Photo credits
A picture is worth a thousand words.
The work of three special photographers, whose passion for nature translates through their images are featured on our homepage.
Floris van Breugel - www.artinnaturephotography.com
Floris van Breugel is a passionate nature photographer particularly interested in discovering creative interpretations of mysterious, otherworldly, and elegantly beautiful landscapes. His inaugural experience in the outdoors was a trip to the Grand Canyon at a few months old, where his parents 'baptized' him as a son of nature under the sprinkling Ribbon Falls.
They may have gotten more than they bargained for. It wasn't until two decades later, however, that his love for nature culminated in him picking up a camera. Floris' images have appeared worldwide in places such as the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition, Living Bird Magazine, Germany’s Geo Magazine, and others.
When not out adventuring Floris can be found in the lab working towards his PhD on insect flight control and behavior at Caltech and the University of Washington.
"Plant Oils on Water"
Natural iridescent plant oils from decaying leaves coat the surface of this little pool of water, resulting in a kaleidoscope of colours. The surface layer is very fragile and cracks with the slightest movement of water, in this case likely due to the motion of the cottonwood leaf floating in the colourful soup. Floris found this little scene in Utah's Escalante National Monument.
Tiny thimble jellyfish (Linuche unguiculata) drift with the current in the calm torquiose waters of a lagoon in Ofu, American Samoa. The window of sky is called Snell's Window, caused by refraction of light entering the water.
Richard Peters - www.richardpeters.co.uk
Richard's passion for wildlife was inspired in a big way from growing up watching the BBCs incredible wildlife documentaries.
His photography has taken him to some amazing places and his efforts have been recognised through awards in various competitions including the highly prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year (WPOTY) and the British Wildlife Photography Awards (BWPA).
Richard's photos have been published across the globe and have been used in a variety ofmediums to advertise campaigns and companies including BskyB and Natural England. Richard blogs for himself and for Nikon Europe and WEX Photographic.
He's on the judging panel for competitions run by both Nikon and the BBCs Countryfile, where he appeared on the TV show as a short list judge three years running after previously winning the competition.
The story of "Snow Pounce"
We had spotted several mousing fox during our trip to YNP, however they were always quite distant in the fields and valleys. So when, after viewing this fox for some time out in a field, it vanished, only to appear on a snow bank at the roadside, there wasn't much time to think. We drove forward slightly to get in better position, but could already see the fox looking at the ground, ears pointed up, a sure sign it had heard it's prey under the snow and was about to pounce.
I barely had to time to place the fox in the viewfinder before it leaped up in the air, almost clean out of my field of view! The speed and agility of these animals when leaping for a snow dive during mousing is incredible and the height they gain really took me by surprise and because the fox was on a snow bank which was almost the height of the car window, it gave me the advantage of being almost completely level with it. The result is a clean, sightly darker background thanks to a shadow covered field beyond.
This really helps the image give a sense of just how high these wonderful animals can jump!
Drew Sutton - www.eco2.com and www.niceimages.net
Drew Sutton is a ground breaking underwater photographer, cameraman and documentary maker with 20 years diving and filming experience around the world.
He has worked with numerous international organisations including Whale and Dolphin Conservation where he is an ambassador, WWF and the BBC Natural History Unit filming blue whales and humpback whales in Sri Lanka, pilot whales in Gibraltar, and humpbacks and whale sharks in Tanzania.
Along with the renowned author, Philip Hoare, Drew has produced articles on cetaceans. Drew has recently produced a film for Sri Lankan Airlines to highlight Project BLUEprint - a project in which the airline and WDC are working together to jointly develop a community-based responsible whale and dolphin watching industry off the coast of Sri Lanka and encourage responsible behaviour amongst local boat tour operators.
For over 12 years Drew has been principle videographer with the Rwandan Genocide NGO Survivors Fund UK and recently with a social orphanage in Granada, Nicaragua. He is the co-founder of Eco2 Diving & Marine Research in Tanzania, and NiceImages London & Madrid.
Blue whale in Sri Lankan waters
