28 November 2008

New video added for the Extreme Leopards Photo Trip

We've added a new video to our website with an extensive impression of our Extreme Leopards Photo Trip in South Africa. It is a Big-5 safari, during which you will spend many hours photographing leopards in the wild. It is the best South Africa has to offer!


15 November 2008

Chris Gray shoots Top 10 winner during Squiver photo trip

The North American Nature Photographers Association (NANPA) has announced that Chris Gray has won a Top 10 place in this years competition. There were over 4,300 entries. Chris joined us on our Namibia Untamed photo trip last May during which he made the winning shot.

Chris says: "In the spring of 2008, I was on a photographic expedition in Namibia. One of our stops was an area with the most unusual natural rock formations. During the daytime it offers spectacular photographic opportunities of quivertrees and dolerites (gigantic magma formations about 180 million years old). At night it is spell-binding, it is almost like it puts a trace on you as you are transported to another place and time. The darkness was filled with millions of brightly shining stars and several other celestial bodies, including a couple of man-made satellites. The sounds of nature in the surrounding area dramatically added to the sense of awe I was feeling. I knew I had to try and capture this visual experience."
Besides this Top 10 shot, Canada-based Chris also shot a Top 100 NANPA winner on this same trip to Namibia. Both images will appear in NANPA Expressions 2009 that will be released in January 2009 and on the NANPA website. You can see more of his pictures on his own website: www.photogray.ca

10 October 2008

Marsel's image in the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington

Marsel's image of a Namaqua chameleon catching a beetle is currently displayed at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington, USA.

The Smithsonian is the world's preeminent museum dedicated to inspiring curiosity, discovery, and learning about the naturaly world through its unparalleled research, collections and exhibitions. Marsel's image is part of the exhibition of the Nature's Best Photography Awards - one of the most prestigious nature photography competitions in the world - and was chosen from more than 17,000 entries! The exhibition lasts until May 3, 2009.

27 September 2008

Entries for Photo Trip to Japan closing in two weeks time!

As we need to make the final arrangements for Japan, entries are closing 1st of October 2008. Please make your bookings for this trip before that date. We have managed to lower the price of this trip to 4250 EURO (approx. 6045 USD*) for two full weeks travelling in Japan and we will take you to the most spectacular places imaginable. We will focus on photographing Japanese macaques (snow monkeys), red-crowned cranes, Steller's sea eagles, white-tailed eagles and whooper swans.

But you also get to experience the ancient Japanese culture in Tokyo and find yourself in simply beautiful landscapes in Hokkaido, the most northern island of Japan.
If you would like to see what lies in store for you, please visit our website for photos and videos on the White & Wild Photo Trip page. Or download our PDF with detailed info: www.squiver.com/Japan.pdf

18 September 2008

Winner International Photography Awards

International Photography Awards (IPA) announced the winners of this year's IPA Photographer of the Year awards, and we are extremely proud to announce that Marsel was awarded 1st Prize for his calendar "Africa".
Marsel also received 9 Honorable Mentions for images he shot in Japan, Namibia, South-Africa, Zambia and Alaska.


IPA is the world's most prestigious photography contest and Marsel's winning entry was picked from over 22,000 submissions from 124 countries across the globe. The winning images will be exhibited at the Farmani Gallery in Los Angeles. They will then travel to eight other countries.

01 September 2008

Large format calendar on Africa

A selection of Marsel's Africa images have been used for a high quality art series calendar. The 2009 calendar features 12 of his shots at an impressive size: 27" x 23" (69 x 59 cm). Currently the calendar is only available in German-speaking countries, but we're looking into the possibility to sell them through our website.

28 August 2008

Successful at the Travel Photographer of the Year Awards

This week the results of the Travel Photographer of the Year Awards were announced, and we were thrilled to hear that Marsel has been succesful in this competition as well. His African elephants series was awarded a Second Place in the portfolio category, his image of an oxcart and baobab trees from Madagascar was Highly Commended, and his popular chameleon image was given a Special Mention in the Best Single Image in a Portfolio category. The winning images can be seen on www.tpoty.com and will be displayed at the Travel Photographer of the Year exhibition at Focus on Imaging, Europe’s largest imaging show, in February 2009.

30 July 2008

Interview in Digital SLR Photography Magazine

Digital SLR Photography Magazine featured a lengthy 14-page interview with Marsel in their July issue.


