Squiver News - Marsel van Oosten and Daniella Sibbing | Photography tours and workshops

Copyright infringement is an issue...

2012-01-25T04:12:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately there are media that use images without the permission of photographers. When you see an image and there is no reference to a copyright (to a stock agency or the name of a photographer), alarm bells should start ringing. Because in 99% of the cases it won't be a mistake by the printer, but a deliberate copyright infringement.

I am fortunate that many of my images are known by people around the world, and that they recognize them as mine when they see them.

Thanks to observant readers, I sometimes get emails asking whether an image they saw in their local media is indeed a legit use of my image, as they did not see my credits. This time, it was in an Australian newspaper, but unfortunately it is not the first time this has happened. Nor will it be the last. So please, keep your eyes open and let's look out for each others images in the media (also on the web). Because it is something that should be important to everyone who loves photography.

Review: Markins Q20 Ballhead

2012-01-24T06:17:00.000-08:00

A little bit of history: the M20

Seven years ago I wrote my first review on the Markins M10 ballhead. Shortly after that I upgraded to the M20, and I have been using it ever since. It is still in perfect working condition, and my guess is that it will easily outlive me. From the moment I turned pro a couple of years ago, the M20 has been used and abused almost daily in various ballhead-hostile locations all over the planet.

The Markins M20 on a Gitzo GT3530LSV

Each year in february I lead a photo workshop in Japan, where we photograph in sometimes seriously cold conditions, often with snow, and this is a recipe for disaster with many ballheads. Low temperatures can cause the ball to 'stick', turning it into a completely useless metal ornament on top of your tripod. Snow and sleet can make things even worse, but the M20 has never let me down.

No matter how cold it was, the M20 always performed perfectly.

This image of sleeping whooper swans was shot on Hokkaido, Japan, in mid winter.
The M20 kept moving smoothly, my fingers did not.

Bryce Canyon, USA. I know, it looks nice and sunny, and I'm smiling.

Half an hour later I was in my car trying to thaw my painful, near frost-bitten fingers.

The M20 was a lot tougher.

Earlier this year I spent over three months in the Sahara of Northern Africa; Algeria, Chad, Libya and Egypt, and later Namibia. The circumstances there were the exact opposite of those in Japan, and possibly even worse. It may come as no surprise that there is some sand in the Sahara, and photographers don't like to get it on or in their gear because we know it will cause trouble. But what can you do when there is sand everywhere, there is more dust than oxygen in the air, and when sand storms are a daily routine? With the M20 the answer is simple: you do nothing. Never did I try to protect the head from sand or dust, and it never stopped working. The tolerance in the moving parts is so small and precise, that dust and sand simply cannot get into it. Even after falling in the sand on numerous occasions, or staying outside during a sandstorm, it needed no special attention before using it again. Needless to say that I consider this one of the best investments that I have ever made. So why did I want to get the new Q20? I simply needed a second ballhead to be able to work with different setups.

The Q20

Back in 2004, my Markins ballhead was still quite exotic. Most photographers used the well-known leading brands at the time, and most of them had never heard of Markins nor seen any of their ballheads. A lot has changed since. Serious photographers all over the world now use Markins ballheads, and I regularly see them on my workshops. When I saw the first Q20, my initial response was that it hadn't changed much - which to me made perfect sense. Why change something that has already proven to be the best in its class? On closer inspection though, I noticed some interesting design changes.

The Markins Q20 on a Gitzo GT3530LSV tripod

The main knob

First, there is the knob. On my M20 the knob is made of metal with very little relief. In normal conditions this works fine, but when you're photographing with gloves on, the metal knob doesn't offer enough grip and it is difficult to unscrew and open the clamp. The new design features a slightly larger knob that has a rubber part with ribs, offering way more grip - a serious improvement in terms of handling. But also without gloves the new knob offers more grip, it doesn't get as cold, and is much easier to open and close.

The clamp

At first, the clamp on the Q20 seemed larger to me than the one on the M20, but on closer inspection they're the same size. The design has changed a little bit, making it look larger, but it isn't. The clamp now also features a spirit level. I'm not using this new feature for three reasons. First, most of my cameras have built-in spirit levels. Second, when I'm not using those, I use a small hot shoe mounted spirit level. And third, I don't really get the placement of the spirit level - it's right on top of the clamp, where the camera is going to be. That means that you first have to level the clamp, and then mount the camera. This makes very little sense to me, because I like to be able to move the camera around to fine tune my composition so I need to be able to check the spirit level constantly, and I would have to remove the camera from the head in order to do that. It doesn't bother me that it's there though, so I just ignore the little green eye.

The clamp is of the dovetail style - in my opinion the most stable connection. Markins offers a large variety of camera plates that will fit the Q20, just make sure you pick the right one for your specific camera body. Personally, I prefer to work with L-brackets. They're much larger and heavier than regular plates, but they are rock solid and never ever move one bit, they're much faster when you want to switch from horizontal to vertical and vice versa, they're better for the stability of the whole setup (you don't have to flip the head, the camera remains right on top of the center of gravity), and they offer great protection for the camera. I got mine from Kirk, but you can get them from Really Right Stuff as well.

The L-Bracket for the D3 series.

I have two of them, made by Kirk. Much better than regular plates.

Another change I noticed right away, is that the numbers around the base of the head now have little indents. I don't think it will make much of a difference, but it does look slightly better.

Interesting

When I put the M20 and Q20 next to each other, I noticed something very interesting - they're a mirror image. I can vaguely remember that you could order the M20 for right handed operation and for left handed, and apparently I have chosen the left handed version. The Q20's got everything the other way around. It's funny that I hadn't really noticed this straight away in the field, and to be honest I don't really care; I can fasten a knob with my left hand and my right hand.

The Q20 (left) and the M20 (right): mirrored versions

The Q20 with rubber grip and spirit level (left) and the M20 (right)

Numbers

But there's more - important changes that you can't see:

-Stronger: the Q20 now offers 250 kgf-cm/217 lbf-in of torque

-Higher load capacity: Measured to be 50kg/110 lbs for a load offset of 5cm/1.97in from the center of gravity

-Lighter: the Q20 weighs only 555 g/1.22 lbs

-More efficient: The load capacity to weight ratio is 90:1

That means the Q20 is no Jaws 2, Terminator 2 or Aliens 2 - it is actually better than version 1.0

In the field

So how did it perform in the field? The first trip that I used the new head on, was our Namibia workshop. Dusty, dry air, and lots of sand. In a desert environment you'll notice pretty soon if you're working with professional quality equipment - if not, it will just stop working. The Q20 worked just as I expected. As a matter of fact, I often didn't even know which head I was shooting with, my trusty M20 or the new Q20. On numerous occasions I crawled through tiny windows in a deserted diamond mining town in the Namib desert, dragging the tripod and the Q20 through the sand. No problems there. As with my Gitzo tripod, I never bothered to clean the head, as it didn't seem necessary. It's just great to use gear that you can totally rely on. However, there was this one cold morning that the head started to 'stick'. It would move smoothly when moving the clamp in large and fast movements, but it would stick when trying to make small adjustments. This was really annoying, because it slowed me down when the light was good and I missed a couple of shots fiddling around with the friction control, trying to get things back to normal again. When I got back home, I realized I hadn't bothered to read the small leaflet that came with the Q20, which said that I should add some WD-40 to the ball to prevent this from happening. After I had done that, the problem disappeared.

How low can you go? Pretty low with the Q20 flipped sideways,

connected to the vertical part of the L-bracket on my D3s.

Nikon D3s with AF-S 14-24/2.8 on the Markins Q20, mounted on a dolly.

Dust was the prime ingredient here, but the Q20 kept working flawlessly - also after the shoot.

The second big test case was Antarctica. And below freezing temperatures, sea water and snow were just the right circumstances for it. On most of the landings, my camera gear was all packed in my Kiboko camerabag, except for the tripod and Q20. We used zodiacs to transport us from the ship to the shore, and the Gitzo/Markins combo got baptized by the ocean on more than one occasion - the sea can be pretty choppy at times. The M20 could handle salt water pretty well, so I figured the Q20 should be able to deal with it as well. And it did. I have never bothered to get the salt water from my Gitzo and M20, and I haven't with the Q20 either. It just kept on working after each landing, even during the odd snow storm. The Q20 passed the test.

Antarctica. Salt water is no problem for the Gitzo, icy cold temperatures are no problem for the Q20.

Even the King penguin chicks on South Georgia were very impressed

when they saw the D3 and AF-S 200-400/4.0 VR II mounted on a Q20.

In terms of rigidity and stability, I didn't notice any differences either. I had brought my 200-400/4 to Antarctica, and with the D3s attached, this is not a light combination. However, with the Q20, setting the right amount of friction takes just a few seconds and it works like a charm. The only thing that's important when working like this, is to tighten the tripod collar on the lens or you won't be able to smoothly move the camera/lens combo. And it's critical to set the right amount of friction, or your combo will flip over and topple the whole tripod. I have used my 600/4 on several occasions with the M20, with and without a Wimberley Sidekick, and I am certain that it will work just as well with the Q20. It might not be ideal, but it works. If space or weight is an issue, it's nice to know you leave some excess metal at home.

Not so great

What else is there to say about the Q20? Well, in my review on the M10 I wrote that I would like the panning knob to not only have a friction mechanism, but also a locking one. When you attach the head to your tripod a bit too enthusiastically, it can sometimes be very difficult to get it off again, especially in cold weather. You need to tighten the panning knob really hard to be able to unscrew the head from the tripod base, but what often happens is that even a tightened panning knob doesn't provide enough friction and the entire head just slips on the base of the ballhead. The only way to remove the head from the tripod in those cases is to loosen the screw underneath the base of the tripod with the proper tool. And if you like to pan without loosening the panning knob, you can also experience the exact opposite: you can't tighten the head to the tripod base more than the friction of the panning knob allows you. This means that the head maybe turn loose as you're trying to pan without loosening the panning knob. In all these years, this problem is still not solved, even though the panning knob on the Q20 is slightly larger.

It shouldn't be too difficult or expensive to redesign the panning knob so that it can completely lock the base and prevent it from slipping, by either pushing it in or pulling it out for instance. But apparently it is, because to my knowledge other heads don't offer this either and have the same issues.

Other than that, not much, really. O, one thing though. My Gitzo tripod got blown over a couple of times on a hike on South Georgia. There were very strong winds, and the lightweight carbon fibre tripod was no match when the camera was not mounted on it. The Q20 got smashed against the rocks several times, and even though it can take a beating, I do seem to have lost the little plastic cover on the main knob. It's not a big thing because it only has a cosmetic purpose, and I should have paid more attention. It does explain why in the images above the plastic cover is missing from the main knob.

Conclusion

My final conclusion: this is one hell of a ballhead. If you're using a Markins ballhead already, this won't come as a surprise. If you're not, then you should seriously consider at least trying one. They're incredibly compact, light, smooth and rigid, and extremely reliable. There are many ballheads around to choose from, but few of them get as close to perfection as the Q20.

© Marsel van Oosten

Review: EIZO ColorEdge CG245W

2011-12-31T05:46:00.000-08:00

My first serious computer monitor was a LaCie Electron Blue IV, an incredibly heavy, blue beast. It served me well for many years, until recently. It can no longer reach the desired brightness, so I had to start looking for an alternative.

At the time when I bought the massive LaCie CRT screen, it was one of the best monitors around. It certainly wasn't the cool way to go - that would have been the flat screens - but if you wanted to see true, solid blacks instead of mere dark grays, a CRT screen was your only option. LCD monitors were regarded as lacking the color accuracy required for photography professionals, and if you wanted to get true black and high contrast, an old school CRT monitor it was.

My old set up with the LaCie ElectronBlue IV. The device on the left is my DroboPro.

If you care about your images, you need to care about your monitor. All too often I hear about photographers that spend thousands of dollars on cameras and lenses, and almost like an afterthought, they buy a third rate display that isn't capable of correctly showing the images they've captured.

If you want to fully appreciate all the colors and tones of your images, you need a good monitor, just like you need a good camera and good lenses.

But that's not all. If you want to make sure that what you see on your screen is actually how things are supposed to look, and how others will see your images, you also need to calibrate your screen. If you're working on an uncalibrated screen, your digital image won't reproduce faithfully in print, and they'll also look different when viewed on other displays.

From early on I've always been aware of the importance of a calibrated monitor, so I bought the best hardware calibration device available at that time: the i1 Monitor by Gretach-Macbeth (now discontinued). It performed flawlessly, although the whole procedure was always a bit tedious as it involved attaching the device to the center of the screen with a suction cup, and fiddling around with the buttons on the display itself. After 15 minutes or so the calibration process was finished, and it's always a reassuring feeling knowing that what you're seeing on your screen is exactly what you're supposed to see.

Over the years, things have changed considerably. LCD monitors have become the mainstream choice for photographers worldwide, and CRT displays are a thing of the past. But with so many manufacturers and so many different screens - what is the right choice?

Making the right choice

There are basically three kinds of LCD panels: TN, VA and IPS.

VA stands for Vertical Alignment, TN stands for Twisted Nematic, while IPS stands for In-Plane Switching. I won't start speaking super technically here, but these technologies handle the way the liquid crystals move differently, resulting in different performance. Probably the biggest difference between the three, from the buyer’s perspective, is the price. TN displays are much cheaper compared to VA and IPS displays. Part of the reason of the higher price is the doubling of the number of transistors per pixel in displays, which uses two transistors.

