Nikon D300, 155 mm, F/4.0, 1/2500 s, 200 iso

Last year the 1ste Nature Images Award was held in France. This is an international contest organized by the French nature magazine Terre Sauvage and the UICN (the world’s largest environmental organization). The first prize was won by National Geographic photographer Steve Winter. And I won a third prize in the mammal category with one of my alpine marmot images. A nice beginning of the year! On the website www. natureimagesawards.com you can see the winning images. Also soon there will be an publication of my marmot images in a internationally well known magazine. Soon more about this nice publication….

Nikon D300, 270 mm, F/7.1, 1/250 s, 800 iso

In recent years I visited Borneo twice and was deeply impressed by the beautiful rainforest with her many exceptional animals. But the look in the eyes of the Orang-utan at the picture is one I will never forget. From his cage, he had a view of the rainforest, his rainforest! But now, sitting in a cage, his habitat is limited to a few square meters. How sad! And also sad is how quickly the rainforest disappears. Scientist have calculated that most likely over 10 years no more orangutans are living in the wild. Then we find them only in cages, such as the Orang-utan in this picture.

As a photographer I have affiliated with Orangutan Outreach Netherlands who supported the work of Willie Smits. Willie is one of the leading conservationists in the world and leading several major project like the project DeforestAction. National Geographic US is making a movie of this project. Currently Willie accompanied Crown Princess Gusti Pembayun during a trip in Europe. She is the eldest daughter of the Sultan of Yogyakarta/Indonesia and also president of the Conservation Foundation Yogyakarta. At this moment she visits the Netherlands to raise awareness for the DeforestAction project.

Nikon D300, Nikon 2.8/70-200 op 200mm, iso 400, f/5.6, s 1/500

After a busy period with workshop in Autumn, I thought it would be a quieter time. But the opposite is true. What a rush! One of the projects I’m working on is a book assignment and the deadline is in sight. More news about this book next year. The new workshop dates are also on the workshoppage.

The last period in the Netherlands we had some heavy storms. During one of those days I walked through the floodplain area Millingerwaard. The strong winds lashed the water and created a beautiful structure. A pair of Mute swans drew about anything and they swam against the strong wind. A moment later, lots of rain fell from a dark sky.

Nikon D300, Tamron 90 mm, F/11, S 1/3, iso 400, tripod, flash.

Last Friday, the winners were announced from this prestigious contest. The jury had a tough job with less than 14.000 entries form 38 countries. And my termites picture had won the first prize in the category “other animals”. I still have a big smile on my face. My girlfriend Misja also won a prize in the plants category. Here is the story behind my image.

In 2010 my girlfriend Misja and I visited the Malaysian part of Borneo: Sarawak. During a trip through the jungle of Kubah National Park we discovered a Waggler Pit Viper, a poisonous snake. And as you know: ladies first! So Misja had the first snake shoot. When I patinetly waited I saw a few yards away a huge colony of termites. To emphasize the movement I shot this image with a slow shutter speed. The soldiers, on both sides, were protecting the colony and didn’t move. Also curious about the snake image. Just take a look at the Borneo gallery.

Nikon D300, Nikon 70-200 mm op 110mm, iso 320, f/5.6, 1/4000, EV-1.7

Last summer I visited the largest national park in Austria: HoheTauern NP. Besides photography of the alpine flora, insects and landscapes also the alpine marmots were a daily topic. Near a visitor center, at an altitude of 2369 meters, the marmots are accustomed to people. It was wonderful opportunity for all sorts of behaviors to observe, but one of the best moments was  playtime moment. Marmot overlapping diving, running, and as a sort of sumowrestlers trying to push down each other. Well I could not restrain the laughter but luckily I also have photographed some of this funny moments.

Orangutan Outreach Netherlands holds on sunday 9 october its annual day in Primate Park “ the Apenheul”. There are several interesting lectures including one lecture of Willie Smits. I will also give a presentation on Borneo. Hope to see you! Follow this link to more information: click here