More than 130 photographers have donated images to sell through Prints For Wildlife, to raise money to help safeguard 30m hectares of Africa’s protected parklands, available for a month from 28 August. Here, a selection of photographers tell the stories behind their images
Mon 29 Aug 2022 07.00 BSTLast modified on Mon 29 Aug 2022 08.41 BST
Lesser Flamingos on Lake Elementaita, Kenya
‘The Great Rift Valley is known for the vibrant pink flamingos that make their pilgrimages from one lake to another throughout the year. Hoping to see a few hundred flamingos, my friends and I set out from Nairobi for an overnight getaway. The lake was ringed with millions of pink flamingos – a spectacular view that immersed us in a dream-like scene as the birds swelled and shifted around us. My goal was to paint that magical feeling into a single frame, to capture the poetry of the moment and share it with the world’
Photograph: Laura Merz
A southern white rhino at Solio Ranch, Kenya
‘I moved in very close to capture the authentic spirit and graceful beauty of these tremendous animals. Being so near to this magnificent rhino bull when he rose, I had the feeling that the dinosaurs never died out and some of them still roam the Earth’
Photograph: Joachim Schmeisser
Gentoo penguins in the Antarctic peninsula
‘I was accessing this region by boat and came across the penguins on this iceberg. They were waiting for the tide in order to jump off into the ocean to feed. When one brush tail penguin goes, the rest follow’
Photograph: Lucia Griggi
A leopard in the Maasai Mara national reserve, Kenya
‘On a warm September evening in the reserve, I spent time observing Lorian the leopard as she soaked up the last warm rays of the setting sun. I am always mindful to document natures’s simple moments and try to be aware that sometimes as a wildlife photographer you can miss exceptional moments while looking for the unusual’
Photograph: Clement Kiragu
Giraffes in Selous, Tanzania
‘While working on photos for a book, I spent many mornings in Selous, Tanzania, in a small boat, trying to make this image. Giraffes often crossed this channel shortly after dawn to a watery island where they would browse for much of the day. Capturing the combination of cooperative giraffes, good light and calm water required many attempts and much patience’
Photograph: Robert J Ross
A silverback gorilla in Volcanoes national park, Rwanda
‘This is a massive silverback known as Kigoma, head of the Kwisanga troop, and I wanted to create a portrait that gave a sense of the gorillas’ gentleness and soulfulness. Mountain gorillas are a conservation success story. Thanks to the cooperation between Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the three countries where mountain gorillas live, their numbers have gradually risen over the past 30 years. As long as the animals and their habitats continue to be protected, hopefully, mountain gorillas will continue to thrive’
Photograph: Graeme Green
Buffalo in Zimanga game reserve, South Africa
‘This photo of buffalo was taken from a unique hide in the game reserve, built into a waterhole with the large window opening up a few centimetres above water level. It was shot with a 24-70mm lens, and I created the image by using the camera with multiple exposures, where I first exposed with focus and lighting on the buffalo, followed by a 30-second-long exposure with lights focusing on the stars, the camera set on a tripod’
Photograph: Xavier Ortega
A sea lion hunts sardines off the coast of Magdalena Bay, Baja California
‘I went diving in Baja California with Chris and Pancha, a local Mexican husband and wife team dedicated to ocean exploration and sharing their love for the ocean with others. We travelled for three hours each morning to reach the sardine run about 70km off the coast of Magdalena Bay. The main focus was to shoot striped marlin chasing the bait balls. But every day sea lions joined the hunt, taking their turn to pick sardines from the bait ball’
Photograph: Matt Porteous
An African lion in the Maasai Mara national reserve, Kenya
‘On one particularly wet, dark morning, we came across the legendary short-tail of the Marsh pride, an African lion lounging in the morning dew in the Maasai Mara national reserve. As the sun was crossing over the horizon, he took a few steps forward and leaned down for a drink from a nearby puddle, and lifting his head, this glorious image with water sparkling and dripping down his mane presented itself to me. One snap and I knew I had the shot’
Photograph: Andrew Liu
Gemsbok on the Skeleton Coast in Namibia
‘The gemsbok is a type of oryx found in eastern and Southern Africa and, like all oryx, it prefers desert conditions. It can survive in even the harshest conditions, thanks to an intricate network of blood vessels in the nose which cools down the blood supplied to the brain’
Photograph: Michael Poliza
A polar bear, off Spitsbergen Island, Norway
‘My image of a polar bear was taken on the pack ice north of Spitsbergen Island. It was a very warm day along the archipelago, with the highest temperature ever recorded – 23C (73.4F). The bear was actively hunting, searching for seals on the broken pack ice. Bears are good swimmers, and this one decided to step on an ice floe next to our boat, and I shot a closeup photo of the water slipping off the bear’
Photograph: Marco Gaoitti
Cheetah cubs, Tanzania
‘I was in Tanzania, working on a lion project, when we came across a female cheetah with four cubs. I deployed my remote-control BeetleCam to capture a ground-level perspective. The cubs were very curious and, for about 45 minutes, they circled the camera and watched it closely’
Photograph: Will Burrard-Lucas
