Wildlife Photography » Finding life in the inanimate

Finding life in the inanimate

Survival of the Fittest: This unique photo of an Arctic ‘sic-sic' and musk-ox skull was taken by US photographer Scott Schrader on a GCWA trip to the mainland tundra of the Northwest Territories in northern Canada. Musk-ox skulls are a relatively rare find on the tundra, and are usually remnant of hunting activity by tundra wolves and grizzly bears. Sic-sic's (Arctic ground squirrels) are commonly found in the southern North American Arctic and sub-Arctic sandy esker regions where the permafrost is deeper, and they easily can dig their numerous tunnels and dens. Photo copyright Horst Baender - all rights reserved  Scroll down to see larger photos

Photographing skulls in Canada's far north - Courtesy of Great Canadian Wildlife Adventures. 

During our four decades of operating wildlife photography camps in the Canadian Arctic, a rather interesting reoccurring phenomena was the ‘after hours' interest of the more ardent photographers to continually seek out that special moment, a studious continual pursuit of the perfect marriage of camera, light and natural subject. This often would be accomplished even after full days of stalking caribou, musk-oxen and wolves on the open tundra, hiking over hill and dale; often trudging along mile after mile on foot; sometimes interspersed with exciting moments of shimmering along on one's belly to get that close-up photo of a bull musk-ox, or pups at a wolf den.

The favourite subjects - the skulls and antlers of wildlife gone... remnants of animal life no longer there. And what a story they may tell... Taking a ‘technically good' photo is one thing - but having the artistic ‘eye' to know just what specific subject to photograph under the conditions of a specific and special moment in time, and then know-how to bring that photo alive to tell the original ‘story' of that precise moment to share with the world is truly a great gift: and one that I personally believe is the primary element what sets aside the
 professional from the mundane...

Ghosts of Migrations Past: This photo of a set of Barren-ground caribou antlers, lying along the shore of a remote Barren- lands lake in the midnight sun twilight, was taken by David C. Olson in the Chesterfield Inlet region of Nunavut in northern Canada. Barren-ground caribou antlers are found relatively commonly on the mainland tundra of Canada - both cow and bull caribou grow large antlers, and then shed them annually every spring. The shed antlers in turn provide essential nutrients to northern species of shorebirds, shrews, mice, wolf and Arctic fox pups.

Musk-ox Night-Spirits: The same skull shot several hours later results in an amazing photo of a musk-ox skull appearing to emulate aurora borealis. Dennis Fast spent hours waiting for this shot: waiting for the northern lights to appear, and for the moon to get into just the right position behind him to light up the skull. Photo copyright Dennis Fast - all rights reserved

Golden Sky & Shadow Skull: This photo of a golden Arctic sunset with a shadowed musk-ox skull was taken by Canadian photographer Dennis Fast on a Great Canadian Wildlife Adventures trip to the mainland tundra in northern Canada. Photo copyright Dennis Fast - all rights reserved

Colour Curtain  A colourful veil of aurora borealis seems to bring life to a shed Barren-ground caribou antler. Above the 60th parallel, aurora borealis (northern lights) begin to reappear in the midnight sun twilight sky by mid-August, and by early September are in full swing as full darkness arrives to the mainland Barren-lands for the first time in several months.  Barren-ground caribou is a subspecies of the caribou that is found mainly in the Canadian territories Nunavut and the Northwest Territories, and western Greenland. This photo was taken during a  photographic trip to Canada's far north by Horst Baender with Great Canadian Wildlife Adventures.