Specializing in remote places and wild creatures her most prized skillset is being able to direct and produce emotionally charged visuals under the most precarious conditions while mitigating the many risks to herself, her team, and her gear.
As a storyteller her personal goal for each image is for them to exist as the unspoken textures one feels between the text—to go beyond skin deep, to be more than just pretty. Truly outspoken images happen when the ideas of the mind are felt by the heart. 📸 🐦️
📸: @jdubcaptures
#bird #NikonCreators #birdphotography #Nikon #mirrorless
Birds were not on the to do list, but here we are. Along with the incredible diversity of mammals there were a ton of avian friends too. At any given moment you will find Golden eagles and Tibetan and Upland buzzards soaring in the sky. The owls had their picking of pikas and buntings. Hardy non migratory partridge is on every predators menu, some find refuge in the tall grass but others have adapted to hang near the domesticated yaks. These birds typically do not migrate from the region and if anything migrate vertically like many of the mammals seasonally from the tops of mountains into the valley.
Gear: @nikoncanada Z9 + Nikkor Z 800mm f6.3
#birdsphotography #birds #wildlife #china
Road ecology in short studies the impact of roads on nature. From how it shapes the lives of wildlife to its footprint and pollution. I have shared some images of the amazing wildlife I encountered over a period of a week on the Tibetan Plateau, and the BTS looks like this. The Lynx family along with the colony of wooly rabbits were spotted under the massive express way of which the entire stretch was elevated by pillars or were raised with fencing and wildlife crossings were built underneath. When I got home I had to look into this cause the sheer number of the ones I noticed was mind blowing over the 600+km of road we covered — take note we were not in a national park. It turns out China has lofty goals to rank at the forefront of ecological and sustainable transport networks globally by 2050.
China has built more transportation infrastructure in their country than any other country and its undertaking of the belt road initiative reaches beyond that. In the same breath China ranks in the top 4th in the world for biodiversity. It is home to 673 mammal, 1372 bird, 408 amphibian, and 461 reptile species, representing about 12 %, 13 %, 4 %, and 4.5 % of their respective groups worldwide. In addition, 150 mammal, 77 bird, 272 amphibian, and 143 reptile species are endemic. While there have been massive investments in crossings like that in Shenzhen bridge that spans 50m wide and 60m long, there are tens of thousands of less obvious culverts and tunnels, and even ropes for our arboreal friends. With rocky edging, bordering the highway to prevent ungulates from crossing roads and fencing as well — together of which prevents 80% of collisions with animals. This year the Pinglu Canal now has a 240 meter-long wildlife bridge (130.2 meter main span) – the first large-span animal crossing over a major waterway. I think the biggest culture shock is the attitude of developing in leaps and bounds sustainably. I’m not sure China will succeed in it, but I do believe humans are really capable of anything if we put our minds to it.
Gear : @nikoncanada Z8 + (1) Nikkor 24-70mm f2.8 (2) Nikkor 100-400mm f4.5-5.6
#conservation #coexistence #china
Happy Earth Day. Perhaps I could share a ton of endangered rare species, predators that gets the likes type animals — I am grateful to have spent a lot of time photographing those. But I’d like to think on Earth Day we can take a step back and realize these types of animals don’t exist in a vacuum. They depend on a vast landscape and species in their ecosystem that don’t get the limelight. The first image is a Przewalski’s Gazelle, thought to have only numbered 250 individuals and while still critically endangered, strong conservation efforts have populations today over 2700 in the wild. The landscape in the valley on the Tibetan Plateau felt like the ground always moving - pikas, snow finch, wooly hares making their living while watching for predators. On the cliffs at various altitudes our guides looked for herds of blue sheep of which ranged in size of a 10s and 20s to hundreds — a sign that a snow leopard could be near by. The less sexy conservation stories are about these guys. The ban of rodenticides that make its way up the food chains, the wildlife crossings made species specific from large tunnels to small culverts to massive overpasses and a highway mostly built elevated. There’s a popular phrase coined by Xi Jinping “Lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets like gold and silver” (绿水青山就是金山银山) — a core environmental policy phrase in China. It signifies that ecological protection and economic development are mutually reinforcing rather than contradictory, arguing that natural beauty is as valuable as economic wealth. China might feel like a black hole and in many regards incomprehensible for the rest of the world but I think perhaps that’s more reason to look at how conservation is approached there — innovative and novel ideas of how nature and economic development can coexist. Something that is always at the crux of western conservation efforts.
Gear @nikoncanada Z9 + Nikkor 800mm
#happyearthday #wildlifephotographer #conservation
This is what the wild looks like and one should feel grateful for these images. They are far from my dream photographic goals for snow leopards but being amongst them was enough. In one week we had 4 encounters. They were high up in the mountain only really visible through a scope or my 800mm. We saw the courtship of a mating pair, and the stealth mode of the ghost of the mountain hunting blue sheep. In a world of highlight reels of only the best and AI wildlife content — this is the wild, not made up, and not the zoo. I share this not because it’s my best, but because it is reality. Our expectations shape our behaviour and attitudes in the field and in turn translates to unintended pressure on the wild.
