With our guide Christopher we are getting the first impressions of the Svalbard landscape. With four teams of eager and highly energetic sled dogs we are heading out. The mountainous landscape is under a soft blanket of snow. The silence is interrupted only by the barking and yelping of the dog teams. We are planning to travel up to a glacier and enter through a narrow cave deep into the center of the frozen body of ice. The dogs had had a good rest before our trip and so the

It has been several years now that I have worked on my second Freedom to Roam project. During the project I had the incredible chance to focus a lot of my energy on the Alaskan Arctic. Through the project I was able to document areas in great depth for months. For me the Arctic has such a draw, because it is such a vast open landscape that has very little human presence. Many places are true wilderness areas. Besides Alaska I had the chance to travel to several other arctic l

Wrapped in layers of clothes I am laying on my stomach, watching a large group of longhaired beasts, that seemed to be from a prehistoric world. The wind has picked up in the course of the night to 40 miles and hour. It whips up the mountain sides and sweeps up small ice crystals that hit my skin like needles. In different areas blowing snow becomes thick and travels across the ground like a ghost of fog. As parts of my face start to get colder and want to turn numb; and my h

I have been working on my second Freedom to Roam project ” B2B – The Wild Coast ” for a few years now. This spring I came back again to Baja California to photograph aspects of the massive migration that takes part along America`s West Coast. I was specifically interested in the different shore birds and waterfowl that rely upon a “daisy-chain” of wetlands on their migration to their nesting grounds up north in the high arctic. A lot of the habitats are in tidal zones along t

It is the time of the year that the Grey Whales are making their journey back north migrating some 6000 miles along America`s west coast from Baja California to the Bering Sea. The grey whale is one of the flagship species representing my “B2B – Freedom to Roam” project. They literally migrate the entire distance twice a year. It is the longest migration undertaken by any mammal on the planet. For me it was really important to document this migration story as part of the proj

Alaska Dreaming is such a wonderful thing. It lets our mind unfold in an entirely hopeful fashion. No fears of failure or negativity. It seems that the older I have grown, the more I dare to dream. It unleashes an incredible amount of energy. When I dreamed off the arctic in the past it was the thoughts of a wast unspoiled wilderness filled with resilient life. A landscape so unknown and big, that my imagination could run free creating a fascinating sense of wonder and desire

Alaska I realized mosquitoes are a popular subject. I had a little video camera with me on this trip. I am just trying to figure out how to bring you some “behind-the-scenes” impressions once in a while. The background. We had flown back to the spot of the wolf den after having seen the wolves there several weeks before. After we arrived at the location, we were in Mosquito-hell or mosquito heaven, depending from which perspective you look at it. Since we had made all the e

Alaska It is the worst trying to hold the lens still, when you feel the mosquitos landing on your hand starting to sting Remember this moment, when you peacefully lay in bed on a warm summer evening, you close your eyes and want to finally relax and slip off into dream world……. and then suddenly you hear this single little mosquito flying around your head. You hear the ziiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii ziiiiiiiiii coming closer to your face and you try to feel where this damn mosquito

Hey everybody……. I know I have been promising to write about my arctic aerial expedition. To tell you the truth, I am in kind of restless state where my thoughts are all over the place right now. The experience that I had in the arctic was so incredible. Some of the impressions were so profound, that I feel I cannot express it in a blog that I just write in a few minutes. I need to find a little more space first. To get an idea of the vast arctic landscape touched me deeply.

Aerial expedition It is been a while since you have heard from me. After waiting for weeks for the weather to improve it suddenly all came together. We headed out on the arctic aerial expedition for the freedom to roam project. I am still in the middle of the whole adventure and just landed at Point Lonely. So how in the world would I have internet access? Point Lonely is a former Airforce Radar site. We had seen the landing strip as we had flown the coastline a few days befo

Aerial expedition Finally, the weather has changed. I only have seconds to write it between fuel stops. We are out on the extended aerial expedition. Come back to check and I hope to share with you images of thousands of caribou, grizzlies, seals on the ice and maybe a polar bear. It is going to be an adventure!

The July issue of Outdoor Photographer has a wonderful story on my ongoing Freedom to Roam project on North America`s western seabord from Baja California to the Beaufort sea (B2B) in the arctic. The article gives a great overview of my conservation photography project focusing on wildlife corridors. Take a look at the magazine to see the images in print and read the great story OP has put together in their series on the environment!

What is happening, Canada? That is what I have been wondering for a while. As I was working intensively on my Yellowstone to Yukon: Freedom to Roam Project I was stunned about Canada`s policies on the environment and their practices in regards to their natural resources. Of all countries CANADA! There is nothing that gives more to the sense of place of wilderness, than the presence of a grizzly bear. Imagine the Rocky Mountain landscape without the great bear. It is, as if th

Thoughts Waiting Game - I am still stuck in the oil town of Prudhoe waiting for weather! I often get asked about patience out in the field. In a way it needs to come with the job as a wildlife photographer, right? Am I specifically patient? Well, with certain things yeah, with other things I am not. I want to make them happen right away. Right now I am sitting in the oil-town of Prudhoe Bay. If you checked this blog a few days ago ….. yes I was already waiting then for the fo

There is nothing that gives more to the sense of place of wilderness, than the presence of a grizzly bear. Imagine the Rocky Mountain landscape without the great bear. It is, as if the landscape has lost part of its soul. Most of the western states have suffered this fate. Grizzlies have lost over 90% of their former range. Now their most important enclave in the lower 48 is at stake. It is the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park and the adjacent Flathead River Valley,

.. is undoubtedly one of the most important tools in wildlife photography. While sometimes it seems one may be wasting one's time, I have learned that if one gives in to the waiting game, animals start to present themselves: You discover a little bird's nest nearby, you observe a fox that does its daily round to mark its territory, and if you are luck,y the moment you are waiting for may come true. Some of the best images in my career happened after such long hours of waiting

Alaska After flying hours below the layer of fog we see a silver lining at the horizon. We need to put the plane down on a gravel bar and set up camp for the night. My pilot, Ken, wants to look for a spot where we can get out of the wind. We are fighting a stiff breeze of 20 – 30 knots on the nose of the plane. As we are flying further inland, the sun finally breaks through the layers of fog. In the far distance, I see the Brooks Range. Dark clouds are hugging the mountains a

Alaska Strong winds and dense fog did not allow us to set up a base camp at Teshekpuk Lake. I had hoped to cover the area around the lake because of plans to open up vast parts of the lake to oil drilling. In 2006, the Department of the Interior sold leases to 500 000 acres in and around Teshekpuk Lake. It is already late in the afternoon, and the fog sealing is slowly lowering. We decide to fly out towards Prodhoe Bay. Because of the strong wind, we fly extremely low over

Alaska We started our aerial expeditions heading north beyond the Arctic Circle. Coming from Fairbanks I met my pilots in Coldfoot, and we flew west towards the National Petroleum Reserve. It is a vast landscape of open valleys, soon turning into treeless tundra. Only willow bushes remain. Beneath us I see the trails that caribous have carved into the ground over decades and centuries. On the riverbeds, we also see the tracks of grizzly bears and wolves. On the gravel bars of

We are supposed to head out in the field today for several weeks of intensive aerial photography, but I just wanted to squeeze in another post about a super cool little tool: The Nikon GP-1 GPS receiver. This little thing is a must for people who do aerial photography. I think it is also very cool for someone who is on a hiking, rafting or whatever trip and wants to later go back to locations on a maps recreating a picture trail. The GP-1 receiver just slides onto the camera