Wrapped in layers of clothes I am laying on my stomach, watching a large group of longhaired beasts, that seemed to be from a prehistoric world. The wind has picked up in the course of the night to 40 miles and hour. It whips up the mountain sides and sweeps up small ice crystals that hit my skin like needles. In different areas blowing snow becomes thick and travels across the ground like a ghost of fog.

As parts of my face start to get colder and want to turn numb; and my hands can’t handle my camera anymore, I am thinking how lucky I am to be hit with this weather. It is these types of conditions, that I was hoping for. In my photography I really want to convey a sense of place – take people out into the field with me. For that, my images need to convey the harsh weather conditions, the powerful elements of the wind and the cold.

I am laying on the ground to get a unique perspective. The blowing snow creates this mystical atmosphere and ads to my interpretation of an animal that rather belongs to a children’s fairytale than to this world. I also have learned that the Muskoxen are much less mindful of my presence if I stay low to the ground. They often just eye me with curiosity.

As I am out there observing them many hours a day, I become ever more fascinated. What puzzles me the most is how they can live of a few lichen on the barren tundra, that they scratch up from underneath the snow. How can they possibly receive sufficient energy from this bit of vegetation to withstand constant arctic winter conditions?

What gets me even more, is that I seem to always find them on the most exposed and windy spots on the mountain sides and hilltops. They appear completely indifferent to the wind and the cold. It becomes obvious how well they have adapted to their environment. Their wool apparently has 6 times the insulating qualities of regular wool. No wonder they stay warm.

I am wrapped in several layers of underwear, polar fleece and outer shells that keep me warm. I had never paid much attention to high-tech clothes in the past. Part of that was probably the price tag: out of reach for a broke photographer who spends all of his money on camera gear. This time around however, I had received a sample of Patagonia´s winter clothes. I have to say I was totally impressed. The combination of inside layers and outer shells completely kept any wind from getting to me. It allowed me to hang out with the muskox patiently waiting for those special moments that make up a great image.

I have been asked to provide our most striking wildlife image from last year. I wanted to ask around to get a more neutral approach, because I have fallen in love with all of this ones. So I thought writing a blog post might be the best way!

So I just need to know, from your perspective which ones from the following images, you think is the most striking wildlife shot!

Please try to be as selective as possible, that way I already can see what is worth sending and whit what I can spare some time.  If it gets published, I will let you know :0) Just click on the comments below, and you will find a form to send me the # number of your favorite image.

Thanks for your help! Here are the images:

#1 Caribou migration from the air. Alaskan Arctic:

#2 Aerial perspective of Murres swimming over icy waters. Alaskan Arctic.

#3 Munk’s Devil Ray congregation. Baja, Mexico.

#4 Ringed Seals resting over ice caps. Alaskan Arctic.

#5 Aerial perspective of two huge Fin whales launch feeding. Baja, Mexico.

#6 A wild mexican female jaguar patrols her territory close to Calakmul Biosphere Reserve,  Mexico.

click on comments below and send me the # number of your favorite shot! Thanks for your help! My deadline is next Monday

Grizzly on the coastal planes in the Alaskan Arctic

Hey everybody…….

I know I have been promising to write about my arctic aerial expedition. To tell you the truth, I am in kind of restless state where my thoughts are all over the place right now. The experience that I had in the arctic was so incredible. Some of the impressions were so profound, that I feel I cannot express it in a blog that I just write in a few minutes. I need to find a little more space first.

To get an idea of the vast arctic landscape touched me deeply. To see caribous by the hundred thousands was a long life dream of mine, that became reality in wonders that I hardly dared to imagine. I am aware that I see the last truly wild and wide ranging animals on this continent. I saw not caribou – I saw a larger organism: The herd as a whole.

I have some very difficult issues to go through right now and it is interesting how the landscape and the ancient rhythm of nature gave me not only a sense of place of being at home in nature and on this planet, but it also seemed to balance out some of the different realities we are living in. Nature is something very grounded, something pure and real. It gave me perspective. Maybe these are my spiritual moments. A friend just said to me: “When you are out there in wilderness – your are at church, Florian!” So much on this planet is full of wonder. I am fascinated to observe the interconnectedness of the natural world and to document some of the special moments I witness. It is a deep passion that seems to guide my life.

In our modern lives we are immersed in a very changed environment. Our realities change from city to city,work place,  friends, peer groups and family. It is our sense of perception and those influences. If one spends more time in nature it seems one can find more to one`s self.

Up in the arctic I immersed myself into a world apart. When this grizzly wondered down towards the riverbed he stood tall catching his balance, I felt welcome to wilderness.

So be patient with me. I will write about this incredible adventure of witnessing the caribou, seals on the ice and the polar bear…… hopefully soon!

The July issue of Outdoor Photographer has a wonderful story on my ongoing Freedom to Roam project on North America`s western seabord from Baja California to the Beaufort sea (B2B) in the arctic. The article gives a great overview of my conservation photography project focusing on wildlife corridors. Take a look at the magazine to see the images in print and read the great story OP has put together in their series on the environment!

