58 photographs of wildlife, nature and travel from around the world.

From the Foreword

Amongst my earliest memories are sitting in the school library as a second or third grader, colouring in maps of the world. I was fascinated with the exotic names, the romantic locations and even the seemingly empty spaces, and over the years I have had the great good fortune to visit a number of these amazing places. The sense of awe and great privilege I have felt in the presence of just a small portion of this planet’s beautiful locations and wildlife has just whetted my appetite even further.

During the last ten years I have travelled more extensively, capturing some of these moments on camera, and this volume is an attempt to communicate to a wider audience some of the extraordinary scenes I have witnessed.

At times my blood has surged - a lion staring deep into my eyes and growling from only a few meters away, blood dripping from its jowls - a huge flock of snow geese thunderously blasting off overhead from a quiet lake in the pre-dawn glow - a polar bear slowly ambling over to my vehicle looking for an easy meal - the unexpectedness of watching three fairly unhappy lionesses crossing a flooded river - a huge flock of skimmers performing a mesmerizing ballet in a remote bay - the nobility of a soaring eagle, transforming quickly into deadly menace as it dives at its prey.

At others I have had the leisure to be captivated by more slow-moving scenes - gently floating in a hot-air balloon over the Namib Desert minutes after dawn - watching a gathering storm transform a normal sunset into something otherworldly - witnessing the majesty of a perfectly still and clear morning in Patagonia, the Andes perfectly mirrored in an alpine lake after days of incessant rain and wind - the apparent loneliness of a single penguin standing atop an age-old blue iceberg in the stark waters of Antarctica.

Much is made of the environmental challenges that our planet faces in these uncertain times, and whilst much has been lost and far more is in danger, there remain uncounted examples, both large and small, to beguile the imagination and set the soul soaring.

For my part, I can only continue to try to capture some small pieces of the beauty the world still has to offer, and hope that the reader is as transfixed by these images as I was in the actual events and moments themselves.