New Panorama Puzzle!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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.