If price is not an issue, then VA and IPS are the sure winners. VA and IPS displays do not suffer from color limitation problems, while many TN panels have limited color depth like 6-bit. To achieve better color reproduction, TN displays for instance use frame rate control and dithering but this can affect the sharpness of the image. VA and IPS displays can recreate a wider variation of colors without the use of dithering and is generally the desired technology for people who extensively work with digital imaging.

Another difference is the viewing angle. IPS displays have a very wide viewing angle and you can view the display from a very slanted angle while the image still retains its colors and you can still make out the figures on the screen. VA and TN displays, when viewed at an angle, begin to suffer from loss of color. The image becomes washed out, as if you are viewing the image through thick smoke. Furthermore, IPS technology is more energy efficient and environmental friendly. For me the choice was obvious: IPS.

The EIZO ColorEdge CG245W

After doing some serious research, I ended up choosing the EIZO ColorEdge CG245W.

EIZO? Who are EIZO?

Back in 2003 the EIZO ColorEdge series was the world’s first line of LCD monitors specifically targeted at graphics professionals. One year later, EIZO introduced the world’s first LCD monitor capable of reproducing the Adobe RGB color space. The image quality, long-term reliability, and innovative features of EIZO monitors have made them the products of choice for many photography professionals throughout the world.

While outsourcing production is now common practice in the monitor industry, EIZO continues to manufacture its products the same way it has throughout its over 40 year history — with its own staff at its own factories. This allows EIZO to keep close control over production quality and offer the industry’s only 5-year manufacturer’s limited warranty.

If you say color accuracy, you say EIZO.

The ColorEdge CG245W is a 24.1" (61 cm) LCD display, using a 1920x1200 IPS widescreen panel. It is also the world's first self-calibrating monitor - nice! I wanted a screen slightly larger than my old CRT, while still being able to keep my second monitor next to it for all my Photoshop palettes. I know, with a larger screen you can keep all your palettes neatly organized on the side, but I prefer to keep my main monitor as clean as possible.

Specs: http://www.eizo.com/global/iblick/spec/?id=CG245W

Unpacking

The first thing I noticed when the box was delivered, was the weight. Moving my old CRT screen took half a football team, but this box was anything but heavy.

The box. No need to call your chiropractor.

Opening the main container you have a long, flat box containing the instructions, a disc with the manual and software and the sections of the shading hood (for shielding the display from stray light and keeping image color consistent) for either horizontal or vertical monitor setup. A monitor cleaning kit is also included.

Getting the display out of the box was easy. The display itself was neatly wrapped in protective material.

Protective wrapper against damage during transportation.

Connecting the screen to my MacPro was as simple as any other device. Plug in the power cord and connect the USB cable to the computer, and voila. It was nice to see that when I turned on the computer, my desktop was immediately shown full screen, exactly filling the entire screen from edge to edge. With the LaCie this was definitely not the case and I had to spend quite some time fiddling with small buttons to adjust the screen before it would finally fill the entire space available.

And boy, does this screen look good!

The Screen

The design is simple, just the way I like it. There is a small border around the screen that houses the calibration device in the top bezel, while the bottom bezel features some small backlit menu buttons. You can dim these buttons if you prefer not to see them.

Simple and elegant design. If you like jigsaw puzzles, then you'll love assembling the hood.
The calibration device is shown in the active position here.

I ended up not using the supplied hood, because my whole set up is in a corner of my room, with no stray light coming from either side. Also, it would block part of the view of my secondary monitor, which I use for my palettes.

Backlit buttons at the bottom of the screen have 7 brightness levels and an off function.

Another nice feature that I was not used to, is the ability to adjust the height of the screen via the monitor’s “FlexStand”. The bearing-less design of the FlexStand requires very little force to make height adjustments.

The ColorEdge CG245W comes with a FlexStand that offers tilt, swivel,
90° rotation for portrait mode viewing, and height adjustment.

At the back of the screen there are two DVI-I inputs that accept both digital and analogue signals, and a single DisplayPort (digital) input. DisplayPort is your best choice if you want to make use of the 10-bit simultaneous display.* In 10-bit more than 1 billion colors are shown simultaneously, which is a whopping 64 times greater than the 16.7 million colors of a 8-bit display, and gives you much smoother color gradations. DisplayPort transmits both video and audio signals.

*Note: A graphics board and software that support 10-bit output are also necessary for 10-bit display.

On the upper left of the monitor you can find two USB 2.0 ports. I mainly use these for quick access to USB sticks and my travel backup drives.

Most of the screens you see today are of the glossy kind - both my MacBook Pro and my iPhone feature these glossy screens. They're great for vivid colors and rich black tones with high contrast ratios, but they also suffer from an incredible amount of reflections. I'm therefore happy that the ColorEdge CG245W uses a non-glare LCD. It shows 98% of the Adobe RGB (1998) color space, perfect for imaging professionals, and it has an excellent viewing angle.

You can tell that EIZO takes color accuracy very seriously indeed. Each unit is calibrated individually at their factory, and they include an Adjustment Certificate, Setup Guide and Quick Reference document with each monitor.

The Adjustment Certificate (Uniformity Data Sheet) that was taped to my monitor.

Software

The included EIZO Utility Disk contains a couple of software applications. Most important are the ColorNavigator Agent and ColorNavigator.

The ColorNavigator Agent is simply an icon in your dock that changes from blue to red when the number of hours between calibrations that you have specified has passed. By right clicking on the icon you can choose directly from any of your saved profiles.

To actually calibrate the monitor, you have to use the ColorNavigator software.

I previously used the Eye-One Match software, and although that was very easy to work with, ColorNavigator proved even simpler.

Calibration

The ColorEdge CG245W features a unique built-in calibration sensor that is housed in the top bezel of the monitor. This sensor is about the size of a USB stick, and it swings down over the center top of the screen when calibration starts. No need for third-party calibration devices anymore, it's all included with the ColorEdge CG245W.

When starting the calibration procedure, the built-in calibration device swings down.

The ColorNavigator software makes calibration a real breeze. When you open ColorNavigator, a window appears asking you to select the calibrating device. The built-in calibrator is simply called 'Built-In' and it appears as the default choice.

After hitting ok, the second window appears. When opening the software for the first time, you have two choices: a profile for photography and graphic design, and a profile for printing. Choose one and click next.

Apart from using the two factory profiles, you can also add your own profiles.
I fine-tuned the photography profile by increasing the brightness level to 100cd/m2,
and I created an sRGB profile.

The third screen offers some last minute reminders before the calibration process starts. Hit proceed and calibration begins.

The whole process took only a couple of minutes. At the end of the procedure another window appears, showing the results of your calibration. Simply save the profile, and that's it. Your new ICC profile is instantly integrated into a ColorSync managed workflow. It really couldn't be any simpler.

Or could it?

Well, one of the really cool things this monitor can do, is self-calibration. By using the OSD menu, you can schedule the ColorEdge CG245W to self-calibrate at a specific time and at specific intervals. You can even schedule the calibration to happen during the night, when your computer is shut down and you're vast asleep - pretty cool!

Conclusion

The EIZO ColorEdge CG245W is a high-end monitor for imaging professionals and all people that take color seriously. The design is great, installation and operation is simple, the screen is razor sharp and evenly lit, colors look stunning, and the calibration couldn't be easier. No cons then? A few. This monitor isn't cheap, but you get what you pay for. The User’s Manual could be improved and at times the writing is confusing. I tried the Dutch version for a minute, but that didn’t help either. Luckily, you don't really need the manual to get things to work. Once you get it to work, the calibration process works exactly the way that I described above. Fast and simple.

My final nit is a peculiar one. I noticed there is a difference between how my images look in a color-profiled environment such as Photoshop and Lightroom, and an environment that doesn't use color profiles, such as internet browsers. When preparing images for the web, I always convert them to sRGB to compensate for the fact that web browsers don't display Adobe RGB very well. The conversion to sRGB usually does the trick. On this monitor however my images look exactly how they should in a color profile environment, but they look warmer and more saturated in web browsers etc. I have contacted EIZO about this, and apparently this is the result of the monitor simply being too good - it shows much more color information than the average monitor.

I would never have thought that you can have a monitor that is too good, and I must admit that it is somewhat annoying. As a work around I have created another profile in ColorNavigator: sRGB. When viewing images outside of my color profile environment, I switch to the sRGB profile using the ColorNavigator Agent.

My new set up with the EIZO ColorEdge CG245W.

As a professional photographer though, the thing that counts more than anything else is quality. The ColorEdge CG245W is an excellent screen and it makes working on my images a real joy. Add to that the ease of use and the self-calibration, and it's clear I made the right choice.

Moon Death

2011-12-14T13:28:00.000-08:00

Deadvlei in Namibia is without a doubt one of the most surreal places on this planet, and arguably one of the most photogenic. No wonder so many landscape photographers want to visit this amazing location. As we visit Namibia every year, each time it gets more difficult for me to create truly original images of this popular spot. And that is good, because it forces me to think beyond the obvious and search for angles and lighting conditions that I haven't seen before - and believe me, I've seen them all. :-)

As almost all Deadvlei images you see are taken with sunlight, I decided to take a different approach and use the moon. We planned our visit carefully so that I could use the light of the rising moon, about two hours or so after the sun had set. The fact that the ground here is very light really helped to brighten the foreground, often a problem with night photography. Timing is very important because with very little moonlight the landscape gets too dark, shutter speeds too long and the stars become rice-shaped. Too much moon and the sky gets too bright and you won't see any stars - the scene will look like shot in daylight.

To create a better visual hierarchy and a clear focal point, I used a small flashlight to light paint the middle tree - in my opinion the prettiest and the most important one of the three. I really like the way the trees are leaning and how the little silhouetted trees in the background are neatly spread out.

>Click here for large version<

If you would like to join us on our next Namibia Untamed photo workshop and do some spectacular night photography yourself, please have a look on our website for more information, images and tour impression video clips.

New setup for the Squiver Photo Tour to Alaska in 2012

2011-12-11T13:48:00.000-08:00

We have changed the location for our Ultimate Bears photo tour in 2012, taking you to Clark National Park. We no longer have to go through Kodiak and lose valuable days; we can offer you direct flights from Anchorage or Soldotna to Lake Clark.

This amazing trip will bring you extremely close to wild brown bears, as we photograph them in their natural surroundings, with a rugged backdrop of mountains and glaciers, wild rivers and creeks. We will be staying in a very comfortable lodge, booked exclusively for our group. It is located in Lake Clark, in the middle of over four million acres of wilderness.

We offer you outstanding photographic opportunities to view the earth’s largest carnivore, roaming the wildest and most untouched habitat remaining in the world. The bears have become used to people being in the area, so they totally ignore us while we observe and photograph them. We will photograph them running after salmon, fighting over territory, feeding in the meadows, digging for clams, stealing each others catch, or as they doze, catching their breath before the action starts all over again.

We will take only 8 guests on this trip in September 2012, so don't hesitate and make your reservation now. Please click here to download a PDF with detailed information about this trip. Pictures and a video impression of the tour are available on our website.

Nikon Pro magazine cover shot

2011-12-08T14:27:00.000-08:00

Two of the snow monkey shots that won Marsel the title Nature Photographer of the Year in the US earlier this year, are now featured in the latest edition of Nikon Pro magazine. Marsel's favorite snow monkey image of the series was used on the front cover.

Click here for the original cover image (without type) at a much larger size.

The image that was used on the inside of the magazine is the same one we used in our blog post of 29 September.

Nature's Best Awards

2011-11-01T14:18:00.000-07:00

Arches NP in Utah is probably the most popular place in the world to photograph natural rock arches, but there are many other locations in this spectacular state that are just as interesting and that get much fewer visitors.

On our visit to Utah last year we came across this large hole in a rock face, and at first sight it didn't look very interesting.

When it started raining, we walked around the rock, searching for a place to shelter. When we got to the other side, we saw this huge half dome with the hole in the distance. It was a spectacular sight, but as often with scenes like this, it was hard to get a sense of scale in the photograph.

I asked Daniella to climb up to the window and stand in it, and that made all the difference. After a couple of shots the setting sun briefly peeked between the clouds and colored the rocks near the window deep red.

>Click here for large version<

We are very happy that this image was awarded a Highly Commended at this year's Nature's Best International Photography Awards.

Marsel successful in Wildlife Photographer of the Year!

2011-10-20T08:38:00.000-07:00

We're in London right now, where we attended the Veolia/BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year ceremony. Marsel's photograph 'Moonlight over Aloba' was selected from over 41,000 entries! The image was a Specially Honored winner (3rd Prize) in the Wild Places category.

We already arrived in London the day before yesterday, where Marsel was interviewed for ITV television. Later that day there was a meet and greet with all the other winners at the Natural History Museum.

Marsel had promised himself to never ever wear a tuxedo, but the awards ceremony seemed a good reason to break that promise.

>Click here for large version<

The awarded photograph was shot at night in the Ennedi region in eastern Chad, close to the border with Sudan. We had timed our visit there with a good amount of moonlight to be able to use it as the main light source, while at the same time still be able to see some stars. There is no light pollution in this region (we never even saw another vehicle during our three week expedition), and full moon would have been way too bright.

