2010 has been a good year for me....photgraphically. Blogging is a perishable medium, yesterdays pictures are easily forgotten, so : I hope you don`t take for beeing pompous (!) ...but I have been tempted to make a "2010 retro highlights blog" !! I will also do this blog in English since I am lucky to have an english speaking audience out there. I have challenged myself to find the two best shots of every month during the year of 2010. I thought this would be an easy process, however it appeared to be frustratingly difficult, ....and of course, my artist wife Ingebjørg completely disagrees with my choices (as usual). I am just s much a biologist as photographer, so here we go !!
JANUARY 2010 :
Most people remember their "the first time"(?). This goes for me as well !! This is my first tiger experience. Chital deer, sambar deer and bushhogs came blasting out of the bamboo thickets, my heart went beating like a punk drummer, I was was ready and focused to shoot...and nothing happened, until my friend tapped me on my shoulder and wispered : "Look behind you". There she was, just 15 meters away from our open car, appox 250 kg heavy and completely relaxed. I will never forget her !!!
Due to an approaching male tiger and the terrain we knew that the leopard of Bandhavgarh National Park in India had to cross the road in front of us. He was hiding in the bush beside the road for 20 minutes before he suddenly burstes out. It took him 2 seconds to cross the road and I shot 17 pictures !
FEBUARY 2010 :
We spent 3 days & 3 nights in a hide in eastern Finland with temperatures below 30 degrees C, hoping to get "wolves in heavy winter landscape", .... and saw basically : nothing. However, on our way back from the hides we stumbled to see a freshwater otter on the ice of a frozen river. With 20 degrees below it was impressing to see the otters playful attitude to water and temperature.
MARCH 2010 :
In march I spent a week in Ole Martin Dahles eagle hides in Flatanger in Mid Norway. With stormy winter-weater both eagles and my Nikon-lenses had a rough time !!
APRIL 2010 :
To me whooper swans and cranes are symbols of the shy and fragile nothern wilderness. Approaching these birds fills me with a lot of respect. This was shot some late afternoon during the "blue hour".
MAY 2010 :
Great snipes (dobbeltbekkasiner) in mating season on an alpine marsh in mid Norway, the upper a male in display and the lower one in deep (?) reflection. What I remember the most from this experience is an extremely cold night !!
JUNE 2010 :
I sat uncomfortably in a hide up in a tree for 30 hours to get this picture of the great grey owl (lappugle) finally coming blasting out of the spruce branches straight towards me. My favourite shot !!
I was lucky to get a lot of pictures of pygmee owl (spurveugle) on this location, even closeups sitting on mouseprey on a brach, but still : this owl in this soft green environment is my "no one" !!
JULY 2010 :
There has been taken thousands of similar pictures of whitetailed eagle picking up fish from the water. Still : I like the action, eye contact of the bird, sharpness and bluish light of this image espescially good.
Common tern playing violin ?? Picture taken with the camera on a floating hide and myself swimming inside the hide in a wetsuit.
AUGUST 2010 :
Picture of male eider duck taken from the same floating hide with the lens just 5 cm above the surface of the seawater.
Herring gull-dance
SEPTEMBER 2010 :
Altogether I have now spent approx 400 hours in hides in eastern Finland to capture the magic of wild wolves. I have seen and photographed these fantastic animals several times before, but NEVER had the luck that I had in september this year. I will never forget the eyes of the alpha male looking me "right in the lens".
Female wolf in a foggy morning on the marsh
OCTOBER 2010 :
Red kites (glenter) from Rhayder in Wales UK.
NOVEMBER 2010 :
DECEMBER 2010 :
Fighting male grey seals (havert) of Donna Nook UK in mating season.
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Thanx for following my blog and leaving your comments. I appreciate it very much !!
Happy new year
Dette var imponerende da! Ternen som spiller på sin fiolin (vingen) synes jeg var utrolig flott da. Har ikke ord for å beskrive disse bildene. Du har hatt et flott fotoår. Gratulerer.
SvarSlettHei Tom og godt nyttår til deg!! Her var det mye bra, og dette vitner om et hektisk år!! Favoritten min er ulven i tåka, skulle gjerne hatt de dagene der i Finland!!!
SvarSlettFantastiske bilder - så mange forskjellige blinkskudd på et år!! Ulven er min favoritt!!
SvarSlett- Birgit
Du har tydeligvis hatt et godt fotoår Tom. Uglen blir også min favoritt - det oser av uforstyrret villmark. Klimaregnskapet ditt skal vi la ligge i denne omgang ;-)
SvarSlettTerna kommer høyt hos meg også, samt den siste haverten.
SvarSlettE-e-elsker måkebildet og ternebildet! Hehe, når du blir så gammel at du ikke kan gå mer, så kan du jo bare kjøre rullestolen rett utenfor døra!:-D Flink!!
SvarSlettSkikkelig flotte bilder og kjempeartig sammenstilning - meget bra jobba og lykke til i 2011!
SvarSlettFor noen opplevelser du må ha hatt!! -Og for noen bilder... Ulven står fortsatt sterkt hos meg.
SvarSlettSer fram til nye bilder fra deg framover! Det dukker nok opp mye spennende :)
Mye gode bilder til inspirasjon, og ikke minst opplevelsene.
SvarSlettHej Tom o gratulerar till ett fantastiskt fotoår !! Det är fotokonst av högsta klass du visar här o jag tänker inte ens föröska völja någon favorit för de är de allihop!!
SvarSlettTack för att du visar oss andra dessa bilder och låter oss inspireras!
Ha ett Gott nytt 2011 - och ser fram emot nästa års sammandrag av 2011 års bilder !:))
Gurimalla seie bara eg for noen utrolig flotte og nydelige bilder.
SvarSlettEg bøye meg for fotografen.
Very interesting blog. A lot of blogs I see these days don't really provide anything that attract others, but I'm most definitely interested in this one. Just thought that I would post and let you know.
SvarSlett