Canon EOS 40D, Sigma 150mm ƒ/2.8 Macro EX DG HSM, ISO 400, ƒ/4.0, 1/60". Forest on Vorskla, Belogorie nature reserve. © Gregory Pozhvanov, 2011. Macroclass. Wildlife closeup photography MACRO wildlife close up CLASS photography

Gregory Pozhvanov Biologist, photographer, Ph.D., Adobe Certified Associate. Finalist of wildlife photography contests, such as “Golden Turtle”, Global Arctic Awards, National Geographic Russia. Gregory photographs landscapes and flora in Belogorie nature reserve, Karelia, skerries of Ladoga Lake, and in Russian North beyond the Arctic Circle.

“ Our goal is to promote your passion to wildlife close up photography and to teach how to convey nature’s intriguing image into photographs that blend technical quality with artistic taste.”

Yulia Vtyurina Wildlife photographer specializing in art macro photography. Jury board member (2013) and numerous winner and laureate of “Golden Turtle” nature photography contest, GDT European Wildlife Photographer of the Year finalist. Yulia works on her art projects in Valday National Park, Belogorie nature reserve and in protected areas in St. Petersburg region. E E 10 0

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photography workshops by FUJI Gregory Pozhvanov and Yulia Vtyurina 11 11

Developing our own macro photography in several directions, we have 10 A 10 0 - 4 7 5 36

launched a new non-profit project called Macroclass. RVP Our goal is to promote the passion to wildlife close up photography and to teach how to convey nature’s intriguing image into photographs that blend 10 technical quality with artistic taste. To facilitate that, we organize Macroclass in 10 unique and remote landscapes. This allows to break from pace of contempora- ry life and to focus on photography looking for promising subjects in various ecosystems, so that every participant would have opportunities to photograph 10 0

plants and animals in natural conditions and to connect with the conservation 9A RVP 36 of pristine and vulnerable nature. In 2019 Macroclass became an open educational project to meet photo- FUJI graphers and nature reserves or protected wilderness areas. 9 9 10 0

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PHOTOGRAPHERS FUJI 5 △ Canon EOS 5DMkIII, EF 85mm ƒ/1.2L II USM, ISO 100, ƒ/1.2, 1/800". 5 Erythronium caucasicum. Agria. Western Caucasus, Krasnodar region. © Gregory Pozhvanov, 2016. 10 0

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RVP MACRO wildlife close up CLASS photography: project protfolio

Plants somehow became our main subjects. They look different and they live their life the way absolutely different from our’s. ‘Macro’ is often understood as ‘the bigger the better’, however our interpretation of ‘Macro’ in nature photography is focused more on the approach than on the scale. And that ‘macro’ approach influences not only the look, but also the mood and the content in our photography. Elusive details behind the subject transform into the background comprising the overall image of the habitat or dissolve completely and disappear. Plants themself appear bold and beautiful like being portrayed, or their close details serve as a foundation for a macro abstraction in which plants just provide a starting point for the creative process. Sometimes an object dissolves completely in the space of the photograph, joining its background in a coloristic unity. It is a birth of a photograph in which not the plant itself is the subject, but an image of nature—color, pattern or environment. Photographs on this opening are made in united style but in various locations over the years of the running project, depict rare and endangered plant species, and convey our vision of the world of flora. Autumn crocus’ delicacy Autumn crocus admires with its freshness in front of sad fallen foliage on the ground. Despite being poisonous, flowers emanate thin and delightful scent which is very hard to smell. Anyway, everybody will be excited with perfect shape of petals and their nice colors that vary from warm violet-blue to pink-red. Colchicum autumnale flower, St. Petersburg region.

Sunny rain Sometimes nature gifts you ideal conditions for an interesting picture, your task is just to catch the right moment. This time, a rainstorm started during our photo session at campion clump. Setting sun highlighted all Mist of the spring the droplets, converting them to a handful of almonds. I could hide from the cold rain shower, but does it worth missing the chance to It’s fairy tale time comes when sparse trees in photograph this magic? So I sheltered my equipment with a jacket and steppe begin to dress in foliage in young April. continued shooting despite having feet already wet. You just need to lay down into grasses and look around. It’s all about abundance of light and Sticky catchfly, or clammy campion, Viscaria vulgaris. air in yet transparent thickets, it’s about Valday national park, Novgorod region. numerous shades and colors. It’s a perfect daydream in Kalmykia. About sundew It’s my favorite plant to photograph. Much fun to photograph, despite a number of challenges. First of all, it’s a ‘breathing’ soil underneath, and clouds of hungry mosquitos. From aside, sundew shooting looks a bit weird: you set the tripod, capture a picture, then pull out a leg from the bog, pour off the bog from your waders, pull out the sinking tripod, then set up the tripod, and so on... Plant: round-leaved sundew, Drosera rotundifolia. St. Petersburg region, Vyborg district.

