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Group News

News

Themed week

The winner for our theme WATER is 'White duckling' by  ChristopherPollari!

Contest Ends

Our Motherhood contest will officially end on 19^th of August, but I will close the folder on 22^nd; Wednesday, so hurry up!

Interview

For how long have you been a photographer?
I started 7 years ago, very soon after this I realized that my passion will be exactly wildlife photography, and already 6 years I am trying  to photograph animals in the wild.

Your gallery is full of wonderful bird shots, what fascinates you most about these animals?
Birds are very colorful and full of grace, they have an interesting behaviour. Widlife and bird photography are connected with love and knowledge - I love to observe birds and I can learn a lot about their life through my photography. It's very interesting to realize some small details around some birds and this makes my hobby even more addictive. Generally I can say this about all other animals.


What is the hardest part about animal Photography?
This type of photography is one long process, I think the most difficult part of all this is to make a few correct steps in a row, of course depending of luck, too and the bird of which you will try to make a picture. Sometimes is very easy to predict all steps, but sometimes this looks absolutely impossible. I can remember a lot of situations where I failed and didnt make even one shot for few days.

How important are editing programs such as Photoshop in your final image?
Manipulations in PS, lightroom or some other soft. are necessary, but my vision about wildlife images editing is just to touch as less as possible and only to fix some small problems like color temperature, exposure, shades, sharpness, contrast. I try to make all this correction as careful as possible to save the image as natural as i can..., but I‘ve never tried to make some collages or etc. this is not wildlife any more.


How long do you have to wait until you normally get shots like these? And how do you manage to keep your patience? Do you have some tricks?
I can't exactly say  how much time I wait or need for some shots, cos' as I say wildlife is process, it is not constant and sometimes I need only a few minutes to take some shots, other time I spend whole sunrises and sunsets without even one shot. But I can make my chances better if I prepared hides or just observed the place and the animal which I will try to picture.


What makes a great wildlife image for you?
I need a very short time to realize some wildlife image is great - the most important thing for me is the moment which is captured, light also ... a fantastic widlife image just grabs you and this can't be explained, explanation is even unnecessary.

Is there a particular photographer whose work inspires you?
I like works of all photographers - my friends, professionalist from BBC or NG, I really love BBC wildlife movies and voice of Sir David Attenborough. In this moment I can see hundreds of images or movie parts full of inspiration. Also a lot of situations which i saw with my eyes .


How do you manage to get such watershots, do you stand in the water or use a zoom lens(or both) ?
Both )), sometimes I just lay near by a riverside or a lake shore and keep waiting, sometimes using my floating hide. I also have a 400mm tele lens that enables me to stay in a good distance, this is important just to be calm.

Have you had any dangerous encounters with animals?
No, still not, most of my time is spend with birds, and I don‘t have close meeting with some big mamals like bears )))


Do you have a favourite location for taking pictures?
I love a lot of places around my country, depending from season. From time to time I visit Kerkini lake in Greece which is only 15 km from Bg border. But I love to travel and to discover new locations.

Do you have some essential tips for our photographer beginners?
The most important thing is patience, if some beginners want to make nice wildlife images it is good to know animal is their priority and shoud stay calm. Disturbing is an absolutely wrong and stupid act, but sometimes happens, that‘s why it‘s better to choose some easy for picturing animals. I started with squirrels in parks, and small birds which are not affraid at all.

What is your favourite part of your gear?
I love to be stelth, sometimes people think they will make a great wildlife image only if they have a good camera or huge lens...this is not true, I love to put my camouflage net, and clothes and lay somewhere in the mud or enter my shelter in the dark and to wait for sunrise ... sometimes I’m  just laying quite and watching how some animals walk around me, even cant picture them, but this is pretty nice, cos' I can touch their world and way of living ... that‘s why I love to prepare myself with a good camouflage equipment.



A Daily Deviation-What do you personally like most about your picture?
This image (with kingfishers) was made very close to my birth town, at sunrise time, the light is very good and the landing kingfisher has a nice pose. Generally the image turned out to be a very lucky shot cos' I didn't see what exactly was happening , I just pushed the button of my camera, afterwards I saw the result. Maybe this is the most interesting part of this image, something which we can't see with our eyes cos' is too quick .




Tell us more about the way you take the pictures of your bird: How do you manage to hide from the birds and does it always work?
I made a lot of hides using different materials, I also have camouflage tents, some other nets, and covers ... , every situation exists of different approaching and of course it does not always work ,for example if I try to make images very close to a lake wich is open and there are neither trees nor other objects which I could use to hide better to lay and cover myself with camouflage net. If there are bushes or trees I put my camouflage tent and leave animals to adjust to it, and to let them realize that this is not dangerous for them .



Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions!
~Julia

Hall of Fame

New Contest Entries

Our Motherhood Contest ends 19/08/2012
mesmerizing-animals.deviantart…
All new entries since last week
'little moment' by morho
'Mother and Children' by california-wishing
'The Strongest Bond' by SilverPadfoot

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Affiliate news

New affiliates

We are now affiliated with

AkhalTekeSociety A group for all Akhal-Teke lovers

Affiliate promotion

This group needs more members!
A group for all horse fans, especially of the Akhal-Teke Breed!

This group needs contributors!
Anyone who loves colourful birds can apply via note.

Affiliate contests

AnimalArtistsOfDA
The summer contest "At the beach" ends on 20^th of August, so hurry up!
Summer Contest: At the beach!Theme
Okay so the winning theme was 'beach' and so our Summer 2012 contest shall be 'at the beach!' to help us all get into the summer spirit!
Rules
Each member may only have one entry to the contest.
Your entry must involve the beach in some way, but this doesn't need to be restrictive! The beach can expand to many things such as:
-the sea near the coast
-animals that reside on the beach or are associated with it such as gulls, starfish, etc
-environmental issues such as oil spills or pollution
-desert islands
-tropical holidays
-history such as castles, world wars, etc
-boats and ships
-mythology and folklore
So be creative with your entries! There are many more ways in which you can expand that aren't mentioned here! But if you have an idea and are unsure whether it can be accepted, feel free to note me personally or note the group and I will let you know if your idea is acceptable
Please try to avoid mature content

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Other news

Animal Rescue / Charity

AnimalsofTheWorld have a Journal about animal art for Charity, feel free to take a look:
Animal Art for CharityHello members!
Co-founder Victoria here to feature two of my favorite artists here on deviantArt. They both sell artwork for charities, and strive to raise money not for themselves, but for those in need. I think these selfless and caring projects are worth a lot more attention than they are getting. And what better way to get the word out, then to show my fellow group members their beautiful work.
Both artists create ACEOs (Art Cards Editions and Originals), which are miniature works of art that measure just 2.5 x 3.5 inches. This is the exact size as a baseball or pokemon card! By creating ACEOs, they make their art affordable and fun to collect!
First up is theperian :icontheperian: and her project she calls "Drawn to Help"
Drawn to Help was started May 1st of this year, and will run for a complete year. Every day, theperian posts a new ACEO in her gallery that is available for purchase through Etsy. Every month, the cards are created for a different cause.

Featured Deviation

:thumb280131698:
Great Video Tutorial for Composition, useful for our beginners, aspiring artists and interesing for professionals.
For Photographers and Traditionalists/Digital artists!



_{We do not not incur liability for for any mistakes in Interview answers or Promotion texts.}

Enjoy your weekend!

Julia




July Feature - a small world | August Week 1  |August Week 2