This natural rock arch is over 120 meters high and one of the prettiest we have ever seen and photographed. It is also one of the most remote large arches in the world. We had to drive through the Sahara for three full days to reach this area, and it was not a pleasant drive. In the end it was all worth it though, because we've been able to photograph places that have never been photographed or even visited before.

This image is available as a Limited Edition print only. If you're interested, please drop us an email.

D3s, AF-S 24-70/2.8, 25s @ f/2.8, ISO 1600

Presentation at Belgium Digital LITE

2011-10-12T01:52:00.000-07:00

On Sunday 16 October Belgium Digital (a online Belgian photo community) organizes their annual get-together with workshops and other informative & interactive sessions. Marsel will give a presentation on wildlife & landscape photography, during one of the morning workshops. Location is the San Marco Village, between Antwerp and Brussels. For more info about Marsels workshop and the event, please visit BelgiumDigitalLite.

Join us in Japan and get a 400 Euro discount!

2011-09-29T09:12:00.000-07:00

If you are interested in going to Japan, this is the time to make the booking. If you fill out the booking form before the end of October, you will get a 400 Euro discount per person on the participation fee!

We have been able to negotiate this special offer through our agent, due to the fact that Western tourists are staying away from Japan. We however feel we should support their economy and the tourism sector. The regions we will be visiting during our tour are far away from the areas that were affected by the Tsunami that hit Japan and the powerplants that ran into trouble because of it. The United Nations has declared Japan to be a safe destination, so safety should not be a reason to stay away.

Winter is the perfect time to visit Japan. Its breathtaking, snow-covered landscapes are the perfect backdrop for us to photograph Japan’s unique wildlife. During this spectacular trip we will visit the famous snow monkeys, while they enjoy a hot steam bath in volcanic hot springs and play in the snow. We will travel to the northern island of Hokkaido (the Alaska of Japan), where we will photograph rare and beautifulred-crowned cranes while they perform their gracious winter dances, large flocks of whooper swans floating in misty lakes covered with ice and beautiful mountains in the background, and white-tailed and Steller’s sea eagles, as they sit on the pack ice that has drifted over from Siberia.

Download the day-to-day schedule (PDF) and read all about this exciting tour, which starts on 13 February 2012, ending on 25 February 2012.

Be quick and take advantage of the special discount of 400 Euro per person! It is available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Fill out the booking form before the end of October to apply for this special offer.

Interview in Digital Camera Magazine

2011-09-27T04:05:00.000-07:00

UK-based magazine Digital Camera now features a 7-page interview with Marsel in their October issue. The editor has selected 11 images to go with the interview.

In the article Marsel talks about how he became a nature photographer, how things changed since the introduction of digital photography, the problems, the preparation, and how he works in the field.

Death Row

2011-09-27T03:37:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorite images from this year's Namibia workshop. Even though I have visited Namibia countless times, it amazes me that it is still possible to find unique compositions, even at a popular and often photographed place as Deadvlei.

>Click here for large version<

The trees you see here are dead camelthorn trees that are hundreds of years old. The extremely arid climate prevents them from rotting and their skeletons turn the location in a very surreal and at times eery place.

For this particular shot I used the shadow of the dunes behind me as a natural ND grad for the bright foreground. I waited until the shadow line reached the base of the dunes in the background and exposed for the bright red sand, turning the already dark trees into silhouettes. I'm kind of allergic to touching and overlapping shapes, and I thought I had already shot every possible angle with free standing trees, but for some reason I suddenly found a lot of new compositions this year that I had never seen before. Just like athletes that have good days and not so good ones, I think the same applies to photographers - one day you're really struggling to get even a decent shot, the next day you suddenly see great images everywhere.

If you would like to join us on next year's Namibia workshop, please have a look at our website for tour information, images and video impressions. It's a spectacular tour with lots of variety, incredible photo opportunities, and you will return with stunning images - and that's a promise!

Snow monkey in National Geographic

2011-09-25T03:25:00.000-07:00

My lighting experiments with the snow monkeys in Japan have become really popular this year. National Geographic (Dutch edition) now features one of my images in their October issue.

>Click here for large version<

Nature Photographer of the Year 2011!

2011-08-23T15:07:00.000-07:00

The 2011 International Photography Awards have announced the winners of this year's competition, and we are proud to announce that Marsel won 1st Prize in the Nature/Wildlife category for his series "Japanese Macaques", for which he was also awarded the title Nature Photographer of the Year 2011.

And as if that weren't enough, he also won 2nd Price in the People/Culture category for his series "Libya", and he received a total of 7 Honorable Mentions.

As a main category winner, Marsel will compete for IPA's top award of International Photographer of the Year. The finalists will be invited to attend the Lucie Awards at the Lincoln Center, New York, where one photographer will be announced as the grand winner, earning the coveted Lucie Statue and a cash prize of $10,000. Wish us luck!

The annual International Photography Awards is one of the most ambitious and comprehensive competitions in the photography world today. Over 8,000 submissions from 90 countries were received for the 2011 International Photography Awards with over 70 jurors, the largest to date. The Foundation's mission is to honor master photographers, discover new and emerging talent, and promote the appreciation of photography.

All winning images are available as Fine Art Prints. If you'd like to order the whole series, you get one print for free! Email us for pricing.

Want to photograph these amazing animals yourself? Join us next year on the White & Wild Japan workshop to shoot snow monkeys, whooper swans, Steller sea eagles and Japanese cranes in a stunning snow covered winter wonderland. More info and videoclips on our website.

Falling Skies

2011-08-21T06:20:00.000-07:00

>Click here to see larger version<

Namibia is like our second home - we've been there countless times and simply love the country. When we went there for the first time, hardly anyone had ever heard of it, let alone seen photographs of the surreal scenery. Now, many years later, it is one of the most popular landscape photography destinations in Africa, there are Namibia pictures all over the internet, and for a large part we have ourselves to blame for it, bringing groups there every year. As a result, it's becoming increasingly more difficult to create something original at this incredible place.

This year I got very lucky when the heavens decided to bring me something entirely different from the blue skies that I've become so used to. What you see here is very dense fog creeping over the dunes, about to fill the valley. The fog lasted for over an hour even after sunrise, and it was the most magical hour I have ever spent there.

D3s, AF-S 14-24/2.8, 1/13 @ f/8, ISO 200, focus blend

Bear shots in The Daily Mail

2011-08-14T11:05:00.000-07:00

Two of Marsel's brown bear images from Katmai National Park, Alaska, are now featured in UK newspaper The Daily Mail. You can read the full article here.

This year's bear adventure is already fully booked, but if you'd like to join us next year, please check out the Ultimate Bears photo tour page on our website.

Oh no, not again!

2011-08-11T05:53:00.000-07:00

Japanese macaques (macaca fuscata), also known as snow monkeys, like to bathe in the warm water of the natural hot springs. With outside temperatures below freezing and a constant water temperature of 42°C, who can blame them?

These photogenic animals have become used to humans wanting to photograph them, so they are not shy and stay very relaxed in human presence. This little one however seemed to think 'Oh no, not again!' when one of the participants on our Japan workshop tried to take a photograph.

>Click here to see larger version<

What I like about this scene, is the almost human-like expression, and the fact that the camera lens makes the young macaque look even smaller than it already is.

Nikon D3s, AF-S 70-200/2.8 VR II, 1/1000 @ f/5.6, ISO 400

If you would like to join us on the 2012 Japan tour, please have a look at the White & Wild Japan photo tour page on our website for dates, prices, images and video clips.

Interview on 500px

2011-08-03T12:26:00.000-07:00

Marsel has been interviewed by online photography community 500px. You can read the interview here.

Seminar Natuurfotografie - Van idee tot print

2011-07-28T09:01:00.000-07:00

We are organizing a seminar for Dutch speaking participants. So, sorry, this post is in Dutch.

De meest gestelde vraag die ik in de loop der jaren heb gekregen, is hoe ik mijn foto's zo helder en scherp krijg. Op de tweede plaats staat de vraag of ik ook workshops of cursussen in Nederland geef.

Op veler verzoek zal ik daarom op zaterdag 4 februari 2012 een seminar natuurfotografie geven.

Tijdens dit seminar laat ik stap voor stap zien hoe ik te werk ga; van het ruwe idee tot en met de uiteindelijke print of publicatie. Camera-instellingen, techniek, RAW-conversie, kleurprofielen en beeldbewerking in Photoshop komen allemaal uitvoerig aan bod.

Dit seminar is bedoeld voor natuurfotografen van alle ervaringsniveaus die meer uit hun foto's willen halen.

Klik hier voor meer informatie over deze dag en het aanmeldingsformulier.

Marsel

Interview in Digital SLR Photo Magazine

2011-07-27T04:38:00.000-07:00

UK-based magazine Digital SLR Photography now features a 4-page interview with Marsel in their August issue. The article is about our trip to Libya earlier this year and the editor has selected 12 images to go with the interview.

Photograph shot by Daniëlla (the coffee is a dead giveaway)

The key question that Marsel was asked, was: why Libya? In the interview he explains the thinking process behind this unusual choice, and he tells about the expedition itself. We think it looks really good, but then again, we're not really objective. :-)

>Click here for large version<

Amnesia

2011-07-18T09:08:00.000-07:00

I got a message the other day on Facebook from someone that said he loved my crane shot on PDN. Crane shot on PDN? I didn't recall any image requests from PDN, nor having sent shots to them, so I decided to investigate.

It took me half an hour to find the shot - it was really there.

Turns out that I myself entered this crane picture last year in the 2010 National Geographic Traveler/PDN The Great Outdoors photo contest, and apparently it was selected as one of the winners...

So I guess this makes it official: image processing causes amnesia. I'm gonna turn this computer off right now and get myself a coke.

>Click here to see larger version<

Japan is safe

2011-07-15T06:35:00.000-07:00

We received a few emails from people who are interested in joining us on the 2012 Japan tour, wanting to know whether it is safe to travel to Japan.

It is absolutely safe to travel with us to and in Japan. We wouldn't be going there ourselves if this weren't the case!

All our photography locations are far away from the destructed areas near Sendai. From Tokyo we will travel in the exact opposite direction to the other side of Honshu Island where we will photograph the snow monkeys, and later on we will fly directly from Tokyo to Hokkaido.

Six United Nations agencies monitoring the impact of Japan’s damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant have confirmed that there are no threats to human health or any major disruption to air travel to or within the country. The joint statement was issued by the World Health Organization, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the World Meteorological Organization, the International Maritime Organization, the International Civil Aviation Organization and the World Tourism Organization.

Earlier this year the Japanese travel and tourism industry was hit hard by the travel cancellations. Joining us to visit this amazing country will actually help the people of Japan to get the enconomy back on its feet again. Tadatoshi Mamiya, president of the Japan National Tourism Organization, said: “We will strive to encourage even more tourists to visit Japan, and when they do, the people of Japan will thank them for their messages of encouragement, prayers and support that are helping the nation to recover from this disaster.”

White Silence

2011-07-13T05:10:00.000-07:00

I'm still processing. Yesterday I did Alaska, the day before that Egypt. Almost every day for the past week I returned to this image of sleeping whooper swans because it was a difficult one to process. The tones are so delicate and the nuances so subtle that even the smallest adjustment has a big impact. Every evening I would open the shot again and look at it with a fresh perspective. And every evening I made tiny adjustments. Yesterday evening I finally had the feeling I got it right, so here it is.

>Click here for larger version<

I know - the birds are small, you can't see their heads, eyes or beaks, there's no spectacular feather detail, no action, and no thermonuclear colors in the sky. Yet that is exactly why I like this.

Every year on the Japan trip we have on average one or two days with hoar frost, in my opinion one of the prettiest winter conditions you can get.

On this particular morning we had left our ryokan long before sunrise to see the whooper swans wake up, and watch their fascinating morning rituals. When we got closer to the lake I noticed the hoar frost and decided to take the group to one of my favorite and very quiet spots.

We had to walk through a strip of trees and dense vegetation to reach the shore, which would normally create a lot of noise that could potentially disturb the swans. The snow was about three feet high though, and the perfect natural sound proofing. When I reached the water's edge, a few swans looked up and then went back to sleep again.

I set up my tripod, took this shot, and then just sat there for a while - amazed.

Please check out the larger version; this small size makes very little sense.

Nikon D3s, AF-S 14-24/2.8, 1/125 @ f/16

Steller's Sea Eagle

2011-07-04T06:52:00.000-07:00

It's that time of the year again: processing. Last weekend I've spent most of my time going through the shots from our Egypt expedition, today it's Japan.

One of the highlights of each year's Japan tour is always shooting eagles on the Sea of Okhotsk.

The Steller's sea eagle [Haliaeetus pelagicus] is the biggest bird in the genus Haliaeetus and is one of the largest raptors overall. The typical size range is 85-105 cm (33-41 in) long and the wingspan is 195-230 cm (77-91 in). Females typically weigh from 6.8-9 kg (15-20 lb), while males are considerably lighter with a weight range from 4.9-6 kg (11-13 lb). An unverified record exists of a huge female that weighed 12.7 kilograms (28 lb)!

This species is classified as Vulnerable by the IUCN. The main threats to its survival are habitat alteration, industrial pollution and over-fishing. The current population is estimated at 5,000 and decreasing.

Personally, I think they're one of the prettiest raptors on this planet, and seeing dozens of them at the same time is a real treat.

