Tell us the story behind your photo in this exhibition.
As every summer for the last five years I spend some time at Kuril lake in Kamchatka. Year after year the idea is to concentrate on uncommon situation and that can happen when you decide to follow only one bear in his daily living.
How did you go about getting that shot?
This bear was a young one and therefore inexperienced. He caught the salmon but relaxed soon afterwards. The salmon “ felt” that and managed to escape leaving the bear with a strange expression, the one you see in the picture.
How long did you have to wait for this shot?
Quite a bit, I have seen something similar before but I wanted the salmon parallel to the surface of the water so I tried for almost a day.
Did you use any particular equipment?
Not really, a tripod and my normal 500 mm lens.
What are the difficulties of wildlife photography you face?
The challenges are several. Weather, technical equipment problems and recently the misbehaviour of some photographer that forget they have to respect the environment and the species beforehand.
What would you like people to think about when they see your work?
That I was looking for something different, less unusual and stereotyped. I often try to show, when I manage, that sort of feeling and personality in animals’ behaviour.
How long have you been a photographer and how did you get started in your career?
I have been photographing since my age of 14 but seriously only since 2010. I started publishing for magazines, writing articles, organizing workshop and participating to competitions.
What would you advise someone wanting to start taking photos of wildlife in their local environment?
That there is a lot to see and take picture of without travelling distance. It is important to have self assessment so there is a discipline and a selected view.
What have you been up to since the European Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2015 competition? What projects are you working on now?
I like bears both browns and polar. I have just published a book on Polar Bear with WWF: the Lord of the Arctic and soon there will be a second book about the brown bear.
What are your favourite scenes to photograph?
Interaction and cubs. I think we can see in those two extremes very similar to human behaviour.