isn’t really the best time to shoot birds. The temperatures can rise very quickly in the morning, causing hard light and making the birds inactive during the biggest part of the day. It got really hot, and sleeping wasn’t on the menu!
Great snipes
Imagine you’re sitting in a small, low hide, with your knees up to your neck. You’re on a flooded bog that’s sinking deeper into the water every hour and sunset kicks in. You’re alone in an open river valley, far away from civilisation. All alone, except for some elks and roe deer splashing around in the marshes and a background choir of stunning bird species: river warblers, corncrakes, whinchats, rosefinches, woodcocks and wood-warblers …
Jump, jump, jump!
This Little bustard gave a wonderful performance, just in front of my hide in the drylands of Spain. At the climax point of their display, they seem to explode, and lift of for one meter in the air, making some strange prrrt noises…
Norway Spring: black grouse and capercaillie
Springtime! It’s like a daily party for us nature-photographers. But springtime in Scandinavia must be the biggest party! Two elusive birds start to show up and perform a spectacular display in the midst of ancient forests and bogs: the huge capercaillie and the noisy black grouse.
Great grey owls in Finland
Years ago, when I was camping alone in a big forest in Sweden to photograph black grouses, some deep whooo’s woke me up in the middle of the night. I had never seen great grey owls in the wild before, but knowing there was one not far from my tent made me shiver. These are the moments in nature you never forget. I happily fell back asleep and tried to find the owl in the morning, but without any success. It would take me until last week to finally see this bird, when I travelled to northern Finland.