When photographing the natural world, I like to focus on bringing a visual awakening to the viewer. Each image is meant to provide the viewer with the sense of intimacy and intensity that I was feeling when the photograph was taken. There are times the sensation becomes so enveloping that pressing the shutter and recording the image is secondary to the immediate and overwhelming experience.
I often tell people that I am “stupidly patient” when recording images. That is not entirely true. It is never tiring to photograph the ever-changing landscape from the first glow of evening to the last light of the blue hour and into the emergence of the Milky Way. It is equally amazing to wait with a pack of Painted Wolves as they wake from a nap during the afternoon heat, stretch and greet one another while preparing for the last hunt of the day.

Wildlife behavior is so varied and complex that I often lose all sense of time while in their presence. The experience can be realized by the menacing glint in the eye of a lion, the playfulness of young elephants splashing in a watering hole and the watchfulness of the mother cheetah hunting with her young cubs.

I find it fascinating to experiment with photographic techniques that help bring a sense of mood and movement to the viewer. This can be the blur of bird wings, the stillness of a fishing bear in a fast-moving river, ice covering the eye of a young bison as it becomes encrusted with blowing snow or a red dust cloud enveloping a herd of elephants moves toward a watering hole at sunset.
My hope is that these images allow you to share these experiences.

Professional photographer Alvis Lazarus sums up wildlife photography this way:

“Hidden behind each wildlife image are those years of perseverance, months of travel, days of preparation and hours of patience; all these to capture the wonders of wildlife within [a] split second! How exciting, isn’t it?”
-Alvis Lazarus