This year there was a lot of pack ice along the coast, so much that we almost weren't able to leave the harbor with our boat. Luckily, a lot of pack ice usually means a lot of Steller's, and every direction you looked there were Steller's. There were so many of them, that it was actually hard to keep an eye on them all. Shooting with a small group of people proved to be a real advantage here - the more eyes, the more you see. Whenever an eagle would come flying within our range, someone would shout: 'Incoming from the left!' Or right. When you're looking through your view finder and you're totally focused on your subject, you tend to miss what's going on around you, and this group strategy was the perfect solution to not miss any flight shots. And it was great fun!

This is one of my favorite shots from the first day. The pack ice worked very nicely as a giant reflector, and adds context to the shot.

>Click here for larger version<

Nikon D3s, AF-S VR II 200-400/4.0, 1/1250 @ f/8, ISO 400, handheld

Back from Namibia

2011-06-23T07:49:00.000-07:00

It's been a week now since we returned from this year's Namibia trip. It was totally awesome, thanks to all participants - such a nice group of people. Thanks!

For us it was a particularly special visit this time because of the weather. Ever since our first trip to Namibia many years ago, we have seen the climate changing. Namibia is getting wetter and wetter. 2011 marks the third consecutive year of heavy rains in the region. Flood levels in north-central Namibia this year were eight centimeters higher than in the 2009 flood season, setting a new record for the area where about one million people - half of Namibia's population - live. Every year Efundja – the Oshiwambo name for the annual floods coming from Angola – fills the oshanas (floodplains) in the northern regions. The arrival of the flood is much anticipated as it brings fish, restores grazing capacity and ensures water reserves for the dry months ahead. But in recent years floods have become heavier and more frequent, doing more damage than good.

One of the places that best shows the effects of the heavy rains, is Sossusvlei. Over the years we've seen more and more vegetation on the red sand dunes, which are getting greener and greener. This was also the first year that the whole Sossusvlei pan was still flooded during our visit. To see so much water in what is supposed to be one of the driest places on earth is pretty strange.

Our room in Sossusvlei. Photographed after we returned from the dunes.

But apart from much wetter, it was also much colder than previous years. In the south it was actually freezing during the night, and the early mornings were very chilly indeed. It was kind of weird to see people walking around in jackets, hats and gloves - not quite what you'd expect when you're going to Africa. The good thing though was that the skies were crisp and clear, and the days were pleasantly warm.

To be honest, we were afraid that Etosha would be very quiet this year with water readily available throughout the park for all the animals. The succesful game viewing in Etosha is based on a number of strategically placed watering holes that usually attract lots of wildlife. But with water all over the place, there was no need for the animals to visit the waterholes anymore and they could basically stay wherever they wanted. Luckily this was not the case. The main waterhole at Okaukuejo was much more quiet than usual, but we still got our share of giraffe, zebra and white and black rhino. Compared to last year the game drives were much more productive though. We had some good elephant sightings and an excellent encounter with a pride of active lions right at sunrise. Perfect timing!

All in all a great trip that we thoroughly enjoyed. There were some familiar faces (happy to see you back!) and we made some new friends that we hope to see again sometime!

I've just started processing the first images, and so far the results look much better than I expected. You'd think I would have reached the point by now that there is nothing left to improve upon after having shot many thousands of images, but I'm glad that this is not the case. As soon as I have finished processing, I will post some of the results here so you can judge for yourself. :-)

A Cappella

2011-05-13T12:26:00.000-07:00

For most of the subjects that I shoot, I already have the perfect image hanging somewhere on the walls inside my head. This doesn't always happen right away, but usually after my first attempt, having experienced the behavior of the subject and seeing the location, I have a pretty good idea of what I want. Unfortunately with wildlife photography, what you want is not necessarily what you get. :) When the light is perfect, the subject is not there. When the subject is there, the light is terrible. Or when the light is perfect and the subject is there, it is in the wrong position, facing away from the camera, or not doing what you want it to do. Frustrating as this might sound, it is also one of the reasons wildlife photography is so addictive - you keep trying to get the shot you're after.

I visit Japan every year, and one of the highlights of the tour are the beautiful and highly endangered Japanes crane (Grus japonensis, also known as red-crowned crane), the second rarest crane in the world. The graceful winter dances of these elegant birds are a joy to watch and photograph. I have planned this trip during winter when there's usually lots of snow. As these birds are primarily white, the shot I really wanted to get was one where you'd have a white foreground (snow), a light gray sky, and the birds on the horizon - different shades of white and gray. As often, this shot proved to be much more easy to produce inside my head than in the field. On last year's visit though, all the elements briefly worked together in perfect harmony.

It had been snowing continuously on our last morning, so the snow was fresh and the sky was fully overcast. The light was soft and all around us, and the cranes were doing their usual thing - throwing their heads up in the air and calling as loud as they could. Once small group was walking up a slope, removing all background vegetation resulting in a clean and graphic scene with low contrast and very subtle detail - just the way I like it. When they simultaneously started calling with their beaks pointed upwards, I took this shot. It's moments like this that I enjoy most, probably because they don't happen very often.

>Click here to see larger version<

Nikon D3, AF-S VR 200-400/4.0, 1/800 @ f/10, ISO 400

Full Moon Mesa

2011-05-10T07:02:00.000-07:00

Icons are icons for a reason. My initial feeling is always to avoid icons, because they've already been photographed a kazillion times before - what's the point. However, at the same time I'm always curious to see the icon myself, and when I'm there I always end up trying to do my own version. Same here.

Everywhere you read about Mesa Arch, people say that it's a sunrise location and they're very specific even about the exact time that you should shoot it - only during a few minutes after sunrise when the arch turns bright red. This was very helpful information, so I decided to go there at night. :-)

The most obvious advantage was that there was no one there - not very typical for this location. I had the whole place to myself and was able to use a small flashlight to paint the arch without bothering anyone else.

I had timed my visit with full moon so that I basically had the same light situation as in the early morning, but much more subtle. I hid the moon behind the arch and used the moonlight to illuminate the background. During the 60 second exposure I painted the arch and the foreground rocks. I added a warm up gel to get a nice color contrast between the warm tones of the rock and the blue of the sky. This is a single exposure.

Nikon D3S, AF-S 14-24/2.8, 60s @ f/8, ISO 800, flashlight

>Click here for larger version<

Feature in the Daily Mail

2011-05-09T12:54:00.000-07:00

UK newspaper The Daily Mail features Marsel's image of a charging lion in the Kalahari desert. It is used as inspiration for new entries into the 2011 Travel Photographer of the Year competition. Marsel's image is part of the exhibition currently held at the Royal Geographical Society in London and was a winning entry in the 2010 Travel Photographer Of The Year awards, as well as voted most popular by the people visting the exhibition. Read the full article in the Daily Mail

New photo tour to Egypt: Sahara Sandscapes

2011-05-04T11:22:00.000-07:00

In 2009 I decided that in 2010 I would focus more on landscape photography, and so I did. For a couple of years I had done so much wildlife stuff, that at times it felt like shooting on auto pilot. I needed a change of subject matter to force myself to think and work differently. The 200-400 and the 600 went into the closet, the wide angles were suddenly my standard lenses on most trips. And how nice it is to travel like a landscape photographer - my camera bag lost at least 20 pounds.

Deciding on possible locations was not an easy task. There are countless beautiful places on our planet, but there are already zillions of photographs of most of them. As we were also thinking about adding another Squiver photo tour, we wanted to go somewhere special - far off the beaten track to get the sort of shots you haven't seen a hundred times before. In my photography I like strong shapes, clutter-free compositions and graphic lines, so the desert it was. :-)

When I say Egypt, you say pyramids - and you're correct: there are indeed pyramids in Egypt. We didn't visit them though, because a) they've been photographed to death, b) it's way too crowdy to even think about taking a photograph, and c) we had something much better in mind: the Western Desert and the White Desert.

I have a strange preference for surreal landscapes, which explains our tours to Namibia and Turkey. But Egypt has a few extraterrestrial landscapes to offer as well. No need to pay 20 million dollars for a trip into space when you can visit a different planet with Squiver - the landscape of the White Desert is alien in every way. It has a white, cream color and massive chalk rock formations that have been created as a result of occasional sandstorms in the area. The chalk-white landscape is strewn with otherworldly shapes, boulders of brilliant white which thrust up from the surface of the desert, intensified by the clear light of noon, shimmering gold at sunset or blackened and shrunken in a cloud-filled sky. Cupcakes, mushrooms, rabbits, profiles, monoliths, tables, crowns, swirls, mounds and any other shape your mind imagines dot the golden yellow sands for as far as the eye can see.

In the remote past, the White Desert was a sea-bed, the sedimentary layers of rock formed by marine fauna when the ocean dried up. The landscape we see today was formed by the plateau breaking down, leaving harder rock shapes standing while the softer parts are eroded away by wind and sand. In some parts the chalk surface still has the appearance of delicate wind-ruffled waves on water. The White Desert is unlike anything you've ever seen before.

The Western Desert is more mountainous and has a high plateau that offers spectacular views on the Mars-like scenery below. You can walk here for days on end and see the landscape changing around every corner. A night under the stars is an experience never forgotten. As the sky turns pink then deepest fiery orange, the rock-shapes fade and silence is all around. Sitting around a small fire and enjoying the simplest meal of chicken, rice and vegetables, you will feel like nothing has ever tasted so good. If the moon is near full, the white chalk rock shapes glow eerily, like ghosts in the darkness under a sky still filled with bright stars and there is no need for artificial lights.

This is a unique trip to a unique location and an experience of a lifetime. We're excited that tourism is alive and kicking again in Egypt, and we're looking forward to show you around in one of the most spectacular parts of the African Sahara. If you like adventure, then this is the trip for you. Check out the photo tours page on our website for additional information and download the day-to-day schedule.(PDF).

Utah date changed to: 17 December - 23 December 2011

2011-05-04T05:28:00.000-07:00

Because we don't want to keep anybody from having Christmas with their family, we have pushed the Utah trip one day forward. You should arrive Saturday 17 December in the evening at the latest to join in on the fun. And the tour ends after a last early morning shoot on Friday 23 December. Merry Christmas :-)

New photo tour added to Utah, USA: Arches under the stars

2011-05-03T07:58:00.000-07:00

We've always wanted to visit the National Parks of Utah, and when we finally did in November last year, we were stunned by the incredible beauty. Sure, we'd seen many photographs from Utah before our visit - who hasn't - but it just goes to show that a picture can never beat the feeling of actually being there.

We were so impressed by the landscape and the photographic possibilities of Arches National Park and the surrounding areas, that we decided to organize a photo tour to this dramatic geologic marvel of the American Southwest.

Arches contains one of the largest concentrations of natural sandstone arches in the world. The arches and numerous other extraordinary geologic features, such as spires, pinnacles, pedestals and balanced rocks, are highlighted in striking foreground and background views created by contrasting colors, landforms and textures. It is truly a landscape photographer's dream.

Water and ice, extreme temperatures and underground salt movement are responsible for the sculptured rock scenery of Arches National Park. On clear days with blue skies, it is hard to imagine such violent forces, or the 100 million years of erosion that created this land. The more than 2,000 cataloged arches range in size from a three-foot opening, the minimum considered an arch, to the longest one, Landscape Arch, which measures 306 feet from base to base. New arches are being formed and old ones are being destroyed. Erosion and weathering are relatively slow but are relentlessly creating dynamic landforms that gradually change through time. Occasionally change occurs more dramatically. In 1991 a slab of rock about 60 feet long, 11 feet wide and 4 feet thick fell from the underside of Landscape Arch, leaving behind an even thinner ribbon of rock.

The park lies atop an underground salt bed, which is basically responsible for the arches and spires, balanced rocks, sandstone fins and eroded monoliths that make the area a photographer's mecca.

After we thoroughly explored the park and some of the lesser-known areas outside, we decided that winter would be the perfect time for this trip. First of all, winter has the fewest crowds. Arches NP is a very popular destination, and rightly so, and we want to avoid getting hordes of tourists in our shots. Also, in winter there is always a chance of snow. Southeast Utah is part of the Colorado Plateau, a "high desert" region that experiences wide temperature fluctuations, sometimes over 40 degrees in a single day. Winters are cold, with highs averaging -1 to 10C (30-50F), and lows averaging -18 to -6C (0-20F). From personal experience we can tell you that Arches in the snow is even more breathtaking, so it's worth the chill factor.

A nice advantage of photographing in winter, is that sunrise and sunset times are a bit more humane. :-) The light is also softer in winter and the air more clear.

Chances are that we'll be getting a couple of clear nights, during which we will try some night photography. Marsel will give a dedicated workshop on night photography, light painting and shooting stars and star trails, so that should be great fun. We have already selected a couple of good locations for this specific purpose and we're looking forward to our nightly sessions!

Balancing Rock, Delicate Arch, The Windows, Wall Street, Devils Garden, Landscape Arch, are only a few of the locations we will visit. But outside of Arches NP there is also plenty to photograph, like the countless bird's eye views of the regions many stone canyons and spires from the high plateaus of Canyonlands National Park. And for those that like hiking, there are even more landscape gems to discover. We already know where to find them, and what the best time of day is for photography, so we won't waste any time.

Moab will be our base from where we will start our daily excursions. It's a quaint little town, but it's got everything we'll need, including good food.

