300mm f/2.8! After that came a 7D, then
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5D Mark IV. In terms of Canon lenses
I now have everything from 17mm to
600mm, which allows me to cover all
situations! I have an excellent relationship
with Canon and I’m one of their
ambassadors for the Belgium programme.
How do you tend to prepare
for a typical day’s shoot?
In fact, on an equipment level I do not
prepare that much. For me, it’s more
about observation, so I go to places I
know very well and I spend a lot of
time just watching nature through my
binoculars. That’s essential! Tracking
and getting to know your subject means
everything in this type of photography.
Time spent like this allows you to know
the animals, their habits, behaviour and
movements. Of course, it is important
to do this all without disturbing them.&DQ\RXWHOOPHPRUHDERXWWKH
sequence of the musk ox battle?
Where was this taken and how
hard was it to get these pictures?
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two muskoxen I made after eight days in
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heart of the Dovrefjell–Sunndalsfjella
National Park in Norway. Try to imagine
a white desert as far as the eye can see
with no trace of life, except for a few
musk oxen, or rock ptarmigan. I stayed
the whole time with this group of males.
They were the two very powerful, very
strong ones that I noticed.
Throughout my stay they were very
calm, but on the last day the atmosphere
became very tense, almost electric,between these two large males. Then
they just started rubbing their heads
together, but as the minutes went by, they
began to hit with more strength – more
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when the two males both moved back
about 30 metres and then ran at high
speed straight at each other! I just took a
burst of frames with my 5D Mark III andThe shock of the
impact when they
collided was terribly
violent and echoed
throughout the valley
04The Canon Magazine 75
MICHEL D’OULTREMONT