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PRACTICAL PHOTOGRAPHY PRACTICALPHOTOGRAPHY.COM 113 Pro Showcase Daisy Gilardini PRO SHOWCASE AMAZING IMAGES AND INSIGHT FROM THE WORLD’S BEST PHOTOGRAPHERS THE POLAR EXPLORER Searching for elusive Polar Daisy Gilardini is a creatures in brutal -50°C wildlife photographer temperatures and 60km/h based in British Columbia, Canada. winds is just another day at She’s been featured the office for extreme wildlife in National Geographic and BBC Wildlife, and worked for Greenpeace. photographer Daisy Gilardini. daisygilardini.com 112 PRACTICAL PHOTOGRAPHY PRACTICALPHOTOGRAPHY.COM 113 Pro Showcase Daisy Gilardini EELING THE RAW STING finance and accounting in my native Switzerland. and under the polar ice. I was mesmerised by these the beauty of places and species that are at risk in Above Emperor of glacial temperatures while After earning my masters degree, I opened my own stories, and from that moment on I dreamed to be order to raise awareness. While science provides the penguin parents trudging through several feet of accounting firm. With a good business plan and able to see them in their natural environment. It took data necessary to explain problems and suggest feed their chick at Snow Hill Island snow isn’t everyone’s idea of the organisational skills, I managed to juggle my love for me seven years to be able to save the money necessary solutions, photography is able to symbolise these in Antarctica. perfect commute, but Daisy travel, nature and photography with my day job to pay for a trip to Antarctica, but that adventure issues. Science appeals to the mind, but photography Gilardini is used to forging her commitments. I started taking off on assignments for totally changed my life. Since then, I’ve joined almost speaks to the heart. We need both in order to spread Above left own path. With over two decades several months a year, and had to hire an assistant to 70 expeditions to the Polar Regions. I’ve tried many the message effectively to as many people as we can. An adult king of experience photographing the help me out with the accounting business. times to understand this irresistible attraction to the penguin calls for world’s most elusive animals in However, every time I returned to my office I Polar areas, which I’d define as almost an addiction. What’s your favourite image? his chick among unforgiving Polar environments, Daisy is a truly started to feel a little depressed and unfulfilled. I These extreme adventures transport me out of my During my first trip to Antarctica in 1997, I the créches in Fintrepid wildlife photographer and a passionate began writing articles and looked for magazines ordinary world and lead me on a voyage of self- photographed an iceberg that was shaped as a heart. South Georgia. advocate for vitally important conservation efforts. interested in publishing my work. It was like having discovery. The isolation from modern civilisation, and Besides winning a major award in 2000, this image two full-time jobs. My days would begin at 7am and all the distractions that come with it, allows me to has become very symbolic to me. During that first How did you first become interested finish at midnight, seven days a week. They say that focus on the simple rhythm of nature. trip, I left a piece of my heart in Antarctica. Ever since in photography? the key to success is to believe in one’s ability, and then, I have to go back every year to check on it. As a child I grew up with the idea of becoming a that’s what I did. Patience, passion and perseverance Why is photography important to you? veterinarian, as I’ve always loved nature and animals. eventually led to success, and I finally succeeded in Over the years I’ve developed my own language and How do you deal with the harsh environments However, life often doesn’t go quite as you expect it having my work published. This lead to me being able style. I don’t create images. Rather, I feel that I’m just you work in? to, and I ended up becoming a certified expert in to become a full-time photographer in 2006. a witness and interpreter for Mother Nature. When As an environmental photographer specialising in the shooting landscapes and wildlife, I focus on Polar Regions, the challenges are mostly related to How did you become interested in wildlife? composition. I want to be able to convey emotions by the extreme environment in which I work. The cold “SCIENCE MAY APPEAL TO My love for wildlife began long ago. I was only four simplifying the shapes. Photography isn’t just an art affects both my equipment and my body. If I’m not