We expect this trip to fill up fast, so if you're interested in joining us - don't hesitate and book a spot on this tour. More information & images can be found on the photo tours page on our website. You can also download the detailed day-to-day schedule (PDF), with lots of panoramic images. Hope to see you there!

Sand Storm

2011-04-07T08:47:00.000-07:00

The past few weeks I have finally been able to find some time to go through the thousands of images that I shot over the past year. It was an interesting journey, jumping from Libya to Alaska, and from Egypt to Japan, all in a matter of days. I've only scratched the surface, but it was nice to relive all those amazing trips in front of my computer. Here's one from our last trip to Kenya.

The Common Eland (Taurotragus oryx), also known as the Southern Eland or Eland antelope, is a savannah and plains antelope found in East and Southern Africa. It is the largest antelope in the African continent.

The name "Eland" is derived from the Dutch word for moose. When Dutch settlers came to the Cape Province they named the largest wild herbivore they met with the name of the huge northern herbivore. In Dutch the animal is called "Eland antelope" to distinguish it from the Moose, which is found in the northern boreal forests. This is all very confusing for us Dutchies, but we only have ourselves to blame for it.

The eland has a mass of about 650 kilograms, which is the double of the kudu. Elands are said to be one of the slowest antelopes, but they can jump over a height of 2.5 meters or above. When walking, the joints in the eland's foreleg produce a sharp clicking sound, the cause of which has not been widely investigated. The sound carries some distance and is a good indication of an approaching herd. Scientists take it as a form of communication.

The elands are most active in the morning and late afternoon, lying sheltered in the heat of the day. They're commonly found in mixed groups, usually containing 25-70 individuals, though up to 400 have been observed.

They're not as common as most of the other African antelopes, and most of the times I've tried to photograph them, they ran away the moment they saw me. Buttshots galore.

I had spotted this small herd of eland one late afternoon and decided to stick around and see how they would react on my presence. I didn't want to spook them, so I started shooting with my 600. After a few moments I moved a little closer and stopped again to let them get used to me. This proved to be the right strategy for this herd, because eventually I was able to switch to my 200-400.

The whole scene wasn't particularly interesting though - the light was getting pretty, but nothing was happening that could really excite me. That was until the wind started to pick up and I saw a huge sand storm on the horizon, moving in my direction. My guide noticed this as well and wanted to seek shelter, but I decided to risk getting sand blasted and see how this would influence the scene.

A few minutes later the storm hit us hard - the Jeep shook heavily and the sand almost peeled my skin. Most animals don't like sort of weather, because it confuses their senses - it's almost impossible to hear, see or smell your enemies in these extreme circumstances. The eland therefore huddled together, waiting for the storm to die down.

The tons of sand in the air did just what I was hoping for - it reduced the subjects to shapes, created a warm low contrast mood, and eliminated most unwanted detail. This is my favorite shot as it shows the large bull separated from the rest of the herd, as a true leader. I also liked the elegant pose of the hind leg.

I cropped it to a pano format because the empty sky didn't work for me.

[Nikon D3, AF-S VR 200-400/4.0, 1/200 @ f/11, ISO 800]

If you want to join us to this year's Kenya tour, please check out our website for more information.

Another publication in National Geographic

2011-03-16T05:04:00.000-07:00

I'm proud to announce that National Geographic has selected yet another one of my images for their magazine.

The image is featured in the April issue as a double page spread, and shows the inside of one of the abandoned houses in Kolmanskop, Namibia.

Kolmanskop is a deserted diamond mining town in the middle of the dunes of the Namib desert. Once a thriving town, it was suddenly abandoned in the 50's when more diamonds were found in another place. Since then, the desert has been claiming back her territory. The early morning sun only shines directly into this room at a specific time of year.

This image is available as a Limited Edition fine art print. Please check out the Shop section on our website for prices and sizes.

Namibia Untamed 2011: fully booked

2011-03-15T04:59:00.000-07:00

We're still getting emails from people wanting to join the 2011 Namibia Untamed tour, but unfortunately we're already fully booked. The good news however is that the dates for the 2012 tour have been set and will be published on our website soon.

Interview with Marsel

2011-03-13T05:27:00.000-07:00

Nature photographer Kristel Schneider has interviewed Marsel for her blog Visions and Nature. You can find the interview here.

Earthquake in Japan

2011-03-11T05:22:00.000-08:00

We just heard about the massive earthquake and subsequent tsunami that hit Japan. We are deeply shocked by these terrible events and our hearts go out to the Japanese people.

For those of you who have travelled to Japan with us before: we have contacted our friends and colleagues in Japan and we're relieved that they're all ok.

TPOTY Public's Choice

2011-03-03T04:57:00.000-08:00

My charging lion shot received the most votes from visitors to the Travel Photographer of the Year exhibition in London, so it is now officially the Public's Choice. A big thank you to all the visitors that voted for my photograph!

I've won a personalised leather portfolio book from Plastic Sandwich, and I'm looking forward to build my own.

Back from Japan

2011-02-28T04:54:00.000-08:00

We have just returned from Japan. It was one of our best visits ever. Not only because we had such a wonderful group, but also because of the weather conditions. There was so much snow everywhere that the views were even more spectacular this time. We got falling snow at the snow monkeys, which was tough for the lenses (why does the wind always blow in the opposite direction that you're shooting in?) but great for photos. We also got hoar frost at the swans and the cranes, something I hope for every year but doesn't happen often. The ice conditions were a little bit too good - there was so much ice that we had trouble leaving the harbor with our boat. Not that we needed to go very far, because there was a lot of raptor activity and we all got great white tailed eagle and Steller's sea eagle shots.

Our next White & Wild Japan tour will be from 13 to 25 February 2012. For more information, please have a look at the Photo Tours section on our website.

Squiver earns Five Star rating on Photo Travel Review Magazine

2011-02-11T04:33:00.000-08:00

We are proud to announce that the online magazine Photo Travel Review has rated Squiver Photo Tours with their highest rating: five stars!

Photo Travel Review is run by photographers who have traveled extensively throughout the world. Each of them is recognized widely in the photographic community for the quality of their photographic skills. In addition, they each bring a wealth of experience from their occupations and professions. Their interest is to provide information of value to people who want the perfect photographic adventure.

From their website:

'The PTR Team knows the world photographic community very well. We have attended seminars, conducted our own, and we know the work of most well-recognized nature photographers. Marsel and Daniella offer something very special to the traveling photographer — vast experience and recognition for their work, a variety of places to go, reasonable costs, and expert instruction. In sum, the best combination of all attributes that make up a successful photographic holiday.

Photo Travel Review Magazine highly recommends Squiver Tours. The offerings are among the best in the world — Squiver has earned PTR’s five star rating.

We are tempted to add a “+” to the rating because their tours are among the most reasonably priced that we have encountered.'

Of course we knew this already, but it's always nice to hear it from someone else. ;-)

If you would like to be part of the Squiver experience, please have a look at our website for tours currently on offer. Our trips are for all experience levels and you don't need expensive gear to return with great results.

We are working hard on two new trips, and we will introduce them here later this month.

Naturescapes Image of the Year

2011-02-05T04:23:00.000-08:00

I am proud to announce that my star trail image 'In the Dead of the Night' was awarded Image of the Year in the Landscape category of the 2010 Naturescapes Images of the Year Awards.

The image was shot on last year's Namibia Untamed photo tour.

Namibia is not only the least densely populated country of the world; it is also one of the driest. The clear desert air is perfect for shooting stars and star trails, so that's one of the things we always try on each year's Namibia tour.

We had planned the trip to coincide with new moon, so that we would have pitch-dark nights with lots of stars. For this shot of a dead camelthorn tree in Deadvlei I made a 58 second exposure for the master image, during which I painted the tree and the foreground with a small torch and a warm-up gel. There was still some afterglow on the dunes in the background. During the night the camera took little over 80 shots, each four minutes long.

As I was shooting with a D3X, I converted the star shots to jpeg after raw conversion before stacking them in PS, to keep the file size manageable.

Equipment Used: Nikon D3X, AF-S 14-24/2.8 at 14mm, 58 seconds, f/5.6, 80x4min at f/5.6, ISO 100, Gitzo tripod, Nikon programmable cable release.

Our next Namibia Untamed tour will be in May, and we're already looking forward to shooting star trails there again. If you would like to join us, have a look at the Namibia Untamed photo tour page for more information. Don't forget to check out the video of this spectacular trip on our website www.squiver.com!

Marsel

Desert Expedition 2010/2011

2011-02-02T04:10:00.000-08:00

We've just returned from our two month desert expedition in Northern Africa. It was intense, but incredibly beautiful. We still have to sort all the images and footage we shot there and we're already leaving for Japan in a few days, so we hope to be able to share some of the results when we get back home again.

NPN Editor's Pick Award

2011-01-16T04:04:00.000-08:00

Just a few weeks before we're heading out to Japan again for this year's White & Wild Japan tour, we found out that Marsel's shot 'Bliss', featuring three Japanese macaques enjoying a warm bath in a natural hot spring, was awarded 1st Honorable Mention in the 2010 NPN Editor's Pick Awards.

Ever since Marsel first posted the shot online, it has instantly become one of our most popular prints. If you would like to order a print yourself, please have a look at the Store section on our website for prices and sizes.

Greetings from Egypt!

Sun, sand, wind and dust

2010-12-22T09:33:00.001-08:00

We are currently traveling in the desert of Northern Africa, battling the sun, sand, wind and dust. We ate more sand over the past couple of weeks than any normal human being during a lifetime, but we're enjoying the experience. Our purpose is a new photography project we're working on, and meanwhile we're scouting for new Squiver photo tour destinations. The next weeks we'll have little or no internet access, so if you send us an email, it might take a little longer than usual before we get back to you.

Travel Photographer of the Year 2010

2010-12-21T08:32:00.000-08:00

We have been traveling in the desert of Northern Africa for the past weeks with no internet access, so we found out about this rather late: Marsel's charging lion picture was awarded in the 2010 Travel Photographer of the Year Awards. After two weeks of nothing but sand, wind and dust, and no showers, this good news got us freshened up right away.

As with most wildlife shots, there was quite a bit of luck involved to get this shot - after all, with wild animals you never know what's going to happen. Most wildlife photographers use long tele lenses to photograph potentially dangerous animals, and that is probably a wise thing to do. However, wide angle shots are often more dynamic, more in your face, so that's what Marsel wanted to try with lions. He used a radio controlled remote and shot from a handheld monopod, turned upside down, without getting out of the car. It's Marsel's secret (well, not anymore) technique to get low level perspective shots with wide angle lenses, while remaining flexible and without running the risk of getting eaten. This male lion did not appreciate the clicks coming from the grass very much, and decided to charge the D3. As often with lions, it was just a mock charge, but we got a few stains in our pants nonetheless...

This image is available as a fine art print. If you're interested, have a look at the Store page on our website or contact us if you have a specific size in mind.

Snow monkey commercial GE used as example

2010-12-20T12:22:00.000-08:00

Getty Images is using the Snow Monkey commercial as a good example of how stock footage can be used in a commercial.

GE partnered with agency BBDO New York to create their “Snow Monkeys” ad, which advertises their GeoSpring water heater. BBDO used 17 footage clips in the spot, which has been praised by industry leaders and PETA, for the commercial’s humane use of stock footage instead of animal “actors.” Click on the image to view the commercial, with footage shot during our Japan White & Wild photo tour, which is coming up in February again. Want to join us and see them for yourself?

Zambia 2011 fully booked

2010-12-19T09:28:00.000-08:00

It's still far away, but our Beyond the Great Rivers tour in Zambia for next year is already fully booked. We're planning to have the dates for 2012 online somewhere during the spring of 2011. For those who didn't manage to get a spot - we'll keep you posted.

Merry Christmas, merry snow monkeys

2010-12-18T07:04:00.000-08:00

The Christmas edition of UK magazine Digital Photo features four of Marsel's snow monkey images from Japan. Apart from the often published 'snow ball' image, the double page spread also features three images that were taken on this year's Japan tour. Download the PDF here.

If you would like to photograph these fascinating animals yourself, as well as Japanese cranes, Stellar sea eagles, white-tailed eagles and whooper swans, there are only three openings left on the 2011 White & Wild Japan tour that takes place in February. Book now or click here for more information.

National Geographic Photo of the Month

2010-12-17T07:03:00.000-08:00

The Dutch online edition of National Geographic now features Marsel's image of three bathing Japanese macaques as Photo of the Month. We're obviously very happy with that, and with our next visit to Japan only two months away, we're looking forward to seeing and photographing them again. If you would like to join us, there are only a few places left, so don't wait too long to make your reservation! Have a look at the Squiver photo tours web page for more information.

Close encounter in the Daily Telegraph

2010-12-01T09:26:00.000-08:00

The close encounter Daniella and lodgemanager Lana De Villier had in Zambia with an elephant was chosen as Picture of the day by the Daily Telegraph (United Kingdom). You can check out the article on their website.

If you want to eye up to an elephant yourself, you should join us on our photo tour in Zambia. We have only one room left, so be quick and check out the trip details on the squiver.com

Back from Utah

2010-12-01T07:47:00.001-08:00

The past weeks we've been traveling in the US, in Utah to be precise. We knew Utah was big, but now that we've been shooting there for a while, we realize that we haven't even seen 10% of what was on our list. Which means that we will have to return next year to finish the job... The weather gods were smiling upon us, as we got good light most of the time and even a few days of snow. Bryce Canyon in particular looked stunning covered with a white blanket.

