Contributors
Michelle Liles
Publisher, Michelle Liles, has merged her love of publishing and wildlife photography in her new venture, The Wild Lens Magazine. After getting her MBA in 2008, Michelle published both Broker Agent Magazine and Southern Nevada Equestrian Magazine. After a trip to Africa in 2005 with borrowed Canon camera gear, she fell in love with the wildlife of our planet and immortalizing their beauty with photography. Michelle has been to all seven continents including: traveling the Drake to Antarctica on a 54-foot sailboat, hiking the Himalayas at 13,000 foot elevation in search of snow leopard, scaling cliffs looking for red panda in the forest, walking up rivers in her waders to photograph grizzlies. She is hoping this project will help elevate photographers who work so diligently to capture the perfect image and also showcase the remarkable and valuable wildlife of our planet.
Ben Cranke
Ben Cranke is a Namibian-born South African, who lives in London, UK. His passion for photography began as a young boy when his father gave him a second hand camera. His Veterinary Science degree strengthened his affiliation with the animal world and his desire to photograph them in their natural environment. Ben’s penchant for the outdoors and his insatiable wanderlust has, amongst others, seen him climb mountains, inaugurate the Red Ape Trail in Borneo, sail across the Drake Passage and winter-ski across Norway’s snowy countryside. Ben now combines both passions by leading specialist photographic tours to incredible destinations.
Juan van den Heever
Juan van den Heever, a South African native, is studying Biological Sciences at the University of Pretoria and plans to be a veterinarian. He is an ardent birder and his carmine bee-eater photo was recognized in the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition as a finalist in the 15-17 year-old category.
Thomas Happe
Thomas Happe is from Muenster/Westfalia, Germany. He started shooting analog at the age of 15 with an old Leica from has dad, hanging around for hours in the darkroom to develop film and print photos. After going to medical School, he began doing more black and white photography every day as an orthopaedic surgeon.. After years of business and family work, with his wife and three kids, he got his “inner peace and relaxation In landscape and wildlife photography”. He fell in love with the stunning and beautiful places on planet earth that he discovered. He has photographed in the U.S.A., Canada , Europe, Asia and Southern Africa. He was influenced by talented photographers who taught him the “art of seeing”. Just to name a few Thomas admires: Marc Muench, Andy Williams from Muench workshops, Brendon Creamer and Ben Cranke from Tusk Photo and Stephen Wayda.
Shivang Mehta
Shivang is a journalist turned PR professional and has handled corporate communications and PR roles with leading edge companies like Bharti, Google and Evalueserve. Now a traveler and natural history photographer, Shivang Mehta has worn many professional hats. His love for the forests of Kumaon pushed him to choose Corbett as his main area of work and he left the cozy comforts of corporate offices to work on the field with his organization, Nature Wanderers, which he started in 2007.
Over the past 15 years, Shivang, through Nature Wanderers, has conducted over 500 wildlife photography workshops, and is now an official trainer for Canon across India, Sri Lanka and Africa. His love for photography, writing and storytelling, assists him a freelance journalist writing travel notes, columns and conservation for numerous national and international publications.
Shivang is the author of the book, A Decade With Tigers, which was on the Amazon bestseller list, and showcases the life history of some of the prominent tigers of India.
Shivang Mehta is the winner of prestigious photography awards like Siena International Photo Awards (2018), DJ Memorial Photography Awards (2014 and 2015), Sanctuary Asia (2011), NDTV Save our Tigers (2012), International Photographer of the Year (2016), Nature's Best Asia (2017) amongst others.
Visit Shivang Mehta Photography to view regular field updates and www.naturewanderers.com for joining him for photographic safaris.
Nellie and Dewald Tromp
Nellie and Dewald Tromp are from South Africa. Dewald is an orthopaedic surgeon and Nellie is a championship equestrian. They have two daughters who are both into athletics and also like to photograph. Nellie and Dewald have traveled the world to photograph including: Antarctica, Himalayas, all over southern Africa, Japan and Europe.
Deby Dixon
Vicki Santello
Vicki Santello is a US based photographer who retired from a career in finance to devote herself full time to photography. Vicki enjoyed the excitement of living in New York City and working on Wall Street for 10 years in the early part of her career. Living in a big city, however, deprived her of being in Nature and enjoying outdoor sports. She moved to North Central Florida, a mecca for birds and a unique area for rivers and first magnitude springs. Here she was able to balance her love of the outdoors and her corporate career. Vicki has kayaked, hiked and biked extensively in Florida in her desire to experience its unique natural beauty. Her passion for photography has become a lifestyle. Vicki now travels worldwide to diversify her portfolio. She typically stays one to two months in each location to fully immerse herself in the environment and maximize photography opportunities of animal behavior.
Kurt Jay Bertels
Kurt Jay Bertels is an international award winning wildlife photographer, born and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa. Kurt spent eight years working as a ranger in Africa’s famous Kruger National Park in the Sabi Sands region. Answering to the call sign “five zero,” he hosted international clientele in the private game reserves.
Kurt is, to date, the youngest person to win Fuji/Getaway Wildlife Photographer of the Year. His images have also been recognized by some of the world’s largest wildlife photographic competitions including, the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year, International Photographer of the Year, Fotocam, and a host of other competitions. Most recently, he had two photographs accepted into Natures Best Photography Windland Smith Rice Photographic Awards, which were on display at the Smithsonian in Washington D.C. Additionally, Kurt’s work has been published in books and magazines around the world.
http://www.fivezerosafaris.com/kurt-jay-bertels/
Lori Lundin
Lori Lundin is an international broadcast journalist who hosts a 30-minute radio news program as part of Voice of America’s (VOA) English to Africa service. She also writes and anchors newscasts for National Public Radio (NPR) in Washington, DC. Lori started her career writing about environmental and wildlife issues for local newspapers in Northern California. Her investigative reporting has garnered a number of journalism awards including an Edward R. Murrow and a National Gracie from American Women in Radio and Television. She has interviewed scores of newsmakers including personal hero Dr. Jane Goodall. A fierce love for animals and a life-long passion for world travel, she believes the power of a photograph can deepen connection to the natural world and bring heightened respect for all sentient beings. She’s excited to be a part of this beautiful magazine.
Alastair Craig
Alastair Craig has worked for over 33 years as a teacher in the South of England, ending up as a High School Principal. He had always loved taking photographs and after an early flirtation with more artistic efforts fell into the fairly typical parent-trap of photographing almost exclusively family for many years. Al has since traveled the world in hopes of capturing the perfect moment. He is especially interested in “Shan” aka the elusive snow leopard.
Ki Bowman
Ki Bowman began her graphic arts career in the early 1980's as a typographer, darkroom tech and layout assistant in a Santa Cruz, CA print shop before opening her own business, M/O Graphics. She has specialized in both print and digital media design for the past 25 years, but is particularly thrilled to have the opportunity to work with the imagery and inspiration provided by The Wild Lens Magazine.