What if you could show the unstipulated public that every bird is a personality? Would that help increasingly people requite birds the respect they deserve, since we humans tend to respect an individual’s personality increasingly than the one-of-a-million-in-the-flock?
To get an wordplay to that question, I interviewed the Norwegian nature photographer Terje Kolaas, overall winner of the NPOTY races 2021. For Terje Kolaas, birds have unchangingly been his living and profession since his sultana years. In 2006, he established the study “Bird Identification” at Nord University, where he still teaches. Furthermore he guides photographers and birdwatchers virtually all of Norway, most often in his home county Trøndelag and the for photographers well known Dovrefjell and Varanger. And besides that he likes to travel a lot and needs time to photograph birds.
He has published three books well-nigh birds, among those the textbook ‘Flying motives – the art of photographing birds’ in 2011, a typesetting he co-authored with his cousin Christian Tiller. Time to get to know this passionate and versatile birdlover and photographer a bit better.
Terje Kolaas lives on Ytternesset in the town of Levanger. The house is located tropical to the Trondheimsfjord and is surrounded by birds on all corners, among those the Pink-footed Geese which was the motive of his winning photo. The love for birds started at the age of 11 when he joined his once mentioned older cousin Christian Tiller, who came to watch a rare bird. Christian brought withal some friends from the ornithological polity in Trondheim, together with binoculars, telescopes and tough cameras which made a huge impression on Terje Kolaas. This wits made him decide to join the Norwegian Ornithological Society.
White-throated Dipper, Terje Kolaas
Since then Terje Kolaas was hooked on birds. He spent the misogynist time surpassing and without school with binoculars and a camera in the nearby woods. As a 12-year-old he bought his first SLR camera, a well-used and fully transmission Yashica. He started out documenting what he saw and enjoyed taking good species photos. He ripened his own woebegone and white mucosa and photos on his parents bathrooms. And at the age of 13 he wrote his first report on birds in Staupshaugen, his local forest, on an old-fashioned typewriter.
In the years that followed both the interest in birds and photography developed. Terje Kolaas learned increasingly and increasingly well-nigh variegated bird species, where he could find them and what he had to watch out – and not least listen up – for. He became interested in conducting photography in such a way that he disturbed as little as possible.
Whooper Swans, Terje Kolaas
Inspiration
“From the first day my parents encouraged me to protract my interest in birds. I remember my father took me in our sailboat all the way lanugo to Runde to watch Puffins – it took us two weeks to get there, but we saw Puffins! One other occasion he took me for a birding trip to Jomfruland in Telemark, 2000 kilometers yonder from home.
But my cousin and very good friend Christian Tiller has been my number one inspiration since he introduced me to birdwatching and photography when in 1989. We have evolved together as bird watchers and photographers and to a unconfined extent shared the same opinions and tastes when it comes to photography. He was moreover my number one travel companion over the years until he passed yonder way too young in February 2021. I still miss him every day”.
European Crested Tit, Terje Kolaas
Inspiring photographers
“Among other inspirations I want to point out the German nature photographer Klaus Tamm. In the early 2000s I had the privilege to guide him to my local Unconfined Snipes and Pygmy Owls. The photos he came when with simply blew my mind and made me squint at bird photography with new eyes. The techniques he used to create blurry foregrounds and backgrounds and the way he filled his frames with blurry content rather than “boring” empty space inspired me. Since that day my photography has evolved from traditional documenting “bird on a stick” to increasingly creative and originative work, I guess.
I consider Instagram as flipside source of inspiration. There are so many unconfined photographers out there and every day I see pictures that inspire me and make me wish they were mine. Today’s rencontre is to create something new and unique and Instagram is constantly reminding me of that. Challenging myself to try and learn new things, plane if other photographers have washed-up it surpassing me, instead of constantly relying on my ingrained habits and patterns, is very helpful and important to evolving as a photographer.”
Great Snipe, Terje Kolaas
Signature
“I am not sure if I can point out one unrepealable signature of my work or my style – I try to be an “allround” bird photographer and to manage several genres. But it is crucial to me that my images are wipe and well balanced. I often go minimalistic and try to stave anything that doesn’t add anything positive or interesting to the photo, the fewer elements the better. The bird must stand out from the surroundings. The bird and the bird’s personality are the most important and nothing in the photo should distract from that unless it contributes to something good compositionally. I moreover like repetitions and patterns, such as the shape of flipside bird in the foreground or background, bokeh balls, symmetry and balance. I like negative space, whiteouts and blackouts. I prefer soft natural light, but moreover like backlighting and the patterns and silhouettes that can be created with backlighting. In the end I try to create trappy photos that can decorate someone’s wall. If I manage to take a ‘wall photo’, I am happy.
My collaboration with the interior designer Halvor Bakke, a well-known influencer who is moreover the host of ‘Adventurous renovation’ on the Norwegian Television, have had unconfined influence on my photographic style. Halvor wanted to use my photos in the program and this has forced me to think differently. It unsaid my pictures should be decorative and creative to a greater stratum rather than rare and documentary, as the traditional bird picture often is. Delivering pictures for this television program has now wilt part of my income.“
Great Egret, Terje Kolaas
Preparation
“For me, shooting while traveling follows the same principles as shooting at home. The point is to capture the bird in a trappy setting. Many times I have seen photos taken in a particular destination and want to do something similar. Or I get an idea well-nigh something that is possible but has not yet been washed-up with that particular bird species. Those are aspects that make me segregate a destination.