We're already leaving for Northern Africa again in just a few days, so unfortunately not enough time to select and process images for Marsel, but Daniëlla took some cool shots with the Canon S90 and here's a panorama she made to give you an idea of how magical it all looked.

The next two months we'll be in the desert in Northern Africa with no internet connection, so we'll be quiet for a while.

Star trail image in Digital Camera Magazine

2010-11-19T10:41:00.000-08:00

Marsel's star trail image from Namibia is now featured as a double page spread in UK magazine Digital Camera. It is the latest in the Digital Anatomy series, in which the magazine explains how more technical shots were made.

If you would like to shoot start trails like this yourself, why not reserve a spot on our next Namibia Untamed photo tour? Namibia is perfect for star trails and night photography, and we will have several opportunities to try this exciting photography technique. This tour usually fills up quickly, so if you're interested, make a reservation now. For more information, click here.

You can download a PDF of the publication here.

White & Wild Japan 2011

2010-10-31T12:20:00.000-07:00

There are a few openings left on the February 2011 Japan workshop, so if you've always wanted to photograph the adorable snow monkeys, the graceful dances of the Japanese cranes, whooper swans on an ice lake, and the spectacular Stellar's sea eagles on pack ice from Siberia - this is your chance to be part of the adventure.

Fairy Chimney shot in National Geographic

2010-10-31T12:00:00.000-07:00

The October issue of National Geographic (Dutch edition) features one of Marsel's fairy chimney shots that he shot earlier this year in Turkey. Marsel was so enthusiastic about this trip, that we decided to organize a landscape photography workshop to this magical place. Read more about this exciting trip below.

New landscape workshop to Turkey now online!

2010-10-29T09:37:00.000-07:00

We're proud to announce that we've put together a new and exciting landscape photography workshop: Lunar Landscapes of Turkey (17-23 April 2011).

With so many photographers copying not only our website design, but also our tours and workshops, we thought it was time to add something different. After extensively shooting wildlife last year, Marsel decided to spend more time doing landscapes this year, and this new trip is the direct result of that. Earlier this year he traveled to Cappadocia in the south of Turkey in search of photogenic landscape locations, and he was not disappointed!

Cappadocia is a region of exceptional natural wonders and a unique historical and cultural heritage. The spectacular volcanic landscape is entirely sculpted by millions of years of erosion. Wind and rain have created a bizarre field of hundreds of conical formations. Many of these pillars, known as fairy chimneys, contain labyrinths and caves where Christians once hid to avoid persecution. We will explore and photograph the lunar landscape, strange rock formations and rock hewn churches in the many valleys. We will stay in a small hotel right in the heart of a historic village. One of the highlights is an optional balloon ride, shooting the surreal landscape from above.

Spouses and non-photographing travel companions will also enjoy this amazing trip!

All accommodation is in a small family-run hotel. This trip is suitable for photographers of all experience levels. There will be daily briefings, one-on-one in the field instructions, raw processing tips, and image reviews in the evenings. You'll return with spectacular images!

This tour is already filling up very quickly with returning guests, so if you're interested in joining us, don't hesitate and make your reservation now!

For more information look here.

Wildlife workshop Spain a big succes

2010-10-25T12:00:00.000-07:00

Our wildlife workshop in Spain is getting more and more popular as the perfect trip for beginning wildlife photographers who are eager to bring their photography to the next level. Each morning we started early so that Marsel could review the previous days' images, before heading out to the park for a full day of shooting. The weather was particularly good this year with lots of bright overcast days. Even the animals were cooperating, with the bears and the lynxes giving us excellent photo opportunities. At the end of the trip everyone was tired but the laptops filled with great pictures more than made up for that!

Interview in East & West Magazine

2010-10-19T12:33:00.000-07:00

Marsel was recently interviewed by East & West Magazine, the in-flight magazine of Lufthansa and Cathay Pacific, and the resulting article is featured in their October issue. They used his Siberian tiger photograph from China as the opening shot on a double page spread. To read the full article, please click here to download the PDF (1.1MB).

Icebergs and icebergs and icebergs

2010-10-12T12:10:00.000-07:00

Marsel just returned from a trip to Greenland, where he photographed lots of icebergs and glaciers. It was an extremely tiring (the sun basically didn't set) but spectacular experience as he got as far as 80 degrees North before he was stopped by the pack ice and had to turn South again. With only three days before the next project already started, he has not yet been able to go through all the images, let alone process them, so it might take a while before he can show more of this amazing place.

Snow monkeys image reviewed by Nature's Best

2010-09-17T00:41:00.000-07:00

Nature's Best Photography magazine is a large format publication that offers a showcase presentation of nature recorded by the world’s leading photographers, naturalists, and adventurers. Features display wildlife, landscapes, plant life, nature travel, how-to tips, inspirational essays, and lots more. On their official blog site the editor regularly reviews selected images from Flickr. The image was shot during last year's Japan workshop. Read what Nature's Best had to say about Marsel's snow monkey image here.

Starry, starry night

2010-09-16T09:36:00.000-07:00

Namibia is not only the least densily populated country in the world, it is also one of the best places in the world to see the night stars. The dry desert air, the cloudless skies and the absence of light pollution, make it the perfect country to photograph star trails.

We had timed this year's Namibia Untamed tour to coincide with new moon, so we would be certain to get the darkest night imaginable with as many stars visible as possible. On the second day of the tour Marsel gave an in-depth presentation on how to photograph the stars, either as star trails or just static stars. Later that day, we all went to look for a good spot to leave our camera overnight. A bit scary, but the area is private property and very large - even if you knew there was a camera out there somewhere, you would have great difficulty finding it. As some of us experienced the next morning…

©John Spillane

©Willy Schoots

©Roger Thomas

Photographing star trails, and processing them, is very different from your normal routine, and it requires good preparation and especially concentration. As the digital processing technique involves taking many exposures and stacking them afterwards in Photoshop, we weren't able to see the results on the tour and had to wait until everyone had had their rainy sunday afternoon with nothing else to do but stacking stars. And the results are definitely worth waiting for!

©Jeremy Lock

Most star trail photographs are nothing more than that: just star trails. But a good star trail image works just like any other - you need a good composition, with a foreground and a background. And that is what we all worked on. Some used natural light, some used a flashlight to paint the tree with light during the exposure. In all cases, the pictures show more than just star trails, they are good shots on their own even without the stars. And that's how it should be.

A couple of days later, we visited the giant red sand dunes of Sossuvlei and the surreal Deadvlei. Not an ideal spot to try star trails, because it is one of the most touristy areas of the country, but a few of us simply couldn't resist the temptation. The dead camelthorn trees are the perfect strong shapes to use as a foreground, and the curved lines of the dunes in the background are real bonus. Up until that day, only two star trail photographs of Deadvlei existed, at least to my knowledge, but the next morning we had more than doubled that. It was scary to walk back into the vlei in total darkness, wondering if our gear would still be there, but it was. All the timers worked, we all got our stars.

©Roger Thomas

If you would like to try this yourself someday, why not join us to Namibia next year and shoot star trails at some of the best star trail locations in the world? Check out the Namibia Untamed photo tour page for more information on this spectacular trip. The tour is hosted by Marsel van Oosten and Daniëlla Sibbing.

©John Spillane

More success for a Namibia Squiverati

2010-08-10T10:42:00.000-07:00

Kah Kit Yoong is one of the finest landscape photographers we know, so it was a great joy to have him and his partner Winnie Ho join us on last year's Namibia Untamed tour. During the image reviews he consistently showed high quality images, and we were not surprised. What did surprise us though, was that his most impressive shot of the whole trip was actually a wildlife shot, something he had never done before. On one of our visits to the giant sand dunes of Sossusvlei, both Kah Kit and Winnie decided to hike deep into the dunes, a strenuous activity to say the least. And they were rewarded for their efforts. When the light was at its best, they encountered an Oryx on a dune opposite the one they were standing on. It was standing at the perfect spot, right on top of the ridge and in beautiful light. When Marsel first saw the shot, he knew that it was a winner. And a winner it is. His spectacular shot was highly commended in the Wildlife category of this year's ICP Awards.

©Kah Kit Yoong

As if this weren't enough, Kah Kit also got second prize with one of his New Zealand shots in the Landscape category, and his quivertree shot - also from the Namibia tour - got into the finals of the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year Awards. Congratulations Kah Kit, well deserved!

If you would like to see more of his work, have a look at his website: magichourtravelscapes.com
More specific info on the Quivertree shot and Kah Kit & Winnies thoughts about our Namibia Untamed tour can be found on their blog.

©Kah Kit Yoong

Succes for Namibia Squiverati!

2010-08-03T10:40:00.000-07:00

Landscape photographer Roger Thomas was one of our guests on this year's Namibia Untamed tour. We are as proud as he is, that one of his images from Deadvlei is now featured on the cover of the new Giottos 2010 Tripod Range brochure. Congratulations Roger! Or, as Roger would put it: Yabba Dabba Dooooooo!

Lecture for National Geographic

2010-07-18T07:20:00.000-07:00

Later this month Marsel will give a presentation for National Geographic on his nature photography, at the Wild Wonders of Europe exhibition in The Hague. Marsel will focus on the stories behind his photographs; how and where were they were made, what did it take to get the shot, what were the creative decisions, etc. Sorry, there are no more spots available for this event.

Special offer for Zambia and Kenya (September 2010)

2010-05-05T08:54:00.000-07:00

Book in May and get 250 Euro discount on our photo tours to Kenya and Zambia!

TEst We go to Kenya to photograph the migration, one of the most spectacular events in the world. Tens of thousands of wildebeest and zebra stream into the Masai Mara during the migration, and we will be right in the middle of the action. This is also the perfect time to see lions, leopards and cheetahs which all try to take advantage of the huge concentrations of game during this period. We will be staying in a mobile tented camp, set up privately for our group in two very strategic locations inside the Masai Mara. You can't get any closer to nature than this! All tents have private facilities and the camp staff will take care of your every need. You'll be camping luxury style. This trip offers you the best opportunities to get those amazing shots of the migration that you have always wanted!

Zambia is one of the last remaining unspoiled safari destinations. This Squiver photo tour takes you to South Luangwa NP, with its lagoons and riverine woodlands, and the Lower Zambezi NP, with elephants and buffalo grazing along the Zambezi river. You can shoot from vehicles, boats, canoes and on foot! Likely subjects are elephant, hippo, giraffe, zebra, buffalo, lion, and leopard, to name a few. Non-photographing partners will also enjoy this trip. You can book an extension to Victoria Falls; a location not to miss while in Zambia!

Interested in one of these trips? Make sure you book before 1 June 2010 and get 250 Euro discount! More info on www.squiver.com/phototrips.html

Daniëlla's snow monkeys featured in beer commercial

2010-05-03T08:26:00.000-07:00

As the original post was deleted (we were too quick with putting it on our weblog), we are reposting the announcement that video footage shot by Daniëlla at the snow monkeys in Japan was used in a TV commercial for Dos Equis beer. The advertising campaign for this Mexican beer revolves around an adventurous man, who ends up doing the most amazing things or finds himself in peculiar situations. That is why he is called "the most interesting man in the world". He does not always drink beer, but when he does, he prefers Dos Equis (XX).

The first commercial is a 30 seconds version, called "The Diver", where he shows up bathing with the snow monkeys.

The second commercial is a tag-on that features solely shots of the snow monkeys.

Want to visit the snow monkeys yourself? Join us on our photo tour to Japan in February! Visit our website for more information.

In search of new locations for photo tours

2010-03-15T09:34:00.000-07:00

Just to let you know that we are off for 7 weeks of traveling, looking at 3 new possible locations for photo tours. So if you email us, we will be very slow in getting back to you, because we are really going "off the beaten track"! 11 and 12 April we will (hopefully) have internet. And we are back home 5 May. So anywhere in between: please be patient ;-)

2 articles with Marsel this month

2010-03-15T09:29:00.000-07:00

For Dutch-speaking photo enthousiasts, it might be nice to know that there are articles featuring Marsel's photography this month in the following magazines:

Chip foto-video
Digi foto pro, special edition "MasterClass"

Chip foto-video features a lenghty interview, explaing how Marsel became a photographer, his vision on photography and the trips we organize. The article in Digi foto pro, is more instructional and Marsel gives a lot of tips about making better photographs. Both articles feature a selection of some of his best work. Enjoy!

Snow monkeys used in commercial General Electric

2010-02-20T09:00:00.000-08:00

We are proud to announce that some of the video footage Daniëlla shot in Japan of the snow monkeys is used in a TV commercial for General Electric. The commercial had its first appearance on TV in the US during the Olympic Games. It will be broadcasted worldwide and is also used on all the GE websites (local and international). The commercial below is from YouTube; if we get our hands on a higher quality version, we will surely repost!

Reposted due to an accidental deletion.

Squiver participant winner in photo competition!

2010-02-10T08:08:00.000-08:00

Claire went to the Wanderlust Travel Photo of the Year competition awards ceremony and found that she had won the Wildlife category with a shot made on our Squiver photo tour to Finland. You can see her shot posted on 24 January on this blog. The prize is a photo commission to Quito in Ecuador. You can see the finalists at www.wanderlust.co.uk/photography and click on the Wildlife category. Congratulations Claire!!!