Fritillary flower You hardly notice fritillary during eraly spring and may easily trample it down before fritillaries open their beautiful dark red flowers with yellow spots. Fritillaries became almost extinct from nature and survived only in nature reserves and rarely visited places. I learned to recognize their narrow lily-like leaves and curvy tendrils next to flowers, and in the next morning was excited with the number of fritillaries actually growed safe and sound in the lawn. Belogorie nature reserve, Belgorod region.

Lady’s slipper orchid Lady’s slipper (Cypripedium calceolus) is a large orchid that combines various features in its image while flowering. Its fleshy leaves are as large as ones of hosta, and its flowers have an unusual shape: yellow bast shoe (accreted Grimms’ fairy tales petals) with a gorgeous bright red bow made of Hellebore flowers got their Russian name “Moroznik” (“Frosty”) from their another four petals. early flowering start which happens, depending on weather, even in Found in shady places like spruce tree forest or February and is continued up to April. This plant was hard to understand its edges, Lady's slippers shine under random and not easy to work with. It took time to find an approach to sun rays on a dark forest background. Exactly photograph it. Finally, when I saw these curvy mossy trunks of trees and that was the idea behind this photograph of the abundance of thorny bushes and lianas around, I recalled some stories from dark fairy tales of Old Europe. Does a witch house hide Lady’s slipper under backlight. in that thickets?.. Hellebore flower (Helléborus). St. Petersburg region. Cape Agria, Black Sea coast of Western Caucasus, Krasnodar region. MACRO wildlife close up CLASS photography

Open educational project for photographers and protected areas* The idea of Macroclass as an open educational project is to make the process of learning macro photography and wildlife photography as fruitful as possible for everybody involved: participating photographers, workshop leaders and national park that hosts the event. Coincidence of our common interests, not the intersection of them, allows participating photographers to work in a positive way, and stimulates a national parks to enrich their photo banks** with new high quality visuals by invited volunteer photographers. Photographers who eager to learn close up work, have modern workshop programme that is well adapted to the specific location, season and a set of subjects according to their background and interests in photography. Diving deep into photography on location works best as a quick start conditions for beginner photographers in a group with more advanced colleagues who continue their work on personal creative projects. At the same time, a national park is supplied with a workshop and learning event almost ready to be conducted. Of course, we always welcome national park employees to be involved into photography workshop theirselves. We introduce workshop participants to creative and technical sides of wildlife close up photography during two seminars. Backed up with these knowledge and ideas, participants have a faster and easier way to employ their ideas into picture. In addition to that, we include on demand workshops into Macroclass according to participants’ requests, including RAW processing, accurate color rendition, creative approach secrets, personal photo library organisation, and more. In what follows, we introduce three types of workshop agenda, ranging from simple and short to long and complex programme, however the most advanced and fruitful.

SHORT FULL EXTENDED AGENDA 2 DAYS AGENDA 4-6 DAYS AGENDA 7-9 DAYS » accomodation + » accomodation + » accomodation + getting known to the location getting known to the location getting known to the location » brief seminar » seminar: art of macro » seminar: art of macro » macro photography in the photography photography field » macro photography in the field » macro photography in the field » review of participants’ work » technical seminar » technical seminar » macro photography in the field » macro photography in the field (additional locations) (additional locations) » on demand seminar » on demand seminar » participants’ personal projects » participants’ personal projects » macro photography + other » macro photography + other genres genres » review of participants’ work » radial expedition trails to 1-2 remote locations » joint discussions with colleagues from protected area » review of participants’ work

* protected areas are considered in a broad sense, including national parks, wildlife and nature reserves (Zapovedniks in Russia), and local conservation areas. ** depends on details of our agreement with the office of the given protected area and with workshop participants. Canon EOS 5DMkIII, EF 70–300mm ƒ/4.5–5.6 DO IS USM, ISO 320, ƒ/11, 1/320". Lago-Naki plateau, Caucasus nature reserve, Republic of Adygea. © Gregory Pozhvanov, 2016. in unique natural environments “ We organize Macroclass workshops Macroclass organize We ”

Macro photographer and pasqueflowers, Pulsatilla patens. Belogorie nature reserve, Yamskaya Steppe. © Alexander Kovalevich, 2013. MACRO wildlife close up CLASS photography: follow spring

E 10 0 FUJI RVP 10 0 25 FUJI RVP 10 0 24 FUJI RVP 23 RVP 10 0 -4 7 5 10 0 22 FUJI RVP 21 10 0 FUJI RVP 10 0 20 FUJI RVP 19 18 RVP 10 0 Belogorie 17 FUJI RVP 10 0 16 FUJI E 10 0 FUJI RVP 36 25A Here, in the land of steppe and oak forests, we have launched 15 25 RVP 10 0 -4 7 5 36 24A 14 24 the Macroclass project. Still we can’t wait to return here with 10 0 FUJI RVP 36 23A 13 23 RVP 10 0 new ideas in the following seasons. FUJI 36 22A 12 22 10 0 FUJI RVP 36 21A 11 21 RVP 10 0 -4 7 5 36 20A 10 20 10 0 RVP 36 19 A 9 FUJI

