July 2018. Wildlife Photography Project in Charente-Maritime to Photograph Fawns and Young Wild Boars

In July 2018, for the fourth consecutive year, we traveled to Charente-Maritime in France to photograph fawns, does, boars, and red stag deer.

This wildlife photography project is important to us. Because of the animals’ natural shyness, it can be difficult to observe the deer at this time in the year. During the rut season, the deer are bolder and easier to photograph. Indeed, fawns are born during the months of May and June, after which the doe form herds to protect the fawns from the predators. These herds move a lot. For us as photographers, it's an ugly headache to look for them. Sometimes we must walk ten or twenty kilometers through the meadows, forests, and woods to find the traces of a herd.

Our main technique for photographing red deer in Europe is the blind. We love to choose decorations and lighting for our photographs. During the summer, this technique is not successful as the deer move to different locations frequently.

The only certainty we have during the summer is that stags and does frequent ponds for endless swimming and hydration to cool off in the sweltering heat.

This summer of 2018 was particularly hot in Charente-Maritime. During the day, temperatures often exceeded 32 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit). We chose to start on the field at 5:30 in the morning to enjoy the morning freshness. In the evening we stayed on the field until 21:30 to enjoy the beautiful twilight lights.

To avoid heat, stags and does chose to shelter in the oak forests. Although the shade was refreshing, this was not the ideal place for us to make our photos because the trees and leaves interfere with the lighting. Nevertheless, we tried to adapt to the situation.

This year, we chose to work with the lights instead of against them. We used them to showcase our decorations, which is a special step because we usually do the opposite. Because of the weather conditions, this approach was more profitable for us.

We managed to make thirty photos for a week, which is remarkable considering the weather conditions.

We also had the chance to photograph some young wild boars who were trying to hide from the sun's rays. The difficulty with young wild boars is that they are small and difficult to find in the tall, thick summer grasses. We strived to observe the females with their black backs (visible from hundreds of meters) and then to creep closer with the technique of approach. We managed to create some interesting photographs.

All the photographs we took on the field are intended for the creation of art prints for our "Around the World" or "Around the Mind" collections.

Wildlife Photo Project in France in July 2018: red deer stag.

Wildlife Photo Project in France in July 2018: red deer doe and its fawn.

Wildlife Photo Project in France in July 2018: young wild boar.

June 2018. Wildlife Photo Project in the Dombes in France to Photograph Water Birds

In June 2018, we spent three weeks in the Dombes in France to photograph water birds and marshes.

In this project, which we are conducting for the sixth year in a row, we used floating blinds. The advantage of this technique is to approach birds without frightening them and without alternating their lifestyle.

The floating blind also allows us to photograph birds at eye level and avoid the down effect that is obtained when photographing them from the bank.

The floating blind also allows to choose a specific photographic point of view as we walk in the ponds. We can easily adapt to the light and choose the best scene possible.

This year, conditions in the Dombes were quite difficult. The water level was very high because of the rains that fell in the spring. We were unable to photograph shorebirds because the mudflats were submerged. We found places with black-winged stilts and Eurasian spoonbills, but we could not rent these ponds.

Waders were less numerous because they had trouble finding reed beds to hunt. Waders walk along reed beds to catch fish; thus, we think they took refuge deeper in the reed beds where the water level was lower. They hunted the frogs that were in great numbers this year.

This trip in 2018 has given us the opportunity to photograph many species of ducks such as common pochard ducks, tufted ducks or mallard ducks.

We also saw many Great Crested Grebe, Little Grebe and Black-necked Grebe.

But what we will remember this year is not so much the poultry species that we have photographed, but the extraordinary lights bathing the ponds in their glory. For 6 years, these are certainly the most beautiful lights we have seen. They gave us the idea to create creative artistic photographs with reflections and wavelets. These artistic photographs will enable us to create more abstract collections of nature in collections "Around the Mind". The more naturalistic works will feed one or two collections of "Around the World".

Despite the difficult conditions of this year, 2018, we focused on our best artistic approach.