Wildlife
It is the adventure of wildlife photography, the magic of the unknown, and the hidden beauty of nature, that have been taking me to the most beautiful places on earth for many years. With my camera, I try to capture these unique moments to tell a story. Every nature image is an emotional image of myself and a reminder to life in the moment. My passion is to bring this beauty of nature photography to people through Wildlife Photography Safaris and workshops.
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- Showdown in the Kalahari desert after mating.
- A fresh born baby elephant (Loxodonta africana) spotted from the helicopter in the Okanvango Delta.
- Common dolphins (Delphinus capensis) playing and jumping in the waves. The behavior is still not 100% understood by scientists, but it is believed that the animals use the waves for pure pleasure.
- An amazing male leopard (Panthera pardus) relaxing on a heated rock in Savuti Nationalpark, Botswana. Finding the animal by tracking the footprints took us a couple of hours.
- The game reserve Savuti in Botswana, is known for their elephant hunting lions. In this image a matriarch african elephant (Loxodonta africana) is shielding her calf for almost an hour from the pride. When the lions finally retreated, she took off running. I decided for a slower shutter to get creativity into this picture.
- Red Lechwe (Kobus leche) is a semiaquatic anthelopes that is found in the Okavango Delta. Very often you can find them on small islands surrounded by water, which protects them from surprise attacks of carnivors. Image photographed from the helicopter.
- A cheetah family (Acinonyx jubatus) cuddling in the rain in the central Serengeti. The mother of four, is an incredible hunter. Although her cubs are older, she is still supplying all of them with meat. With that size of a family, every 5th to 6th hunt has to be successful.
- Juvenile leopard (Acinonyx jubatus) looking directly into my lense.
- Elephants (Loxodonta africana) crossing from an island to another one in the Okanvango Delta.
- Male chacma baboon (Papio ursinus) facing down and feeding on a rodent. During that moment I tried to capture the symmetry in the face of the baboon.
- Elephants are majestic animals who desperately need our protection due to the enormous ivory demand and poaching. For this images I went to extremes. I layed down on the ground and waited for 45 minutes until the bull accepted and approached me up to 1 meter. My heart was pumping.
- The stronger it rains, the closer these lions moved together. By the looks this small pride consists out of one female and 3 males.
- When there is no water to find, elephants deviate miles from their normal pathways, to go to waterholes built artificially for those specific circumstances.
- Elephants (Loxodonta africana) photographed from the helicopter in the Okavango Delta. The river system in the Okavango Delta is mainly influenced by the pathways of the elephants and hippos (Hippopotamus amphibius).
- Andean flamingos photographed at the laguna Colorada in the Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia.
- Fully grown male lion (Panthera leo) overlooking the valley in the Maasai Mara.
- Cheetah family resting after an unsuccessful hunt in the central Serengeti, Tansania.
- Fully grown male lion photographed in the Kalahari, Botswana.
- Elephants crossing islands in the Okavango Delta.
- Giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis giraffa) running away from a pride of lions in the Okavango Delta. Escaping the predators through the water, gives the cloven-hooved animals an huge advantage. Although I was very close to the scenery, the animals did not take any notice of my existence.
- Kermode Bear (Ursus americanus kermodei) or spirit bear, as the locals call it, is a rare subspecies of the black bear (Ursinus americanus). From Telegrave Cove, our expedition led us into the inlets of the main land, where you get the chance to see the bears from a boat.
- Family time in the Maasai Mara. A not yet fully grown male plays with his younger pride members. The exact relationship is unknown.
- Namib Desert, close to Sossusvlei, NamibiaThe unreal and astonishing landscape literally blows your mind when visiting Namibia. One early morning Jonas, my local guide and myself went out on a game drive. We stopped at the first big sand dune, which was also called dune one. After walking on the soft sand, we spotted an Oryx. Oryx is a genus consisting of four large anthelope species. Three of them are native to arid parts of Africa, and the fourth to the Arabian Peninsula. I was far away from the Oryx, which was standing on the edge of the dune. The wind blew in my direction. I had the chance to approach closer. When I had the feeling that the distance was good enough for shooting on the 500mm lense, I ducked away behind a bush. I focused on the Oryx when out of a sudden the animal began to race down the dune. I could not believe the amazing scene, which revealed itself in front of my eyes. The camera clicked. Up to this date I could not think of any reason why the Oryx decided to run down the dune. Maybe something frightened the animal from the other side. Another option, and that's my personal favorite opinion, the animal ran down because of pure enjoyment.
