The Year's Last Gallery!

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The last Gallery of 2007 comprises 10 photos that I took this month at two State Parks in Sao Paulo, Brazil: Cardoso Island and Fazenda Intervales, where I researched bats until 1991 for my Bachelor's degree.

To see the images, please click on the "MONTH'S GALLERY" box, located on the right-side column of Fotograma's main page. If you experience any problems, please try this alternative link.

Happy New Year!

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A great photographer has left us...

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.Fritz Pölking (1936-2007) os assignment in the Pantanal
Photo: © Daniel De Granville, 1997

Last week I received the sad news about the passing away of German nature photographer Fritz Pölking, with whom I had the great pleasure and privilege of working when I was taking my first steps into photography, ten years ago. In 1997, Pölking spent some days at Caiman Ecological Refuge (Pantanal of Brazil) producing images for his stock. I joined him as a guide and also had the chance of taking photos, some of which using his own lenses.

Caiman giving its babies a ride, image made
during my work with Fritz Pölking
Photo: © Daniel De Granville, 1997

The time spent with Mr. Pölking has greatly influenced my professional choices and the way that I take photographs nowadays, so I’m very thankful to him and am sure that his talented legacy will be a reference in nature photography for years to come. Better than words, his images speak for themselves and can better explain what I mean.

A message from Mr. Pölking...
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From East to West and Further East again

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. Flowering restinga at Cardoso Island (Brazil) with its
peaks covered by the Atlantic Rainforest in the background
Photo: © Daniel De Granville, 2007

I just got back from another season in the woods, after crossing Brazil from east to west and then further east again, finishing this year pretty much like I began: on the road!

Since our birds are in the mood with spring and upcoming summer, the past two months were a time for workshops about wildlife watching, photographing and sound recording. First we presented in Sao Paulo a free mini course named “Sound, Image and Biodiversity”, where participants learned how to choose and use equipment and techniques to appreciate natural environments. Next we went to Corumbá (Pantanal city on the border with Bolivia) for an activity with the employees of Rio Tinto Mining Co, which every year promotes a day trip to the Pantanal Park Road with the support from Birdlife International.

Flying back from borderland to the seashore, as if in an unlikely migratory route, I spent last week at Cardoso Island State Park with students from a school in Sao Paulo, helping them with their environmental studies and researches. Among so many interesting things, we found beautiful restinga landscapes and a family of Southern Lapwings that illustrate this post. The photo results were so outstanding that we’ll soon have this year’s last Month’s Gallery at Fotograma – wait for it!

Southern Lapwing chicks go for a stroll
under one of their parents’ wary eyes
Photo: © Daniel De Granville, 2007
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