THE MIND, BUT PHOTOGRAPHY years old when I received a little stuffed seal puppy as form. It’s one of the most important and powerful comfortable then I’m not able to focus on my job, so a gift from my godparents. My mum explained that mediums of communication that we have. As preparation is very important. Dressing in layers is SPEAKS TO THE HEART...” the seal puppy came from a very cold place, living on environmental photographers, it’s our duty to capture vital. The air trapped between the many thin, warm 114 PRACTICAL PHOTOGRAPHY PRACTICALPHOTOGRAPHY.COM 115 Pro Showcase Daisy Gilardini layers is an excellent insulator. You can strip them off, Do you have a favourite story from your Above Portrait “I ONCE SPENT 13 one at a time, if the temperature climbs. Perspiration experiences shooting these locations? of an emperor DAYS IN FRONT OF A is your worst enemy in a cold climate. If left In 2015 I spent 13 days in front of a polar bear den penguin chick at unchecked it can be a trigger for hypothermia. That’s waiting for the mother to emerge with her four Snow Hill Island POLAR BEAR DEN...” why you absolutely have to avoid any sweat by taking month-old cubs. I looked at the same few trees and in Antarctica. off as many layers as you can while walking or snow for 117 hours, in temperatures between -45°C Above left climbing. As soon as you stop and set up your gear, and -50°C and winds gusting up to 60km/h. Finally, Waspuck you need to put back on the warmest clothing, as on the last day of the expedition the bear emerged, National Park in quickly as you can, so that the heat generated by the followed by a single cub. Only a few hundred people Manitoba, physical exercise is trapped around your body. have ever witnessed the exit of newborn polar bears Canada is the from the den. Emotionally, that was one of the southernmost Have you ever had a nightmare shoot? highlights of my entire career as a photographer. denning area for In April 2011, I organised an expedition to Banks polar bears. Island, in Canada’s Beaufort Sea, in the Northwest How much preparation goes into your shoots? Territories. I was there to photograph musk ox, Arctic It’s essential to know your subject in wildlife Left Antarctic Weddell seals hares, Arctic wolves and snowy owls. When I was photography, as this helps you anticipate behaviour usually come to there I experienced unusually stormy weather and and catch the magic moment. Returning to the same land to rest and temperatures dropping to under -30°C. These extreme locations year after year will give you a better digest after conditions, combined with travelling by ski, lodging in understanding of the light conditions at any given spending time in a non-heated hunters’ hut and being accompanied by time. Spending a large amount of time with and the water fishing. an incompetent and irresponsible guide to boot, made among wild animals will give you the opportunity to me fear for my life. It got to the point where I felt I had know single individuals, which allows you to come up no other choice but to abort the expedition. It took me with something new and different. It takes time and many months, and some serious debriefing with knowledge to capture their personalities and freeze expert polar guides, to get my confidence back. those anthropomorphic expressions that are essential 116 PRACTICAL PHOTOGRAPHY PRACTICALPHOTOGRAPHY.COM 117 Pro Showcase Daisy Gilardini Pro advice Daisy’s top photo tips BE THERE freeze the action with the correct 1 It may sound silly, but if camera settings. you’re not there then you won’t be able to get the picture. FIND YOUR PASSION This means that you have to do 3 You’ll soon find that the your homework in order to always sheer love and passion know where the best spot is at the you put into your photography will best time of day. I’m on location shine through in your images. ready to shoot usually one hour before sunrise, and I stay one BE PATIENT hour after sunset. In the middle 4 There’s definitely a lot of of the day, when the light is harsh frustration involved in and the animals are less active, wildlife photography. You can I either work on my images or take spend hours and hours, or even a nap in order to rest for the next days and weeks, at the mercy of Above A gentoo to making a connection with the viewer. Photography behaviour does change depending on the subject I’m micro-stock, the market has never been so bit of shooting. challenging weather conditions in penguin colony is a universal language. I strongly believe in the sheer photographing.
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