I have been seeing some amazing visuals of snow leopards with drones and I’d like to say just because you can, does not mean you should. My ranger and I shared this sentiment. I thought I would have flown for landscape shots here but the wildlife density was simply too much for me to feel comfortable flying my drone in the valley. I hope this trends as a way to influence you to shape your expectations accordingly to keep the wild, wild. There are no shortcuts for great images, because truly for them to be great they need to be ethical first.
Gear @nikoncanada Z9 + Nikkor Z 800mm and heavily cropped
#wildlifephotography #snowleopards #wildcats
The Turkestan lynx (Lynx lynx isabellinus), is a subspecies of the Eurasian lynx. Its coat is mottled rather than spotted and thrives at altitudes of 4000-5500m. We were incredibly lucky to have had seen this family of three together, our ranger says the youngsters will be off on their own by April. In the last two hours of day one we watched them hunt a woolly hare from the cliffs and eventually come down for a drink of water on the half frozen stream. Observing from a distance it was hard to notice all the details. But as I was editing I noticed one cub looked pretty rough, and was consistently more timid than its sibling, often hiding out right by mom. While there’s risk of predation from wolves, snow leopards, and male Lynxes in the area, the culprit of the non fatal injury is likely the sibling — sibling aggression for resources and establishing hierarchy and dominance over resources peaks at around 7 weeks postnatal development . You can zoom in on image two and see the little guys bung up eye and ear deformity. I think one of the big bonuses in wildlife photography is noticing the details when you take a closer look, the little Easter eggs that make you delve deeper into the story. Another tidbit to the story is on my very last morning we saw the dominant sibling out hunting alone — images of that to come!
Gear @nikoncanada Z9 + Nikkor Z 800mm
#wildlifephotography #lynx #wildcats #natgeoyourshot
Mortal Enemies of the Tibetan Plateau. The Tibetan Fox and Pallas Cat compete for the same small prey (namely Pikas) and real estate (neither dig their own dens, so often its existing cavities in rocks or Tibetan marmot burrows). When they meet it can be quite the animated standoff for territory. Are you Team Fox or Team Cat?
Gear @nikoncanada Z9 + Nikkor Z 800mm
#wildlifephotography #foxes #wildcats
Old World Wolves. The Himalayan/Tibetan wolf is the oldest living lineage of Wolves, basal in its divergence from the common ancient ancestor of other wolf lineages (630,000 to 800,000 years ago). It is genetically distinct with its high altitude hypoxia adaption, allowing it to thrive in its range above 4000m. Fun fact: through prehistoric interbreeding with the Himalayan Wolf, Tibetan Mastiffs also possess the genes for high altitude hypoxia.
I came for cats but the wolves were by far the most frequent sightings. Every day, losing count. The amazing encounters are due to the fact that Tibetan herders have occupied and coexisted with the wildlife here for time before memory. Retaliatory killing is not a thing as herders do well here and actually have government subsidized insurance in case livestock is taken by a predator. It was the best kind of culture shock to see so many predators share the same landscape as livestock without persecution.
📍Qinghai, China
Gear : @nikoncanada Z9 + Nikkor Z 800mm
#wolves #wolf #wildlifephotography #nikonambassador #zcreators
Check out this video of Laaya Spirit Bear shot by Nikon Canada Ambassador @jdubcaptures . 🐻
Jenny Wong is an activist for wildlife preservation and shares her love of nature through her photography and videography! 🐻❄️💛
#NikonAmbassador #NikonCreator #Laaya
It’s International Polar Bear Day!
Polar Bears International founded the day to coincide with the time period when polar bear moms and cubs are snug in their dens across the Arctic.
As part of the celebration this time of year we focus on the need to protect denning families. Denning is the most vulnerable time in a polar bear’s life. And in a warming Arctic, it’s becoming more challenging for polar bear cubs to survive into adulthood. The biggest threat to polar bear population sizes is cubs not surviving to adulthood, so every single cub is critically important
Tune into #polarbearday day with @polarbearsinternational to learn more about moms and cubs and the maternal den study that aims to learn more about this critical time in a polar bears life so we can better protect denning families.
#polarbear #polarbears polarbearsofinstagram
The last wildcat encounter I had was with a legendary puma named Rupestre and her litter of three in Patagonia. In a few days I’ll be off on another adventure looking for some wildcats in a very different part of the world. Excited to share not just the wildlife but the place and diverse culture as well. Can you guess where and what target species? Hint : high altitude !
#torresdelpaine #patagonia #puertonatales #chile #nikonambassador
One day future generations will ask about these days. Bravery and courage is not in the flavours of wars with ‘the others’ but those that take to the streets in protest against the powers within. Cruel, heinous atrocities - no matter how you write it, it never ages well and when you continue to play the game of zero sums, it isn’t a question of if you will lose but rather when.
As a nature lover, it does not escape me that when humanity suffers, the policies that protect nature deteriorate. Prosperity of everyday humans in the world comes hand in hand with the health of our planet and the wild. It’s been hard to find words lately, but as one that advocates for the wild staying silent right now feels like betrayal.
#wildlife #humanity
