CAPTURING THE MOST MAGNIFICENT MAMA: EARTH

This incredible photographic journey takes place at the luxurious Marataba Safari Lodge, set at the foot of the Waterberg mountains, within 23,000 hectares of private park in South Africa. It is hosted by CAPTURE EARTH founder Jonathan Chritchley, himself a noted fine art photographer who is included in the Sunday Times 100 Greatest Photographers of the World. Critchley is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (FRGS).

Bringing together plus experts in different fields of animal behavior for twice daily shoots, talks, discussions and slideshows, CAPTURE EARTH offers something completely unique in the field of photography workshops and seminars.

By invitation only, 12 guests will have the thrill of a lifetime, with 6 days of total immersion in the world of fine art wildlife photography in the exclusive surroundings of one of the best lodges in South Africa, just a 3 hour drive from Johannesburg.  

If you are one of the lucky few, you will accompany the maestros on 2 private game drives each day. You will access aerial photography on specially adapted helicopters. And you will take game walks with animal behaviorists.  

You will learn photographic techniques, processing methods and other elements of the photography business from experts who will share their knowledge, built up over countless years in the world of wildlife photography.

Each day, you will learn even more from CAPTURE EARTH Talks, with slideshows and demos by the guest photographers & conservationists. And you will get one-to one-time with the guest photographers for critiques and advice.

CAPTURE EARTH has reserved the luxury lodge and park exclusively during the event, so there will be no other guests staying there or viewing the wildlife.

2019 Dates: 23rd - 30th November 2019. See the full itinerary here.

CAPTURE EARTH is by invitation only. In order to apply for a place, please contact them for an application form.

See photos and learn more about the 4 world class CAPTURE EARTH photographers below.

Wildlife photographer Vincent Munier lives in the French wilderness region known as the Vosges.

"I have always been drawn to remote locations. In fact, I have been photographing these places and the creatures that live there since I was a child. Nature is like a drug to me, and it is vital that I have access to it as often as possible,” explains Munier.

“You could even say that my photographic career developed as a way to return to nature as often as possible: it enables me to see these places, share my experiences and make a living, all at the same time.”

“Thanks to my father, I developed a respect for nature when I was very young, and it has only grown stronger as I have grown older. My father taught me to love the natural world, but not to interfere with it. Nature can be so fragile, and mankind can disturb — or even destroy — large swaths of it with very little effort, so when I am in the field, I try to leave the smallest footprint I can."  

Touted as three-time BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year, his images can be seen all over the world in magazines such as Paris Match, Géo, National Geographic, BBC Wildlife Magazine and Audubon Magazine.

Munier has been active in environmental issues since the early 1990s. His fine art prints are found in galleries and private collections worldwide.

Adrian Steirn is a photographer and filmmaker, born in Sydney, Australia, living in Cape Town, South Africa.

As the photographer-in-residence for World Wildlife Fund South Africa, Steirn works actively to promote and engage with conservation efforts, using visual images as a means to stimulate discussion and action around key issues.

His work as a conservationist has seen him document rainforests from Brazil to Uganda, mountain ranges of Nepal to the Caucasus, the plains of the Serengeti and beyond.

Steirn’s documentary film, commissioned by WWF, “Searching for Tiger,” highlights the threats to Nepal’s tiger population. He also collaborated with WWF on its global campaign to protect Virunga National Park from the threat of drilling by oil companies. Steirn third WWF film focused on the Amazon, focusing on the threat of deforestation and its impact on climate change. It was part of an effort to encourage local people to adopt rubber-tapping instead of logging as a form of sustainable employment.

Steirn founded 21 Icons South Africa, a multimedia celebration of men and women who have achieved at the pinnacle of their vocations while contributing to society in a positive way. The project was inspired by Nelson Mandela and featured the portraits and interviews of iconic

South Africans, including former President FW de Klerk, Nobel Laureate Nadine Gordimer, and Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu. It gained worldwide attention for the last photographic portrait of Nelson Mandela. The signed print was sold for a South African record ZAR2 million with all proceeds donated to charity.

Recently, Steirn has documented the rhino-poaching situation in Southern Africa, working with a number of conservation organisations to bring global attention to the crisis. His film documenting the story of Thandi, a rhino that survived an horrific poaching attack to later give birth to a healthy calf, achieved worldwide distribution.

Steirn’s photo essays on Hope, a second female rhino who is being rehabilitated by specialist vets after a similar poaching attack, have achieved huge impact on social media.

Steirn’s photo essay ‘A Complicated War’, which shared his personal reflections on the impact the crisis was having on the animals communities affected by poaching, won the Professional Social Cause category at the 2015 International Photographic Awards.

Other current projects include a documentary charting the plight of the critically endangered Caucasian Leopard.

Through the course of his career, Steirn has won multiple awards, including being named Photographer of the Year at the Africa Photographic Awards and Nikon Africa’s Professional Photographer of the Year.

Steirn is also the creator of Beautiful News and 21 Icons. Beautiful News is a good news platform sharing positive, inspiring and uplifting stories, while 21 Icons is a visual celebration of people who have influenced the world for the better.

One of Sweden’s internationally most recognized nature photographers, Staffan Widstrand was appointed ”Nature Photographer of the Year” in Sweden.

He is a multiple award winner in international photo competitions, such as ”Wildlife Photographer of the Year” (11 times), the GDT European Nature Photographer of the Year (5 times). Widstrand is a jury member of major international photography competitions, like the World Press Photo (WPP), among others.

In 2011, Outdoor Photography Magazine named Widstrand “one of the world’s most influential nature photographers.” He is also one of the founders of the International League of Conservation Photographers (ILCP) and Rewilding Europe.

“I simply love the wild wonders of the natural world and I am very attracted by the strikingly beautiful expressions of many different human cultures. Therefore, with my work, I would like to put my humble weight onto the scales in favor of what I strongly believe in: nature conservation, wilderness, wildlife, rewilding, human dignity, tolerance and respect.”

Widstrand has published 18 books, five of which have been winners of the WWF Panda Book Award. His images have also been published in several of the world’s major newspapers and magazines, such as National Geographic, among others.

German photographer Britta Jaschinski has won numerous international awards for her unique style of photojournalism. She is devoted to documenting the fractured existence of wildlife that has been impacted by both poaching and cruel practices within the entertainment industry and illegal wildlife trade.

Her photos are troubling, unsettling, sometimes hard-hitting and yet beautiful.

Britta Jaschinski is the co-founder of Photographers Against Wildlife Crime, an international group of award winning photographers who have joined forces to use their powerful and iconic images to help bring an end to the illegal wildlife trade. They draw attention to this deadly subject with a brand new truly unique book, supported via crowdfunding. Check out the English edition. It is also published in Mandarin for distribution in China.  

Jaschinski’s latest series is CRIMES, examining the question, “Wildlife Or Commodity?” The image “Confiscated” has been published worldwide and won her the title of the European Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2017, the Grand Prize of the Big Picture Natural World Photo Competition 2017 and is a Winner in the Magnum Photos Photography Awards 2017.

Jaschinski’s work has been published and exhibited worldwide, with more than 25 solo shows, and is highly collectable, selling through contemporary-art outlets.

Read more about Beautiful Mothers all this week on BeautifulNow. And check out more beautiful things happening now in BN Wellness, Impact, Nature/Science, Food, Arts/Design, and Travel, Daily Fix posts.

Want more stories like this? Sign up for our weekly BN Newsletter, Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest. Join our BeautifulNow Community and connect with the most beautiful things happening in the world right now!

Do you have amazing photos? Enter them in this week’s BN Photo Competition.