EF 500mm f/4. The shock of the impact
when they collided was terribly violent
and echoed throughout the valley. It was
really an incredible moment.
What happened afterwards?
Afterwards, they remained standing
motionless for several seconds, probably
stunned by the impact. Then one of them
left quietly and the other just went to bed
in the snow!
Away from long lens encounters,
many more wildlife photographers
are using wide-angle lenses with
remote-controlled camera traps.
Is this an approach that you will
use more in future?
Not really, mainly because I’m not enough
of a technician to do this, and especially
because I’d rather be behind my camera.
I prefer long focal length lenses too,
usually the Canon EF 400mm f/2.8 or EF
600mm f/4, to stay far enough away from
the animals and not to disturb them. This
approach allows me to capture natural
scenes with beautiful backgrounds and
undisturbed animals in all serenity. That
is an absolutely crucial aspect for me.Which accessories do you consider
essential to your photography?
For me, they are my binoculars. They are
indispensable!Indispensable? I wonder if you’ve
ever forgotten them! Which ones
do you use?
I use Swarovski, the 8x32 CL. They are
incredible, unbreakable and very bright,
which allows me to observe the animals
very early in the morning or very late in
the evening. They’re always with me or in
my car. They never leave me and they are
too precious and useful for me to ever
forget them. On occasion, I forget to put a
battery or a memory card in my camera,
but my binoculars are always safely
around my neck!Much of your work focuses on
location-based projects. What are
you working on now and what do
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Hokkaido with the release of a book that
is entirely self-published. I have some
upcoming events to present this new
work, but I am already starting to think
about a new series of images. I have a lot
of ideas and must do a little sorting out in
my head to choose the right one next.0605(^05) ARCTIC SWAN
Here Michel used +2-stops of exposure
compensation to keep the whites all white
Lens Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM
Exposure 1/1600 sec, f/4, ISO250
(^06) WINTER LATTICE
A simple yet graphic monochromatic
image of a solitary carrion crow perched
on this snow-clad dead tree
Lens Canon EF 400mm f/2.8L IS II USM
Exposure 1/2500 sec, f/4, ISO400
(^07) EYE TO EYE
Lying full length in the snow and using his
favourite 600mm telephoto lens gave the
ideal perspective for framing this eye-
catching portrait of a red fox
Lens Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM
Exposure 1/2500 sec, f/4, ISO2500
76 http://www.digitalcameraworld.com
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