- Lions, (Panthera leo) are one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera and a member of the family Felidae. You can find them in many African countries, although poaching has diminished, their population drastically declines. They are now stated as vulnerable according to the IUCN 2013.In Namibia however you can see lions in a healthy number. The Ongava Game Reserve is predestined for lions. This particular game drive started as usual. Heavy and uneven roads, lot of dust, but no predators. The confidence however was up high to see them. After some radio calls from our guide, he changed the direction of the car and raced towards a small forest. Suddenly we saw a huge pride of lions relaxing in the evening sun. They were snoozing on the warm soil. One hour later, a sudden movement. One lion turned from the left side to the right side. But only few minutes after the 180 degree turn, a fully grown lioness stood up and ran. Within 30 seconds, all other females followed, leaving the cubs behind. It was too difficult to follow them through the thick forest and so we had to wait and watched the cubs, which was phenomenal as well. After 40 minutes the lions returned, blood tripping from their faces. They were successful. Driven by the exhaustion of the hunt, they went straight to an artificial pond, to satisfy their need for water. Meanwhile it was absolutely dark. Our guide switched on the spotlight. I positioned my camera on the window of the car to stabilize it, as I had to shoot with a slow shutter speed. This was the moment when one lioness looked up and had eye contact with me. It happened to be the most extraordinary lion sighting I have ever had.
- This image was taken in the Maasai Mara, Kenya during my photography safari with guests.I recall that this particular day was a silent one compared to others. We drove around and saw the typical suspects of the Mara. Lions sleeping, Zebras eating and anthelopes being stressed as always. However we spotted a few vultures in the air and I thought it is worth it to check it out. Usually vultures are great indicators for dead animals. We reached the scene and immediately we saw the dead buffalo and hyenas busy eating.Further to the left we spotted a female lion, but she kept a safe distance between her and the hyenas. They were just too many. Amazed by the scenery we noticed that more and more vultures came from all directions. At one point we counted more than 50 birds in the sky. In the beginning the vultures kept their distance to the dead buffalo and hyenas but as more birds landed the less scared they seemed. They slowly approached the buffalo and hyenas. 5m, 3m, 2m and now the birds started picking meat junks out of the deceased animal. The hyenas seemed to allow the vultures to feast with them. But maybe one vulture was too cheeky and accidentally approached a hyena to close. The hyena started to chase away the vulture trying to grab it. The vulture was fortunately quick enough to escape the deadly grip of the hyena's jaw. Soon after this incident the entire carcass was covered with vultures and the hyenas retreated.
- A bloat of Hippos (Hippopotamus amphibius) resting during the hot day in the refreshing Boro river in the Okavango Delta.
- Lions, (Panthera leo) is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera and a member of the family Felidae. You can find them in many African countries, although poaching has diminished their population drastically. They are now stated as vulnerable according to the IUCN 2013.I was on assignment for Wilderness Safaris in Namibia when I came across desert lions in the Palmwag Concession, Etendeka Mountains. I was extremely lucky that day, as desert lions are known to be rare. The pride consisted out of two subadult males and four females. They where lying on the ground, relaxing, and taking a sunbath to warm up from the cold night. Movement was barley seen. It was a waiting game. Then a lioness lying 100m away from the others decided to walk towards the bigger group. Suddenly all three lions looked up to the left from where the other lion was coming. After scanning the area they turned their heads towards our car. That was the moment when I got eye contact with the animals. My camera clicked and I managed to capture the elusive desert lions in a way, that the shot reminds me of Cerberus, an ancient greek mythical creature with three heads.
- The Africa Fisheagle (Haliaeetus vocifer) hunting for fish during the last sunrays in the Delta, Botswana.
- A solitary male Red Lechwe (Kobus leche) looking up in the sky, which gave me the opportunity to take this shot from the helicopter.
- A herd of elephants strolling towards the Mara river, Maasai Mara, Kenya.
- Oryx is a genus consisting of four large antelope species. Three of them are native to dry parts of Africa, and the fourth to the Arabian Peninsula. I took this shot while being close to Sossusvlei, Namibia. The elusive landscape with its shapes and dunes are a photographer’s paradise. The open valley and depth is another factor for great images.
- During my research year in Botswana, I was fortunate to witness first hand the relationship and social behavior of Chacma Baboons (Papio ursinus). The new born called Pandora, was the offspring from Palm, a third ranking female in the troops hierarchy. Unfortunately tragic circumstances occurred and Pandora did not survive the moths of the great flood. However this image is very much alive in my head.
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Wildlife
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