When I travel abroad, I find myself torn between my desire to watch new and heady bird species and the joy of photographing. Therefore, many of my travels are less productive photographically than if I were spending the same value of time at home shooting.
Horned Grebe, Terje Kolaas
When I travel for bird photography, I am unchangingly focused on specific birds or specific circumstances. Considering of ‘my taste’ of photography, in which wipe images are my goal, I prefer to go to places where those kinds of photos are possible. Traveling to unshut snowy or sandy landscapes where there are many birds is perfect. In that regard, nothing beats the Falkands so far. Hokkaido in Japan in winter is moreover wondrous as well as the sand dunes of Morocco or Namibia. But as said before, I am most productive at home, where I know every corner and every bird in my surroundings.“
Common Guillemot, Terje Kolaas
Ambition
“I photograph birds considering I love spending time with them, so that is my main drive. I started as a birdwatcher and used photography to document the birds I observed. I am still a birder, but spend way increasingly time photographing than birding these days.
Photographing birds ways hours and days with waiting and observing and learning to know the birds to get the photos I want. And the increasingly time I spend with them, the increasingly I revere and respect birds. They are incredible creatures managing incredible stuff every day in their life. Think of bird migration; the unbelievable victory it is for that Unconfined snipe in front of me to fly for three days and 7000 kilometers nonstop from the mountains of Levanger where I live to inside Africa. Twice a year! Or the effort they do every night during summer, when the males gather for nocturnal fights to impress the females. And let not forget the enormous effort it takes to survive every day and most important of all; to manage to breed.
Red-necked Phalarope, Terje Kolaas
It is nice to have the opportunity to share all those unconfined moments I have with birds with “the rest of the world”. There are so many wondrous birds and most people don’t plane know they exist. Nobody cares well-nigh something they don’t know exists. So by publishing and distributing compelling bird photos, I hope to get some people interested in birds and bird conservation. And by taking pictures that most people find ‘beautiful’ instead of going for documentary pictures of rare and sectional birds, I hope to reach ’the man on the street’ instead of the bird watchers and people who once have a lot of knowledge.
My collaboration with Halvor Bakke has unsalaried a lot to bringing ‘birds to the people’. His TV show has brought ‘birds as art and fashion’ to hundreds of thousands of viewers who are primarily interested in malleate and not birds.“
Eurasian Collared Dove, Terje Kolaas
Photography contest
“ I entered my first competition overly in 2020, so competitions have never been a motivation for my photography. But participating in photography competitions – and certainly winning this 2021 edition of the Nature Photographer of the Year competition – has been a very good wits for me. I tend to think my own photos are not as tomfool as so many others out there, but winning this races ways that at least this one time the judges disagree with me on this photo. It is nice to get confirmation and to be recognized by fellow wildlife photographers. The competition is tough so stuff the overall winner in NPOTY is still incredible for me.
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With the current social media and filters and manipulation techniques etcetera it is difficult to find photos that are still ‘real’. The rules judges follow when reviewing competition entries provide an important guarantee that the winning photos have not been manipulated or filtered. Their question for the RAW files confirms this. And the fact that the jury unchangingly thoroughly examines the values of a photo guarantees that the winning photos comply with the upstanding rules.
Pink-footed Geese, Terje KolaasThe values of my winning photo of the geese has of undertow been discussed within the jury. Disturbing birds as a result of photography should never occur, whether by drone or in any other way. I described my working method for the jury and showed the requested photos that were taken before, during and without the session. These photos proved that the birds behaved normally and were not disturbed by the drone.
Judging is an important speciality of a competition. It guarantees participants and spectators that the winning photos have followed both the technical and upstanding rules. As a new participant in competitions, I am positively surprised and impressed by the work and research that the judges are doing in this area.
Great Grey Owl, Terje Kolaas
The media work washed-up by NPOTY is moreover impressing. Thanks to their job my photo has reached an regulars way outside my normal scope. It is surreal to see my photo published by global media concerns such as The Times, CNN and BBC. And as a result of that, many smaller medias and private persons have published and / or purchased the photo. So it definitely boosts both publicity and business.“
Social Media
“I have to shoehorn that I have not updated my website since 2017 and I am terrible with facebook. Most of my publishing is on Instagram (where I have 30,000 followers). Instagram offers me information and inspiration. Here you get impulses and there is a low threshold for contacting other photographers. I believe it is worth its weight in gold.”
Yellowhammer, Terje Kolaas
Covid-19 effects
“Despite having to cancel some scheduled trips, COVID-19 increased my photo productivity! Social activities were kept to a minimum, guiding stopped due to travel restrictions and university education stopped due to closure. Up in the mountains or in the woods, social distancing is not an issue, so I have spent a lot increasingly time with my camera in the field than I normally could.
Flexible working hours have proved to be very important to make the most of the rare occasions when they arise, such as the two days of snow in April that made the winning photo possible. If I was tied to the office or matriculation at that time, I would never have been worldly-wise to take wholesomeness of those unconfined conditions. So self-rule and flexibility offer a huge wholesomeness when it comes to wildlife and wildlife photography. Some situations can be unique and then it is now or never!”
Snowy Owl, Terje Kolaas
At the end of the interview I asked Terje Kolaas the question: “if you could ask flipside nature photographer one question, who would that be and which question would you ask?
Terje Kolaas gave it some thought and answered: “I would ask the extremely good and productive Paul Nicklen; Please, take me with you!”.
Willow Tit, Terje Kolaas
Het bericht Nature photographer Terje Kolaas well-nigh his deep-rooted passion for birds and how to bring birds to the unstipulated public verscheen eerst op Nature Photographer of the Year.
