BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2009

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

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!

Finland was a party with a lot of bears!

We had another very succesful photography trip to the Taiga forests of Finland. It is very impessive to see these beautiful creatures and to be so close, without them noticing us at all. It was mating season and we were treated to a lot of actvitity. We photographed bears mating, swimming in the water, climbing trees, playing and fighting. They sometimes came so close, we could count their lashes! We saw lots of adult bears, but also several mothers with cubs. Needless to say that everyone was very happy. We are planning two trips for 2010, so make sure to join us next year if you like bears!

Back from Namibia

New tourdates already planned for 2010 - We have just returned from this year's Namibia Untamed photo tour. Winter had arrived early in Namibia, so it wasn't as hot as last year and we even had to wear our sweaters and long pants most of the time.

"Many thanks for such a fantastic itinerary on the Namibia Untamed tour. You combined great photographic opportunities with a most memorable holiday experience."
-Kah Kit Yoong, Australia

We made some minor adjustments to the itinerary to make it an even better trip. The red dunes of Sossusvlei were as impressive as always, and this year we were treated with a remarkable amount of great oryx sightings - we even had one walking in Deadvlei!

"Perfectly organised trip to some very well and some little known photographic spots in beautiful Namibia. It improved my skills and my photographic way of looking and photograph landscape and detail in the landscape. Marsel and Daniëlla make sure that you are at the right spot at the most beautiful light of the day."
-Evelien Schermer, The Netherlands

The early morning flight in the microlight over the dunes was once again one of the unforgettable highlights of the tour; no matter where you pointed your camera, great shots were inevitable! A new element was the night at Spitzkoppe, camping under the stars, which were amazing!



We tried shooting star trails during the night, so we didn't get much sleep, but got some great shots in return.

"An exceptional tour. Well balanced and would suit everyone from beginner to advanced. Stunning scenery, fantastic locations, and the planning was perfect. Long days but well worth it!
I certainly could not have achieved the same results by visiting Namibia by myself. Thank you so much for the most memorable photographic trip of my life. I wholeheartedly recommend this trip to everyone."
-Tony McLean, UK

In Etosha, we spent the evening at the waterhole watching no less than 7 rhinos (including the highly endangered black rhino), 10 giraffes, 2 elephants and countless zebras drinking and enjoying the water. On the game drive the next morning, we saw enormous herds of zebra and a lot or other plains game. Towards the end of the morning we spend time at a herd of 24 elephants, with quite a few playful little ones - the perfect end to a perfect trip! We would like to thank all participants for making this such a wonderful tour!

"As a complete beginner with no prior knowledge of photography I did not think I would be able to participate much and that was not the case - I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and learned a lot from Marsel's reviews and workshops. Daniëlla is a great organiser and nurturer! Thank you both for a wonderful trip. I am very inspired to go further and learn more..."
-Luana, South Africa

Portfolio interview in Nikon World Magazine

Marsel was recently interviewed for Nikon World Magazine, a showcase of images, techniques and insights of the world's greatest photographers! One of his favorite snow monkey images was chosen to feature on the cover, and it looks awesome. Marsel talks about light, patience, and how the images were made. You can download the entire interview here (pdf).

New crisis-friendly Tanzania Tour

When we went to an ATM last week, and it asked us to borrow twenty Dollars, we knew that we had to make some serious adjustments to our Tanzania Deluxe photo trip. ;-)

So we changed the extravagant luxury safari palaces to more earthly accommodations, we moved from the Grumeti Reserves to the famous Serengeti, we changed the name of the trip to Wonders of Tanzania, and after some wild credit crunch negotiations with our African agents we managed to get better deals. The result is that we now have a very competitively priced safari to the world renowned Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti for almost half the original price, and cheaper than most other photography tour operators. Please check out the photo trips page for more information. If you would like to join us on this trip, don't hesitate - at this price, we expect it to fill quickly!

Only a few spots left for Namibia and Finland

Namibia Untamed & Wild Brown Bears 2009 - If you're interested in joining us to Namibia or Finland, don't hesitate any longer...only a few spots are left on both trips and time is running out!


If you like shooting landscapes, than Namibia is very hard to beat; fairy-tale like quivertrees, a sand covered ghost town, the highest red sand dunes in the world, and the surreal scenery at Deadvlei - your camera will be working overtime! We were one of the first companies to offer specialized photographic tours to this beautiful country and we are still as passionate about it as after our first visit. And even though other companies have since started to offer similar tours, we are considerably cheaper than most and we are still the only one that offers microlight flights over the Sossusvlei dunes.


For bear lovers, our Finland photo trip offers the best possibilities in Europe to photograph these impressive animals in their natural habitat. You are guaranteed to return with awesome bear shots!
Both trips are open to participants of all experience levels. Visit the Photo Trips pages on our website for more information about these trips, and to see some pictures and video clips.

Marsel wins First Prize in NPN Awards

We are proud to announce that for the second time in three years Marsel has won First Prize in the Nature Photographers Network Editor's Pick Awards. His image of an African lion drinking at a waterhole was chosen as the winner of the Wildlife category.

Marsel is honored to have his photography so widely acclaimed by such a talented group of fellow nature photographers. This year he had five photos recommended over three different galleries, a new NPN record! The image was shot in South Africa with a radio controlled remote triggering system.

And as if this weren't enough, two other shots were Highly Commended in the Naturescapes Images of the Year Awards. His popular chameleon shot was chosen as the runner up in the Wildlife category, and his sunday afternoon Photoshop experiment "Symmetree" (pun intended) was succesful in the Digital Creations category.


Fine art prints of each of these images are now available through our website.

New galleries

Our new book is now at the printer's, so we finally have some time to spend on other things - like our website. Marsel has started updating the Galleries, removing some of the old images and replacing them with a lot of new work.


Although this is still work in progress and not all galleries have been updated yet, you might want to check out the updated or new galleries: Travel, Wildlife, Landscape, Leopards and Natural World.

Special offer on leopards tour

Original price: 4500 EURO. Now only 3450 EURO per person! - We already managed to decrease the price of the Extreme Leopards Photo Trip, but we can now offer you an even bigger discount on this amazing trip. Based on a group of just 10 guests, we will take you to an amazing Big Five area, which is famous for its sightings of leopards. With only 4 people per vehicle and 10 full days of safari for only 3450 EURO (approx. 4500 USD), we expect this trip to be very popular! Please visit our website to view the new leopards gallery and to read more about this wonderful trip! Bookings should be in before 15 May 2009.

Happy Holidays!

Publication in the international version of National Geographic in January 2009

We are extremely proud to announce that one of Marsel's favorite images from Zambia was chosen by National Geographic to feature as a double page spread in the January 2009 edition of the magazine. While working on a photo book in Zambia, we visited the famous Victoria Falls and Marsel was desperate to try and find a way to take an original picture of this over-photographed icon.

When local people told us that an elephant had been spotted in the vicinity of the falls, we were determined to get a shot with both the elephant and the falls. After several visits our perseverance finally paid off: the only picture in the world with an elephant standing at the edge of Victoria Falls! Limited Edition Fine Art Prints of this spectacular image are now available on request.