Staffan Widstrand news

In the first Arctic sunlight of the year Staffan went to the north of Norway to photograph orcas and humpback whales hunting for herring. To view this North Sea winter whale drama please visit the new gallery Orcas and humbacks, Norway

One of Staffans polar bear images from Svalbard, Norway, was selected Picture of the day by The Telegraph newspaper. Please view The Telegraph Picture of the day gallery and visit Staffans gallery Polar bears and Arctic wildlife for more Arctic wildlife images.

Yangcheng Evening News, one of China’s most read newspapers, invited Staffan to do a photo assignment in the Guangdong province in China. As part of the newspapers current focus on the Maritime silk route, Staffan traveled around Guangdong, including the capital Guangzhou, photographing daily life as well as cultural events and festivities. Staffan says ”I really enjoyed doing people photography again and look forward to more of that soon”. Please visit the gallery Maritime Silk Route, Guangdong, China. Please also view the story in Yangcheng Evening News

 

Staffan is a proud Nikon ambassador and test pilot since 1997, trying out and testing their latest gear in all kinds of conditions. From minus 39 degrees C, like in this image from Swedish Lapland 2016, or in tropical saltwater environments, hot deserts, dusty savannahs and rainy rainforests.  ”You can of course shoot good pictures also with gear from other brands, but it is just a bit more difficult and less reliable” says Staffan with a smile. His latest favourites are the Nikkor 800/5,6, Nikon D5, Nikon D500 and the new 24-70/2,8VR. Please view Equipment for the complete list of camera gear that Staffan uses.

 

The Nikon Ambassadors are authorized by Nikon to demonstrate to the public and professional image makers the capabilities and use of Nikon imaging products, but the expressive content of their work is solely their own. Nikon Ambassadors are independent contractors and visual artists and are not employees of Nikon. Ambassador Nikon Ambassadors are responsible for the content of their photographs, websites, exhibitions, and visual images and the manner in which such content and images are obtained. Any messages, beliefs, or viewpoints expressed in the Ambassadors’ photographs, websites, exhibitions, or visual images do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs or viewpoints of Nikon or any Nikon employee.

Two of Staffans images were specially commended in the first edition of the international wildlife and nature photography competition Por el Planeta Photo. A competition aiming to reaffirm the power of photography as a tool to encourage conservation and appreciation for biodiversity. The registration fees are donated to conservation projects and through books and exhibitions Por el Planeta will continue to inspire the growing community of people around the world interested in conservation. Many thanks to all the people who voted for Staffans image in the People’s choice award.

On Friday November 13, Staffan was a keynote speaker at a high level event in Beijing, organized by National Geographic China. He was asked to show the VIP audience images from and tell about major initiatives like Wild Wonders of Europe, Rewilding Europe and the upcoming Wild Wonders of China.

A photographer portrait interview and portfolio presentation, 15 pages, in Chinas leading and most prestigious quality photo magazine.

Staffans image of a little hedgehog is the cover image of the winter issue of Avon Wildlife Trust Wildlife magazine. If you would like to see more images of the hedgehog please view the Wild Sweden gallery.

 

Staffan was one of the jury members in the Chinese International photo competition “Humanity Photo Awards”, arranged by the China Folklore Photographic Association (with 50 000 members) together with UNESCO, with its aims to show humankind as we are – not only the press or news angle on our lives, but also our working life, family life, celebrations, rites, festivals and traditional cultures. “It was an exciting jury process with an incredible array of images from all corners of the world, and even more interesting, also shot by photographers from all corners of the world. The winners were from many countries, where India, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Iran and China stood out in numbers, and with winners also from Mali, Serbia, Bulgaria, Zimbabwe, Spain, Romania, Croatia, Russia, Ukraine, Chile, Peru, Canada, France, UAE, Bahrein and more”. The awards ceremonies were held September 15-18, 2015 in Shangri-La, Yunnan, China, mixed with outings to photograph different aspects of the mainly Tibetan culture in the area – from monasteries, family homes and farms to modern town life.

 

On November 6 and 7 Staffan will be at Fotomässan, The Photofair in Stockholm. On Friday November 6 at 13.00-14.00 Staffan will be at the Wild Nature fotoresor stand talking about the photo expedition he will be leading to The Pantanal in 2016. At 15.15 Staffan will enter the stage Scen 2 to show images and talk about Wild Wonders of China. After the presentation he joins Nikon at their stand, Staffan has been a Nikon ambassador since 1997. On Saturday at 11.00-11.30 Staffan is back at the Nikon stand to present images and talk about ”Reality Seen Through an 800”. At 13.00-14.00 he joins the Wild Nature fotoresor team again at their stand for more inspiring photo expedition talks.

 

Join Staffan on a photo expedition to Pantanal, one of the worlds largest wetlands, home to jaguars, giant river otters, capybaras, tapirs, caimans, anteaters and howler monkeys. The birdlife is as rich with hyacinth macaw, jabiru stork and toco toucan just to mention a few of the colourful species you will have a chance to experience and photograph. For more information and booking please go to Wild Nature fotoresor

To view Staffans images from previous trips to Pantanal please visit the Pantanal gallery

In the August issue of National Geographic magazine Staffans image of European bison illustrates the article about the release of bison in the Tarcu mountains, Romania, actioned by Rewilding Europe and WWF Romania. Please go to the bison gallery to view more images and you will find the National Geographic article here.

