thereal wisps of dew float off a brown
bear’s shaggy coat as the first rays of
daylight warm the forest glade. She
saunters across the frost-kissed earth
towards an old tree rubbed shiny by countless
morning back scratches. Only her sighs of
contentment break the dawn’s silence.
"
Prrrrrrr..."
The soft whirrs of a camera’s motor drive
ripple through the still air, but not loud
enough to alarm the bear’s alert
senses. High in a treetop hide, a
camouflaged photographer
scrolls through the
hundreds of pin-sharp
images and smiles:
another successful
mission.
Across Europe, such communions with raw
nature are already commonplace, but while
capturing wildlife on film once required both
the money and time to mount pictorial safaris
to exotic locations, it’s no longer the exclusive
preserve of intrepid professional adventurers.
We’re living in what could be a golden age
for the amateur photographer – and it has
everything to do with technology. Thanks
to the fast-evolving (and ever cheapening)
digital cameras and the rise of low-cost air
travel, enthusiastic amateur photographers
can capture on film the likes of bears, wolves
and lynx in their once-inaccessible haunts
and, importantly, go on to claim their deserved
applause on a plethora of blogs, forums and
websites. These same internet sites also provide
the kind of advice and support that, once upon
a time, could only ever have been learned
through years of practice or having the right
connections. It all adds up to one thing: wildlife
photography is fast-developing into one of the
most popular outdoor pursuits around.
You don't need to travel to far-flung
climes either. Across Europe, North Africa
and the near Middle East there are gateways
to fascinating woodlands, marshes, deserts
and mountain zones, previously out of reach
to would-be wildlife adventurers, which
are abundant in natural riches. Morocco,
Turkey, Israel, former Eastern-Bloc nations
and even the hinterlands of Spain, France
and Greece possess pristine wildernesses
where it’s possible to see a fascinating array
of large mammals, beautifully marked birds
and a multitude of reptiles, amphibians,
invertebrates and plants.
The evolution of the modern camera from
a throwaway, one-shot, happy-snap device
into today’s digital marvel, with multimillion-
megapixel picture quality and an array
of techie features – such as depth-of-field
preview, sensor crop, burst rate and image
stabilisation – is another factor. Having spent
01:
CityGull
Canon EOS 450D
+ 100mm f2.8 lens;
1/250,
f4.5, ISO 200
Eve Tucker,
Canary Wharf, London
02:
Fallow deer
Canon EOS-1D Mark
III + 300mm lens; 1/3200,
f/4.9, ISO160
Mark Bridger,
Richmond Park, London
0 9 2
A C R O S S T H E N E T W O R K