He talks about how he got into photography, the influence of his advertising career on his work, his personal style, the rise of digital photography and his photo equipment. The interview also features a selection of 15 full color images. You can download the interview here.

19 July 2008

Photographing leopards

New Squiver Photo Trip, July/August 2009 - We are proud to present an amazing new Photo Trip, focusing on photographing the most beautiful of the African Big Cats: the leopard. The leopard is notoriously difficult to find, and the chance that you will encounter one in good light, and long enough to take some good shots during a gamedrive in one of the many parks Africa has to offer, is usually slim to none. That is why we will take you to Sabi Sands, the best place in the world to see and photograph this prestigious animal in the wild. This area has the highest leopard-density in the world and our specialized guides and trackers know exactly how and where to find them.


The first week we have our own private camp: six luxury suites, each with a private viewing deck overlooking the riverbed, indoor and outdoor showers and air-conditioning. Thatched roofs, mosquito nets draped over the comfortable beds and beautiful wooden finishes complete the picture of an exclusive safari getaway. The last three nights of safari are spend in luxury rooms at the main camp of MalaMala, a private reserve in Sabi Sands, renowned for the excellent leopard viewing. 99% of guests spending 2 nights there experience more than one leopard sighting a day! And although our focus will be on leopards, we are in Big Five area and may encounter lion, rhino, buffalo and elephant as well. This is South Africa at its very best!

All gamedrives are done "Squiver-style", which means that you will have your own row of seats in order to move around freely in the car and to have an uninterrupted view on your subject, regardless of it being on the right or left side of the vehicle. This 12-day trip gives you 10 full days of gameviewing with 20 gamedrives in one of the finest wildlife areas of the world!

Join us next year on this new Photo Trip!
You can access the Extreme Leopard webpage via the general Photo Trips page on the Squiver website.

15 July 2008

New photo trip: Spain Wildlife Workshop

New Photo Trip, October 2009 - If you want to improve your wildlife photography and camera skills, this exciting workshop in beautiful Spain is just the thing you're looking for! We will take you to the largest zoological park in the world, where we’ll be able to photograph more than a hundred different animal species from the five continents.

The animals live in semi-wild conditions in large open areas made up of unusual limestone rock formations produced by erosion. Rusting iron minerals have painted the rocks in a wide variety of colours. This gives us the opportunity to photograph the animals with unique natural backgrounds. Expect in-the-field instructions, daily image reviews and watch your images improve during the course of this week.

Visit our website for more information about this trip, to see some pictures and an extensive video of what lies in store for you.

Book in July and get a €400 discount on your trip to Japan!

We have just added a PDF to our website with a more detailed description of the trip and information about what lies in store for you if you join us to the magical White & Wild Japan photo trip. Please visit the Japan Photo Trip page or download the PDF here: www.squiver.com/Japan.pdf


On the Photo Trip page of Japan you can find a description of the tour and links to:
- an image gallery
- several stunning videos (snow monkeys, whooper swans and cranes & eagles)
- a PDF with tour information
- a booking form
Go to www.squiver.com to have a look.

The early-bird discount of €400 for the Photo Trip in Japan is only valid for another three weeks, so make your booking now!

06 July 2008

Wild Brown Bears in Finland

Report of a Squiver Photo Trip - In June we took an group of photo enthusiasts to Finland, to photograph wild brown bears in their beautiful natural habitat, and it was a big success. New hides had been added to the existing ones, which meant we could not only photograph the bears in a gorgeous forest setting, but also in a swamp and near a small lake with stunning reflections in the water. The weather was good, with lots of sunshine, so we could photograph far into the night (the sun does not fully set in Finland around this time of year). But the best of all: we had on average 8 bears per night in front of our cameras! That gave everyone plenty of opportunities to shoot a lot and improve their shots each day, which really showed in the daily image reviews. What made it extra special was that we saw three different mothers with 2 or 3 tiny cubs each, only a few months old. At some point we even got them as close as 3 meters from our hide! They are the cutest things you can get in front of your lens, and some of us even wanted to take one home.


Please visit the Wild Brown Bears Photo Trip page, where you can download a PDF with detailed information, have a look at the image gallery, see a video and read what our participants had to say about this trip. The first bookings for 2009 are already in, so don't hesitate and reserve yourself a seat for this growling photo tour in Finland!