«Wind». Yamskaya Steppe. © Gregory Steppe. © Gregory «Wind». Yamskaya 2014. Pozhvanov, 19 10 0 FUJI RVP 36 18 A 8 18 10 0 FUJI RVP 36 17 A 7 17 RVP 10 0 -4 7 5 36 16 A 6 16 10 0 FUJI RVP 36 15 A 5 15 10 0 FUJI RVP 36 14 A 4 14 10 0 FUJI RVP 36 13 A 3 13 RVP 10 0 -4 7 5 36 12 A 2 12 10 0 FUJI RVP 36 11A 1 11 10 0 FUJI RVP 36 10 A 0 10 10 0 FUJI RVP 36 9A 00 9 RVP 10 0 -4 7 54 8 3 C O 4 36 8A 8 36 7A 7 36 6A 6 36 5A 5 36 4A 4 Black Sea coast 36 3A 3 36 2A 2 Here in deep ravines along the sea coast, in thorny liana thickets 36 1A 1 between mossy trunks of centenary trees, macro subjects are 36 0A 0 36 00A still hiding in enormous amounts. 00 «Grimms’ fairy tales». Agria. © Yulia Vtyurina, 2015. «Grimms’ fairy tales». Agria. © Yulia E 10 0 FUJI RVP 25 Kalmykia RVP 10 0 FUJI 10 0 24 FUJI RVP A vast territory of steppes and semi-deserts, Kalmykia is seriously 23 RVP 10 0 -4 7 5 10 0 22 underestimated in relation to close up photography. The region features striking FUJI RVP 21 10 0 diversity of textures in various scales located in seemingly empty landscape. FUJI RVP 10 0 20 FUJI RVP 19 «RGB of natural zones. R». © Gregory Pozhvanov, 2018. Pozhvanov, «RGB of natural zones. R». © Gregory 18 RVP 10 0 17 FUJI RVP 10 0 16 FUJI E 10 0 FUJI RVP 36 25A 15 25 RVP 10 0 -4 7 5 36 24A 14 24 10 0 FUJI RVP 36 23A 13 23 10 0 FUJI RVP 36 22A 12 22 10 0 FUJI RVP 36 21A 11 21 RVP 10 0 -4 7 5 36 20A 10 20 10 0 FUJI RVP 36 19 A 9 19 10 0 FUJI RVP 36 18 A 8 18 10 0 FUJI RVP 36 17 A 7 17 RVP 10 0 -4 7 5 36 16 A 6 16 10 0 FUJI RVP 36 15 A 5 15 10 0 FUJI RVP 36 14 A 4 14 10 0 FUJI RVP 36 13 A 3 13 RVP 10 0 -4 7 5 36 12 A 2 12 10 0 FUJI RVP 36 11A 1 11 10 0 FUJI RVP 36 10 A 0 10 10 0 FUJI RVP 36 9A 00 9 RVP 10 0 -4 7 54 8 3 C O 4 36 8A 8 36 7A 7 36 6A 6 36 5A 5 36 4A 4 36 3A 3 36 2A 2 36 1A 1 36 0A 0 36 00A 00 Caucasus nature reserve. © Gregory Pozhvanov, 2017. Pozhvanov, © Gregory reserve. Caucasus nature

Caucasus It’s hard to imagine macro photographer got bored by Caucasus, but even in that unlikely case everyone has always an option to switch to another genre of wildlife photography. Commonly, Macroclass participants and leaders creatively combine these two approaches. MACRO wildlife close up CLASS photography: follow spring

Macroclass is always more than just practice in close up photogra- phy, it’s a little journey. In February we are in a hurry to meet the very early spring at Black Sea coast of Caucasus. While Moscow and St. Petersburg are covered in snow, we enjoy cyclamens and hellebores. A month later, we well breath rich honey scents in flowering oak forests in Belogorie, listen to bees and birds, and photograph flowers and vast landscape of the steppe. Back to home in May, it’s nice to catch the spring once more in pine forests and skerries of Ladoga lake. This way, changing locations, we prolong the most charmful season – the Spring. Macroclass participants met new friends, subjects and landscapes to apply new ideas in their own projects few weeks later at their homes. From the very beginning, Macroclass combined workshop or seminar style learning with field practice, personal work of participants and results review—by workshop leaders as well as by peers. We are always happy to learn from each other and encourage our participants to deliver a seminar on their field of photography expertise. Pictures on this opening report on how Macroclass looks like when takes place in national park, zapovednik or as a field expedition to a remote area.

Valday national park. Valday © Yulia Vtyurina, 2014. © Yulia Canon EOS 5DMkII, EF 300mm ƒ/4L IS USM, ISO 50, ƒ/4, 1/500".

[email protected] +7 991 000-42-04 +7 812 688-77-10 https://macroclass.ru

macroclass

Copy, design and typesetting: © Gregory Pozhvanov, 2019 Images belong to corresponding authors and are used with permission.