New galleries online

2010-02-06T04:59:00.001-08:00

We have just put 5 new galleries online:

bears
elephants
Japan
Namibia
favorites

Please have a look at: www.squiver.com to check them out!

We are in Japan

2010-02-04T05:42:00.000-08:00

We are in Japan, hosting our Squiver photo tour that starts on Saturday. We will take a group of people to photograph the snow monkeys, cranes, swans and eagles. Plus the magnificent white wonderland of Hokkaido, with steamy and frozen lakes. Internet will be an issue during the trip, so if you send us an email, please be patient for a reply ;-)

The Namibia tour is full

2010-01-30T13:37:00.000-08:00

Our 2010 photo tour in May to Namibia has sold out. If you are interested in visiting Namibia with us, you can already make a booking for next year: www.squiver.com/booking_namibia.html. The tour will take place from 28 May 2011 until 11 June 2011. Namibia is our most popular tour and for 2011 we already have 3 participants, so it makes sense to book early!

Only 2 places left for Namibia - book now!

2010-01-26T06:22:00.000-08:00

If you want to join us in Namibia this year, you'd better be quick! We have only 2 places left on this popular tour, based on sharing a room.

We will take you around Namibia for 2 weeks, photographing stunning quivertrees, peculiar rock formations, a deserted mining town half covered with sand, the amazing red sand dunes, Namibia's photogenic natural rock arch at Spitzkoppe, and 2 days safari in Etosha. 15 days full of fun and stunning scenery! Bookings can be made at: www.squiver.com/booking_namibia.html.

The tour is hosted by Marsel van Oosten and Daniëlla Sibbing. You can expect a high level of tuition on the spot, images reviews and tips about composition, in order to improve your photography skills.

Succes for one of our participants

2010-01-24T04:14:00.000-08:00

Claire Waring joined us last year on our Squiver photo trip to Finland. She has reached the finals of the Wanderlust Photo of the Year competition with one of the bear images she took. The image is of a brown bear cub escaping a large male by climbing a tree and it was shot from a small hide in the Taiga forest of Finland. The awards will be announced on 5 February at the Destinations travel show in London.

Claire about the shot: "Young brown bear cubs avoid male bears which, given the opportunity, will kill them. When small, cubs can climb trees faster and higher than the males, and this is a favourite escape route. From the forest hide we were photographing bears wandering through. Suddenly, I heard a commotion. The cub was shinning up the tree away from the male below. The camera was set on motor drive and I was able to capture the moment with the cub metaphorically thumbing his nose at his pursuer. As the male moved away, the cub slowly descended and rejoined his mother and siblings."

Congratulations Claire. Nice shot!

New photo tour to Zambia

2010-01-04T02:39:00.000-08:00

During our second visit to Zambia last year, we decided that we definitely wanted to set up a photo tour to this spectacular country, and so we did!

Zambia is one of the last remaining unspoiled safari destinations in Africa. On this trip we will start in South Luangwa NP, with its lagoons and riverine woodlands, where elephants cross the South Luangwa river every day. The park and its water host large concentrations of wildlife, including over 400 bird species. We continue to Lower Zambezi NP, with elephants and buffalo grazing along the Zambezi river and on its numerous islands, and get eye-level shots of hippos. The safaris on land offer wildlife in beautiful settings with big winterthorn trees. We will shoot from vehicles, boats, canoes and on foot! You can top off your safari with a visit to the famous Victoria Falls. You can view an impression of this tour on video, by clicking the image below:

If this unique tour has your name on it, don't hesitate and make a booking now - this will be an exceptional African experience!

Happy New Year!

2010-01-03T05:32:00.000-08:00

Video of our Kenya photo tour

2010-01-03T05:30:00.000-08:00

This is the video with the tour impression of our Kenya photo tour in the Masai Mara. We had a blast! Come and join us in 2010 on this wonderful trip.

New Sponsor: Storm Jacket

2010-01-03T05:00:00.000-08:00

It is with great pleasure that we announce our partnership with Storm Jacket.

Storm Jacket Camera Covers are the fastest and easiest way to protect professional cameras and lenses from inclement weather conditions such as snow, sleet, wind, rain, sand, dust, and harmful UV rays.

Keeping your camera clean and dry when shooting outdoors isn't always the easiest task in the world. Yes, you can check the weather forecast beforehand – and then just stay home – but that’s not an option for the serious photographer.

And for the professional photographer, working in bad weather is just a routine part of doing business. Some of the most dramatic photo opportunities don’t occur on bright sunny days, or under the most ideal conditions for your camera gear. So what’s the answer? Well, umbrellas don’t work, plastic trash bags are slippery, easily torn and hard to fit, and most commercial camera covers are very expensive, take up too much space in your bag, and require a lot of time and effort to put on and take off. Storm Jackets offer a hassle-free solution for protecting your camera that can be put on or taken off in about 10 seconds and stores in its own pocket-sized carrying case.

Constructed from high-tech AquaNylon fabric, Storm Jackets won't lose their water repellency and are rugged enough to withstand the rigors of professional use.

We won't let a little rain stop us from shooting. Having a Storm Jacket in our camera bag or stuffed in a pocket is an absolute must. We have peace of mind knowing that our gear will be protected, and that we can keep right on shooting.

Marsel also likes to use his Storm Jackets on safari as protection against the dust and to camouflage his equipment when operating it remotely. If you have a herd of zebras galloping around your gear, that can create an incredible amount of dust - the Storm Jackets will keep your equipment clean and protected. The images show how Marsel first put the Storm Jacket on for dust prevention and initial camouflage, and then added branches to hide it from the wildlife. We will show the results later!

New Panorama Puzzle!

2010-01-03T04:00:00.000-08:00

The German naturalist Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) is regarded as the co-founder of geography as an empirical science and was a legendary figure even during his lifetime. On his global research travels he discovered the beauty of our world in its many forms, which this puzzle edition named after him impressively documents.

This stunning panoramic puzzle consists of 1000 pieces and measures approx. 94,5 x 32,8 cm (37.2 x 12.9"). You can now buy one for just €29,95 (excl. shipping). Email us if you want one of these old school entertainment boxes!

Marsel joins Mountain Trail Photo

2010-01-03T01:30:00.000-08:00

We are proud to announce that Marsel has joined Mountain Trail Photo. The MTP site was started to inspire and educate, and to offer collective photography, publishing, and workshop experience to other nature photographers. With Marsel added to the team, Mountain Trail Photo has now gone international and is no longer merely "Celebrating America's Most Scenic Places". The MTP team is made up of some of the world's top nature photographers, such as Marc Adamus, Richard Bernabe, Jim Clark, Jerry D. Greer, Bill Lea, Ian Plant, Joseph Rossbach, Nye Simmons, George Stocking and Guy Tal. Check out their websites and galleries containing hundreds of stunning landscape and wildlife images! To see Marsel's gallery on Mountain Trail Photo, click here.

Snow monkey image in new Nikon brochure

2010-01-03T01:00:00.000-08:00

Nikon has chosen one of Marsel's popular snow monkey images for their new Creative Lighting System brochure. It had been snowing for most of the morning when he took this shot of a little Japanese macaque, but it was not cold enough for the flakes to stay. As a result the fur of this young fellow was covered with what looked like thousands of little diamonds. Marsel used some fill flash to brighten the face and eyes of the macaque and to emphasize the drops of water.

Marsel has recently switched to the new SB-900 and he is looking forward to experimenting with it in Japan next month.

Tour impression Kenya now online

2009-12-21T08:56:00.000-08:00

The dates for our successful tour to Kenya have been set! We stay one night in Nairobi on 20 September 2010, after which we are off for a full week of migration spectacles. You'll see gnoes and zebras in numbers you would not think possible. Easy prey for the lions and cheetah, which follow the huge herds wherever they go.

And this year we are taking it a step further: we are going camping in the middle of the Masai Mara! You won't get closer to the bush than this. But.... we do camping in style: a private mobile camp with a generator for our laptops and camera batteries, beds in our tents and private facilities. We do the safari Squiver style, which means one row of seats per participant. This guarantees you enough room to move around freely in the vehicle and that you get the best views possible.

We've just added a video impression of our Masai Mara Migration photo trip to Kenya on our website, as well as a description of the trip. You can download the day-to-day schedule or read a report of our 2009 tour on our weblog. Like most tours, the Masai Mara photo tour is hosted by Marsel van Oosten and Daniëlla Sibbing.

Special offer Japan because of 2 cancellations

2009-12-07T09:32:00.000-08:00

Due to medical reasons, we have 2 cancellations on the Japan tour that starts 20 February 2010. Book now and get a 600 Euro last minute discount!

If you are interested in going to Japan, this is the time to make the booking! This customized tour normally costs 5100 Euro and has been arranged for a group of 9 guests in total. Due to 2 cancellations, these seats can be taken for only 4500 Euro per person. A discount of 600 Euro per person!
Download the day-to-day schedule at: www.squiver.com/Day-to-dayJAP2010.pdf and read all about this exciting tour, which starts on 20 February 2010, ending on 6 March 2010. This tour is customized and different from the schedule advertised on our website and in the PDF, with more emphasis on birds. We will spend one day less at the snowmonkeys and have an extra day in Rausu, to photograph eagles on the pack-ice more often. The tour includes 4 chartered boatcruises.

Winter is the perfect time to visit Japan. Its breathtaking, snow-covered landscapes are the perfect backdrop for us to photograph Japan’s unique wildlife. During this spectacular trip we will visit the famous snow monkeys, while they enjoy a hot steam bath in volcanic hot springs and play in the snow. We will travel to the northern island of Hokkaido (the Alaska of Japan), where we will photograph rare and beautiful red-crowned cranes while they perform their gracious winter dances, large flocks of whooper swans floating in misty lakes covered with ice and beautiful mountains in the background, and white-tailed and Steller’s sea eagles, as they sit on the pack ice that has drifted over from Siberia.  

Be quick and take advantage of the special discount of 600 Euro per person! It is available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Fill out the booking form before 25 December 2009 to apply for this special offer. Only applicable for new bookings!

Marsel featured in Nikon ad National Geographic

2009-12-05T04:51:00.000-08:00

Nikon's latest ad in National Geographic features one of Marsel's Japanese crane images. In the ad Marsel explains why he chose to shoot with Nikon, and why he still does. The original text is in Dutch, so here's a rough translation:

"I choose Nikon cameras because they are the most comfortable to handle. The ergonomics are truly unsurpassed. At Nikon they understand that nature photographers often have to work in extreme conditions. These Japanese cranes for instance I photographed in Japan at -23ºC. Every time I looked through the viewfinder and breathed, my breath immediately froze onto the camera, resulting in a thick layer of ice. Yet I did not have to change the battery a single time. And in Alaska I photographed brown bears in the pouring rain without any problems. As a professional you have to be able to blindly trust your equipment. I currently shoot with a Nikon D3 and Nikon D3X. I choose the D3 with its unprecedented low-noise sensor for fast action shots and low light situations, and I use the D3X for static subjects and landscapes. I love the flexibility of zoom lenses, and the quality of the Nikon zoom lenses is truly sublime: super sharp and fast. Especially in situations where I have to shoot handheld, Nikon's vibration reduction is highly effective and indispensable."

Marsel's bears in National Geographic

2009-11-22T06:55:00.000-08:00

The December issue of National Geographic (Dutch edition) will feature three pages on Marsel's brown bear photographs from Finland. In the accompanying short interview Marsel talks about his personal visual style and photography in general. Most of the shots were taken on this year's Squiver Wild Brown Bears trip.

Ultimate Bears of Alaska trip starts 4 August 2010

2009-11-15T03:10:00.000-08:00

We have set the date for our Ultimate Bears photo tour to Alaska. It will start on 4 August 2010 and consists of a full week of bear viewing! The price of this trip is 4995 USD and includes the round trip by float plane from Kodiak Island to Katmai, guided bear watching, guided fishing, kayaking, all meals, field instructions, image reviews and photo workshops.

We have two boats at our disposal, taking 5 guests per boat. This allows us to move freely around the bears and land our boat wherever we want, so we can all have a high quality experience in the field, without people blocking your way or being in view of your camera. On our website you can find more information about this spectacular photo trip. You can also download the day-to-day schedule for our Ultimate Bears photo trip 2010, which gives you a good idea of what lies in store for you in Alaska. You can expect a week full of thrills and amazing photo opportunities!

Weblog launched!

2009-11-02T23:25:00.000-08:00

Welcome to our new weblog, with all the news from our website and "new news" from the last 3 months. But do have a look at the older posts, because with the current lay-out all pictures that go with the articles are now in a large format. Have fun going through it and we hope to see you back often!

Marsel van Oosten & Daniëlla Sibbing

Only a few spaces left on the Japan tour

2009-11-01T07:25:00.000-08:00

One of next year's Japan photo tours is already fully booked, but there are still a few openings for the first one, from 5-19 February 2010. On this spectacular 15 day roundtrip, we will visit Tokyo, the famous snow monkeys in steaming hot springs, the rare and endangered red-crowned cranes performing their graceful winter dances, white-tailed eagles, Steller's sea eagles on sea ice from Siberia, and whooper swans on misty lakes.

