The year 2023 is behind us. Whether it was good or bad, we each feel differently. For me, it was one of the most intense years ever, beautiful, sad, and joyful, and from a photographic perspective, it was mainly a year of fulfilled wishes. I don’t want to delve into pathos, but somehow I feel that I should slowly start fulfilling my long-postponed dreams. Therefore, I “prescribed” myself trips to places I have longed to see for years. By “places,” I mean specific spots on the map, not new countries, as I have already been to all of them before. The result is that I have the most new photos on my disk in history, which I am slowly processing. At the end of the year, there was also a nice cherry on top, but let’s take it step by step.
NOTE: Article Author: Petr Bambousek, Translation by ChatGPT-4
COSTA RICA
Costa Rica is a traditional place I love returning to since my first visit 20 years ago. On the last expedition, I altered the usual itinerary to include more spontaneity compared to the nearly “sure thing” of shooting at prepared feeders. My wife flew in to join me, and we had our first free week together after many years. Kids are great, but you know… We visited more places I had long listed. I also had the chance to test the new OM 90mm/3.5 IS macro lens and LAOWA 6mm. The subjects included everything from ants to birds to the tapir, the largest fauna we encountered. It’s hard to say what was the most crucial encounter, but probably it was the repeated finding of the helmeted basilisk, which I had never seen in the wild before, and here, I found several in one trip.
GALÁPAGOS
In 2022, I briefly experienced the Galapagos to confirm if it really is the paradise I imagined. And it is! So I returned there in 2023 in full swing and spent two amazing weeks. Iguanas, seals, boobies, frigate birds, herons in so many positions that I live off these memories to this day. I would definitely like to return there in 2025.
Would you like to join me on Ecuador/Galapágos photography trip in 2025? Feel free to contact me.
ECUADOR
On the way to the Galapagos, I also stopped for a few days in Ecuador, a symbol of biodiversity for me, and a place I keep returning to. This time I managed to see and photograph endemic species from the Antisana range and visit locations that had been on my list for a long time and I hadn’t been able to visit. I’ll be returning there in a few months.
Would you like to join me on Ecuador/Galapágos photography trip in 2025? Feel free to contact me.
PANTANAL
Pantanal is a place that incredibly fills me with freedom and liberty. Despite the extreme drought that dried up many areas of the wetlands, I again had amazing opportunities to photograph unique species. The highlight was the excellent conditions for photographing jaguars. What more could I wish for.
Would you like to join me on PANTANAL photography trip in June/July 2024? Click here to get more info. Only last 3 spots available!
BORNEO
A region I visited for the twelfth time. I can’t resist it, even though the conditions for photography are by far the most challenging of all the mentioned locations. The raw wildlife still attracts me because if there’s a place where I can’t predict anything at all, it’s Borneo. In 2023, I allowed myself something I had denied myself for more than 20 years. Before my very first trip abroad, I opened Frans Lanting’s book (Jungles) to a double-page photo of a rainforest. I couldn’t get enough of that view. That forest seemed like something out of a fairy tale. I immediately looked up where such a place was. Borneo. Sabah. Danum Valley. Borneo Rainforest Lodge. It took 12 years before I first went to Borneo. It took 17 years before I visited Danum Valley. And finally, after 23 years, I stood ankle-deep in mud on the trails of Borneo Rainforest Lodge with that blissful smile on my face. I haven’t gotten to the photos from the trip yet, but I will soon. It was an epic end to a very productive year.
UNEXPECTED JOY
After such an intense season, I was caught by a very pleasant and unexpected bounty. My photos did exceptionally well in international competitions in 2023. The announcements were mainly at the end of the year. So it happened that I received a number of gratifying emails that my photos made it to the TOP selection of competitions such as America’s Nature’s Best Photography & The Nature Conservancy Contest and Europe’s European Wildlife Photographer of the Year & Nature Photographer of the Year. I have updated the overall overview of the awards in a separate section of the website.
For your information, here is the probability that a photo will succeed in a competition. The first number is the number of photos submitted to the 2023 edition, then follows the number of photos selected by the jury for that year, the percentage says how much that is of the total number, and finally the number that says that “every xxx-th” photo from the submitted ones makes it to the TOP selection. You will find a comprehensive discussion on why I send photos to competitions and the stories behind their creation on YouTube on January 15, 2024…
AND WHAT ABOUT 2024?
The year 2024 will be much quieter for me in terms of expeditions around the world. In a few months, I hope to return to Ecuador, then to the Pantanal in mid-year, and at the end of the year, I may fulfill one of my last dreams. And if that works out, I might start writing memoirs. 😄 I have many plans and news, but as the wise saying goes: “If you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans,” so I will release them gradually, as soon as I am sure that no higher power will have time to make fun of me anymore, as I had quite enough of that in 2023. THANK YOU VERY MUCH for your favor and support! If you want to follow my work, the latest scenes from the world of animals can be found on INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | and YOUTUBE.
I wish you all that the new year 2024, which is still so brand new and pristine, will be a symbol of robust health and fulfilled wishes – both big and small.
Petr Bambousek
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