Wildlife/Animals nominee

The adopted desert lions of the Namib desert are an endangered species. Human wildlife conflicts are increasing. As a consequence every year a few desert lions are killed. This picture shows the five musketeers. Five male brothers which represented the hope of the future of this species. This is a portrait series of them in their natural habitat. 5 months after i took the last of these shots four of them have been killed in two different human wildlife conflicts. It is of course forbidden. But this means nothing with respect to the survival of these highly endangered lions - "The vanishing kings of the Namib desert". One of them is left. I hope to see the last musketeer on one of my next trips - i never thought when i met them last time that i will never see all five again.

"Seeing the magic" stands for the philosophy which the landscape photographer Martin Krajczy uses as a guideline for his FINE ART work. His FINE ART photographies are characterized by a well-directed deduction of colors and structures.The specific use of long exposure times and depth of field shows magical moments of the nature in a way which is sometimes not visible for the human eyes.The FINE ART photographies are a result of intensive photo trips in Europe and Africa. His favorite subjects and techniques are panorama photography, the Namib desert, Iceland and the misty woods of Europe. So far he got several awards, e.g. in the "Epson international pano awards" and in "International landscape photographer of the year". You can follow his work on his website www.seemak.de.