Get the July issue of OP to see the story in Freedom to Roam II in print

Grizzly country of the Glacier-Waterton International Peace Park

There is nothing that gives more to the sense of place of wilderness, than the presence of a grizzly bear. Imagine the Rocky Mountain landscape without the great bear. It is, as if the landscape has lost part of its soul. Most of the western states have suffered this fate. Grizzlies have lost over 90% of their former range. Now their most important enclave in the lower 48 is at stake. It is the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park and the adjacent Flathead River Valley, that conservationists have been trying to protect for years.

Encounters with the King of the Mountains

Rocky Mountain Grizzly in the alpine meadows of the Glacier-Waterton International Peace Park

FROM MY BOOK: YELLOWSTONE TO YUKON – FREEDOM TO ROAM:

” ….I was sitting on a high alpine slope, looking over mountain lakes and ranges. It was a peaceful September day. Flocks of migrating water pipits fluttered by, filling the air with their soft calls, while golden eagles shot through the skies above me, arching in acrobatic grace. It was late afternoon, and slowly the mountain cast a shadow of blue light over me. I had been on that alpine ridge for days, waiting for something to happen. I was watching a large bighorn sheep when I noticed that it had become quite alert. I turned my head, following the direction of its gaze. My eyes met with those of

a silver-tipped grizzly.

It was as if the mountain wall had simply given birth to the grizzly—it appeared that quickly and silently from out of the blue light. In a single instant, it seemed the whole mountain came alive, vibrating with anticipation. In awe I sat there, watching the magnificent creature digging for roots. I knew he was aware of my presence—the wind had long since carried my scent over to him. Slowly the bear came closer, and everything seemed to fall into a hush. Silence filled the place, as if the whole world was

holding its breath, watching the king of the mountains enter the stage . . .”  —F.S. 

Imagine the American West without the grizzly bear. THE WEST is a great part of America`s history and identity. It needs to keep the symbol of the west alive. This struggle over Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park goes far beyond the status of ” A PARK IN DANGER”. It is about the WILDLIFE GATEWAY between the USA and Canada. The Flathead River Valley can be seen as a “Wildlife Superhighway”, where moose, wolves, grizzlies, black bears, lynx and wolverine move across political border as well as in and out of protection. Such north-south running valleys are extremely rare and the Flathead is one of a kind that still offers wild-land qualities that animals depend on. 

Get involved and send your message to the Canada’s Minister of the Environment. We need to protect this place for the grizzlies! If you have not already read some more about the issue on my blog: Canada selling out World Treasures!

Y2Y Wildlife Corridors Book

My book: Yellowstone to Yukon – Freedom to Roam has a wonderful collection of essays by Dr. David Suzuki, Douglas Chadwick, Karsten Heuer, David Quammen, Rick Bass, Ted Kerasote and other great contributors, that look at the dream of a interconnected ecosystem with functioning wildlife corridors from many different angles. 

Get the BOOK

.. is undoubtably one of the most important tools in wildlife photography. While sometimes it seems one may be waisting ones time, I have learned that if one give into the waiting game, animals start to present themselves: You discover a little birds nest nearby, you observe a fox that does its daily round to mark its territory – and if you are lucky the moment you are waiting for may come true. Some of the best images in my career happened after such long hours of waiting. 

Snowy Owl returns to the nest to feed the female and chicks. Nikon D3, 500mm/f4 AF-I

After 72 hours this was won of the “golden” moments that made all the waiting worth while. Emil and I had scoped out a good nesting location of the snowy owls. It was a great Lemming year and there were many active nests near the town of Barrow in the northern most tip of Alaska. After acquiring permission to set up a blind the waiting game began. 

Wishful thinking

While I can loose my patience quickly with stuff that “unnecessarily” takes a long time, I can have the patience of an elephant after I get “hocked” on the idea of an image. Often I make different scenarios up in my mind. It becomes a collection of imaginary moments of whishful thinking. These thoughts nourish my desire to wait for those moments to materialize. 

Believe me. There are many times when I have waited for nothing. But the times when a wonderful image came out of it make the wait all worth it. In my career some of the best images came out of such stubbornness, where I just did not want to give up on the image. 

I loved the many hours out on the tundra with the owls. There was so much to see and listen to.

Observations

Owl mother settling her downs around the chicks

I quickly learned about the hunting pattern of the male, that would sit guard some 150 yards from the nest. He occasionally would fly from mount to mount to switch out his perches from where he would hunt the lemmings.
The female would have the responsibility over the nest. She needed to keep the chicks and the last remaining egg warm.

But even she did get anxious once in a while. She had been sitting on this nest for  many weeks, through rain and snow and the daily harassment of the jaegers.
If a long time had passed where the male had not brought in any food, she seemed to try to motive him for the hunt with longing calls. Then when the male finally arrived after a successful hunt, she would change her calls to a kind of ongoing “purring” sound to encourage him to pass over the food. 

Male arrives at the nest with a lemming

It was her job to feed the chicks. I watched the male try once in an helpless effort to stuff a whole lemming into the mouth of a chick. He quickly gave up though, just dropped the little rodent and took off for its perch again.

WHAT IS YOUR PATIENCE REWARD STORY ?