King eider, Long-tailed duck, Steller’s eider duck, Gyrfalcon, Guillemots, Kittiwakes and European Shag are some of the birds Staffan photographed along the coast of the Varanger Peninsula in Norway. Please view the new images, which have been added to the Wild Norway gallery.

 

From Birding photo tours fantastic photo hides in the Pre-Pyrenees of Spain Staffan photographed Lammergeier and Bonelli’s eagle. Griffon vulture and Red kite also joined at the feeding station, made for conservation purposes, which also functions as a successful wildlife watching site. Please visit the Wild Spain gallery to view the images.

 

Staffan was invited by the Baltic Environmental Forum to do a photo and consultancy assignment in Lithuania. He traveled through the fantastic Nemunas river delta, one of the finest wetlands in Europe, and the Punia forest reserve, an old growth forest that has not been logged or hunted in for more than 70 years. Please view the Lithuania gallery with Staffans images of people, birds and wildlife from these areas.

 

 

Staffan joined Keith Wilson, founder and editor of Wild Planet photo magazine, in a hide located in Boumort National Park in the Spanish Pyrenees, home to 10 lammergeier, 45 black vultures, and more than 100 griffon vultures. Their stay at Montsonis, Catalonia and the bird hide photography was organized by Steve West at Birding Photo Tours. Here is a preview with Staffans image ”A view from the hide”, to read the full story complete with images go to Wild Planet photo magazine issue 21 here https://wildplanetphotomagazine.com/magazine/issue-21/
 

There is a special feature on Staffan in the latest issue of the Swedish magazine Utemagasinet. Swedish readers can enjoy the two spread article with the title ”With a passion for the wild”, written by Kicki Lind, together with a selection of Staffans images here
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

Staffans image is one of the 25 finalists in The People’s choice award of Por el Planeta, the first international conservation photography competition. The winner of the People’s choice award receives a $10,000 USD prize and 50% of the funds collected by the #PlanetaPhoto registration fees will also support a conservation cause related to the winner’s photography. The voting will take place on the website https://porelplanetaphoto.com/ from April 23 to May 8th. Please vote now!

Europe is having a major wildlife comeback, from bears to bison. Nature conservation works! Staffan talks to Boyd Matson on National Geographic weekend radio about the initiative Wild Wonders of Europe celebrating Europe’s natural heritage and showing it to Europeans and the rest of the world. Listen to ”Europe: Home (again) to bears and wolves – Staffan Widstrand” on National Geographic radio

 
 

On December 10-13, 2014, Staffan was invited to a Top-level photo competition shoot at the famous Poyang Ho lake in Jiangxi province, China. Poyang Ho is an extremely important wintering ground for hundreds of thousands of wetland birds, including cranes of 4 species and among them the critically endangered Siberian snow crane. Among the six photographers taking part, three were World Press Photo award winners, and two, among them Staffan, had been World Press Photo jury members. This event was organised by the Chinese Photographers Magazine and its Chief Editor Wang Baoguo, and sponsored also by the Poyang Ho County. The photographers’ task was to describe the natural and human life around the lake, through max 30 images. After three days of very cold and partly wet weather, and intensive travel in, on and around this huge lake, one of the world’s biggest, the images were presented for a big audience and a number of very qualified critics, who then in detail went through their opinions and thoughts when they saw the images. Staffan was the only nature photographer in the team and his images were widely praised by the audience and the critics. Apart from Staffan, the participants were: Frank Rothe, Germany, together with Chen Kunrong, Wei Zheng, Andrew Wong and Zhao Qing from China, all producing top quality images, some of it really exciting stuff. Please find Staffan’s 30 Poyang Ho images here:

 

Watch European bison being released into the wild. Swedish TV program Mitt i naturen followed the long journey of the bisons, from Avesta Visentpark in Sweden to the rewilding area in the Tarcu mountains, Romania, where they were released in the wild. Staffan and others from Rewilding Europe involved in the bison release explain why the bison is such an important species in Europe. The release is a big event and many Romanians gather to celebrate the return of the bison. Watch Episode 7 here https://www.svtplay.se/video/2531430/mitt-i-naturen/avsnitt-7

Staffan is invited to the Lowland Photo Festival in CC Ter Dilft in Bornem, Belgium on November 22-23 where he will give a presentation about Wild Wonders of Europe and Rewilding Europe. The festival program is packed with nature and wildlife photography lectures, workshops and exhibitions for more information and tickets go to https://www.landschapvzw.be/lowland-photo-festival-2014-0

 

 

Staffan talks at ”Living off nature –Perspectives on nature tourism and entrepreneurship”, a nature tourism seminar in Finland organized by Kainuu Nature Tourism. A two day event on the topic ”Nature, wildlife, tourism and business – sustainability, ethicality, responsibility, well-being of the entrepreneur. Can we find the way?” Staffan will present Wild Wonders of Europe and Rewilding Europe with a focus on wildlife watching on November 18 in Vuokatti. More information here https://www.invitations.fi/kainuunetu/livingoffnature/

 

The National Geographic International Council of Advisors were in Stockholm September 18-22 for meetings, presentations and seeing some of the major sights during their stay – from the Millesgården and Gamla staden to the Wasa museum and Fotografiska. Staffan was invited to give a keynote presentation to them at Fotografiska, showing images on four different screens on three walls, some images from the Arctic but most from Wild Wonders of Europe and Rewilding Europe, including two short films. Staffan also presented the possible new Wild Wonders of China. It was a lovely and very competent and experienced audience.

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Photo: Johan Lygrell