Audio Slideshow on Nikon World

2009-10-30T05:03:00.000-07:00

Nikon World published an article with Marsel, in their Winter 2009 issue. Online you can read the article, view his images. But what's more unique: you can hear Marsel explain how he made the images! Watch and hear the audio slideshow, on the website of Nikon USA.

Book in stock, ready for orders

2009-10-28T02:50:00.000-07:00

We just received a fresh supply of the Wild Romance book and are ready for orders. If you like to travel in Africa, love photo books and like to see the most amazing places with spectacular wildlife, then this is the book for you.

Wild Romance features 46 of Africa's most romantic safari lodges from six African countries and includes a free DVD. It is a large format hard cover coffee-table book with 296 pages. Each copy will be signed by both Marsel and Daniëlla. You can order our book here: www.squiver.com/WildRomance.html.

Osos, leones, lynces (Wildlife Workshop Spain)

2009-10-24T02:51:00.000-07:00

Which is Spanish for bear, lion and lynx, but you knew that of course. ;) These are only three of over a hundred different animal species from five continents that live in the park we just visited. Despite the predictions, we were very lucky with the weather and got to spend a lot of time with the animals.

Each day we started with image reviews of previous day's results, and after breakfast we drove to the park where we stayed until after sunset. Favorite species were definitely the bears and the lynx, who were very cooperative and never disappointed. We were especially lucky to see two newborn bovines, minutes after they were born; a gaur calf and a watusi calf. The gaur is a large, dark-coated bovine animal from Asia. The biggest populations are found today in India. The gaur is the largest species of wild cattle, bigger than the Cape buffalo, water buffalo. The watusi are a breed of cattle originally native to Africa. They have very large, distinctive horns that makes them very photogenic. We also got to practice our birds in flight technique with some spectacular birds of prey.

We had a really good time and were very happy to see the amazing progress everyone made during this workshop - we hope to show some of the best images shot by the particpants on this blog soon!

Marsel wins 1st Prize in European Wildlife Photographer of the Year

2009-10-06T07:02:00.000-07:00

The GDT European Wildlife Photographer of the Year has announced the winners of 2009's competition, and we are extremely proud that Marsel was awarded 1st place in the Mammals category for the winning entry Elephant at Victoria Falls. The image was shot in Zambia, Africa, and features an African elephant near the edge of Victoria Falls, a very rare sight. This spectacular photograph is available as a fine art print at various sizes. Please have a look at the Shop section on our website for sizes and prices.

And as if this weren't enough, Marsel was also Highly Commended in the Birds category for his image Swan Lake. This photo was shot in Japan and features a gaggle of whooper swans in an icy lake at sunset.

The Migration: The Greatest Show on Earth

2009-09-29T05:09:00.000-07:00

We were pretty worried for this trip as Kenya faced the worst drought to hit the country in over a decade. The so-called "long rains" that usually fall in March and April failed this year, and some areas have now been in drought conditions for almost three years. No one knows why the drought has been so bad. Many attribute it to global warming, but others say it is simply part of the long-term weather cycle in East Africa.

Luckily, by the time our Squiver Phototrip started, so had the rain. On our first night in Nairobi we got some serious showers and we were all hoping the same was happening in the Masai Mara. On our flight to the Mara we didn't know what to expect - how many wildebeest would be there, if any?

The annual wildebeest migration happens from July-September between Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park and Kenya’s Masai Mara National Reserve. Thousands of wildebeest and zebras make the seasonal migration in search of food during this time, and predators such as lions take advantage of their movements. From July-August the wildebeest cross the Grumeti River in Tanzania on their way to Kenya.

When we flew over the Mara, we couldn't believe our eyes: there were wildebeest as far as our eyes could see, literally covering the landscape. It was a wonder we could land the plane without hitting some of them! The following days the weather was perfect; fresh in the morning, nice and warm during the day, and usually some showers in the afternoon. We could see the landscape getting greener and the wildebeest certainly enjoyed the fresh grass.

Obviously, we all wanted to see a crossing, which is actually easier said than done. It takes a lot of time, and luck, to see one. On several occasions we waited on the edge of the Mara river, sometimes watching thousands of wildebeest piling up on the other side, gathering courage to cross. But the Mara river is infested with huge Nile crocodiles, so it's understandable the wildebeest are a bit hesitant. And if one wildebeest gets spooked, they all run off. Patience is the key to success, and eventually we got to see a crossing from very close by. The water level was still low and there were no crocs in the water, which made it a lot easier for the wildebeest. Quite an impressive sight!

Of course wildebeest were not the only species we saw on this trip. We got some good lion sightings, lots of elephants and even a cheetah kill. Again, our patience paid off. We saw that the cheetah was watching a small group of gazelles from a distance, and decided to wait and see. The cheetah was just sitting and watching and didn't seem all that interested, the gazelles were pretty far away and the cheetah was not making any effort getting closer. But then it suddenly started to move towards the gazelles, first creeping, then trotting and then running at full speed. By the time the gazelles noticed what was happening, the cheetah was already half way there. One of the gazelles was still a young baby, and the cheetah tried to confuse it and separate if from its parents, an effective strategy. Moments after it took off, the cheetah caught the gazelle - it was all over before we knew it. Something we will not easily forget.

Another highlight was the balloon trip over the Masai Mara. It's already impressive to see so many wildebeest on the ground, but you don't realize the magnitude of this phenomenon until you see it from the air. Thousands of wildebeest forming long trails covering the landscape below, zebras and impalas running across the plains, and hippos and crocs in the rivers. Our pilot landed the balloon in the middle of the Masai Mara, after which we had a bush breakfast with a long line of wildebeest passing only a hundred meters away from us. The perfect end to a perfect morning.

Thanks to all participants for a wonderful trip, we hope to see you again!

Marsel wins in International Photography Awards

2009-09-15T02:10:00.000-07:00

The International Photography Awards (IPA) has announced the winners of 2009's competition, and we're proud to announce that Marsel was awarded 3rd place in the Nature category for the winning entry On The Lookout. This year's competition received nearly 18,000 submissions from 104 countries across the globe and is considered one of the most prestigious photography competitions in the world. The winning image was shot in Botswana, Africa, and features a meerkat silhouetted against the setting sun.

The meerkat or suricate (Suricata suricatta) is a small mammal and a member of the mongoose family. It inhabits all parts of the Kalahari Desert in Botswana and South Africa. Meerkats forage in a group with one "sentry" on guard watching for predators while the others search for food. Sentry duty is usually approximately an hour long. The meerkat standing guard makes peeping sounds when all is well. If the meerkat spots danger, it barks loudly or whistles.

Marsel: "I really wanted to photograph a meerkat silhouetted against a big ball of fire in the background, because my research had shown that no such image existed yet. In order to get this result I needed specific weather conditions (i.e. dust and haze) to get the highly saturated colors of the sun. I therefore had to try my luck several days in a row before everything finally came together. In order to be at the right spot at the right time, I had to follow these little fellows on foot, constantly trying to anticipate where they would stand. During the day they stay for longer periods in one spot, but around sunset they're in a hurry to get back to their burrows and they only occasionally stop for a few seconds to check out the surroundings for potential danger. After a few misses, I eventually managed to pick the right spot to set up my tripod and a meerkat appeared in my frame."

Amongst the other winners are Steve Bloom, Sebastian Copeland, Nadav Kander, Chris Frazer-Smith, Peter Lik and Kacper Kowalski.

On photo assignment in Zambia

2009-08-26T02:35:00.000-07:00

We're back in Johannesburg again. The last two weeks we have been on an assignment for two lodges in Zambia, and we had a fabulous time. We had photographed for this lodge before for the Wild Romance book, and they asked us back for some additional shots for their new brochures. We made some new shots of an existing room and some of a very new one that they were still building when we were there.

All the time that we were there, there were either elephants in the camp, or very nearby. One afternoon Daniëlla and the lodge manager had a relaxed chat on the verandah when an elephant walked by and briefly stopped to check them both out. They sat there motionless without making a sound to not to disturb the animal in any way, and after a few seconds it moved away again - a truly breathtaking experience.

Also part of the assignment, was to photograph a walking safari. This is one of the many cool things you can do in this area, and definitely not something you can do in most other African parks. Marsel wanted to photograph an elephant standing underneath one of the typical big trees, with a small group of people at a safe distance in the background. Photographing an elephant is one thing, but to photograph one with people in it is quite something else. We used two vehicles; one with Marsel in it and a guide, and one with the 'actors.' The idea was to have four people in the shot: two tourists, a guide and a security guard. We drove around the area, searching for elephants, preferably standing in good light and eating from a big tree. When we found one, Marsel would take position and direct the other vehicle to the spot where he wanted the people in the frame. He would then make the composition while the four actors would get out of their car and slowly and quietly walk into the shot. Obviously, with wild animals it is very important to keep a safe distance - both for the people and for the animal. By using a long lens Marsel was able to compress the perspective, pulling the animal and the people closer together in the shot.

To get a good shot was not easy to say the least. It takes time to find a good potential shot and then to all get into the right position, and by the time everything was set, the elephant was already starting to walk away or decided to turn around for a nice butt-shot. We eventually got the 'money shot' not far from our camp. A large elephant was feeding from a large tree and was not in a hurry to move - we gratefully took advantage of that!

The Masai Mara is getting ready for the migration

2009-08-15T10:40:00.000-07:00

We heard that huge heards of wildebeests are already moving in to the Mara, so we expect the Squiver Migration tour to be spectacular! We are still holding a few first-row seats. As the lodge is full, time to enlist is limited, so if you want to see the biggest spectacle on earth: book quickly!

Loads of leopards in South Africa

2009-08-05T02:22:00.000-07:00

We just finished this year's Extreme Leopards tour in South Africa, and it was fantastic. Not only did we see 16 different leopards in 10 days (!), we also had a wonderful group which made it even more enjoyable. The first camp we stayed in we had completely to ourselves, which was really nice. Dallas, Mike and Retief, our excellent guides, did a superb job finding leopards for us, helped by some of the best trackers in the region. Every now and then we had to do some serious off-road driving to find our elusive subjects, but that only added to the safari experience; exciting and fun! The days after a large elephant kill we had more difficulties finding leopards, due to a sudden increase of predators in the area, in particular hyena and lion, so we decided to spend more time on some of the other animal species. But it didn't take long before the leopards showed up again and we were presented with excellent sightings.

The last 3 days of the trip we spent at another lodge in a different area. Even though we were still in the same park, the habitat was completely different and made for a nice change for our images. Our leopard sightings got even better here, with one female and a cub, and another female with two cubs - exactly what we were all hoping for! On one day, one of our vehicles even made a 12-hour long game drive with non-stop action from one of the females and her cub - an unforgettable experience. Thanks to Chris, Gareth and Graham, our expert guides for all the hard work!

We all returned to Johannesburg with more leopards shots than we could count, and six pounds heavier from all the good food our chef Chedrick prepared for us... Four people from this year's group already indicated that they would like to join us again on this same trip next year - we're already looking forward to shooting with you again!

Back to the bush

2009-07-22T10:32:00.000-07:00

We'll leave for Africa again this week for the Extreme Leopards tour in South Africa and the Masai Mara Migration tour in Kenya. In between we'll be shooting on assignment in Zambia. We will have limited internet facilities in the bush, but we will try to access our email whenever we can. It will simply take us a little longer than usual to answer your questions. See you soon!

Our new book is out now!

2009-07-20T10:24:00.000-07:00

Good things come to those who wait. :-) This is what our publisher has to say about our new book:

"Wild Romance features 46 of Africa’s most sought-after safari getaways, those exclusive destinations where guests are virtually guaranteed encounters with the Big Five, alongside luxurious accommodation, superb service and first-class cuisine. The selected lodges are among the best that Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Namibia, Botswana and South Africa have to offer. Stunning photographs depict the setting, ambience and décor of each establishment, as well as the magnificent landscape and unique wildlife. Marsel van Oosten and Daniëlla Sibbing spent eight months travelling through southern and eastern Africa to capture images of some of the continent’s most desirable destinations for this book. Whether you are planning a honeymoon or simply want to get close to nature with someone special, an African safari provides the perfect opportunity to bond with a loved one in a setting that combines the rawness of nature with the comforts of a luxury lodge. For anyone who takes love seriously, Wild Romance is a celebration of a once-in-a-lifetime African experience."

This hard cover, coffee table-style book features 296 pages, 730 full colour photographs and includes a free DVD. If you're interested in pre-ordering a signed copy, please drop us an email and we'll put you on the list. We will start shipping books in October. You can buy a signed copy of Wild Romance for 39,95 euro, excluding packaging & postage on www.squiver.com/WildRomance.html

BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2009

2009-07-12T10:41:00.000-07:00

Like last year, one of Marsel's images was selected for the final round of judging in the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year. The selected image is called 'Lashes' and features a close-up view of the eye and incredible long eyelashes of an African elephant. This stunning photograph is now available as a Limited Edition print. Please visit the Store section on our website for pricing and ordering information.

Second tour added to White & Wild Japan 2010

2009-07-11T10:35:00.000-07:00

As this popular trip filled up already quite early this year, we have decided to add another one, two weeks earlier: from 5-19 February 2010.

We expect this trip to fill up quickly as well, as the first bookings are already in. So if you would like to photograph snow monkeys bathing in natural hot springs, the elegant dances of the Japanese cranes, whooper swans in a snow covered winter wonderland, and Stellar's sea eagles on floating pack ice from Siberia - don't hesitate and make your reservation now!