Masterclass in Nature Photography by Jürgen Freund at JCU

Cairns-based photographer Jürgen Freund has been pointing his camera at all creatures great and small for several decades now, and with great success.

He won the 2010 PATA Gold Award for Travel Photography with an image of marine biologist Brad Norman tagging a whale shark at Ningaloo Reef. A spectacular picture of a Minke whale’s eye won the Oceans category of the Nature’s Best Magazine international competition. He has also placed highly in competitions including the World Press Photo Award and UK’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year.

Yogi, as he is widely known, works with his wife Stella Chiu-Freund.  They have published some stunning books that aim to focus attention on valuable and fragile places.

The Coral Triangle is the result of an 18-month expedition undertaken for WWF, documenting the wildlife, land and seascapes of a six million-square kilometer expanse of land and sea encompassing the waters of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste.

For Sulu-Sulawesi Seas they documented some of the millions of species, from marine mammal behemoths to minute micro-organisms, that live in the eco-region encompassing the waters and islands of Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Closer to home in Cairns, Yogi and Stella are inspired by the rainforests of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area and the neighbouring woodlands and savannah.

In June 2012 they will have returned from another Asian expedition to teach a masterclass in nature photography for James Cook University in Queensland’s far north.

The majority of the week’s classes will be held in the field, visiting the lush forests, crater lakes and extinct volcanoes of the Atherton Tablelands. Yogi will help you capture your best shots of the region’s inspiring flora, fauna, landscapes and waterways.

A Raja Ampat Video of Freund Factory at work – WWF Coral Triangle Expedition

A Raja Ampat Video of Freund Factory at work – WWF Coral Triangle Expedition

While we were in North Raja Ampat, we were incredibly fortunate to have professional photographers and videographers Claudia & Leon Joubert document our stay and experience in what is arguably the epicenter of marine biodiversity. Claudia Pellarini-Joubert and Leon Joubert of the Bittenbysharks.com fame used to work with Max Ammer to manage and market Sorido Bay Resort.

http://www.vimeo.com/9854363

GEO Snake Expedition – Australia 2008

GEO Snake Expedition – Australia 2008

FLASHBACK – February 2008

Way back December 2007, Yogi was asked by the GEO photo editors to do a photographic snake expedition with scientist Dr. Guido Westhoff. The assignment required them to go to the Queensland outback for land snakes and Weipa for sea snakes. This expedition marked our first big collaboration with GEO Magazine and I was so happy for Yogi. It finally happened. For those who are not familiar, GEO is Germany’s most prestigious science, nature and geographical magazine, which also come out in 16 other countries worldwide. Simply put – it is an fantastic publication! See Yogi’s GEO Portfolio here.

Now I was (pre-expedition) petrified of snakes. The mere mention of the S-word was enough to turn my knees into jelly and make my stomach turn. But it was either stay home alone for a month or bite the bullet and go with the team to look for snakes and photograph them. EEEEEEK! So, not wishing to be left behind, I joined the team comprised of the GEO writer Hania Luczak, Guido Westhoff and his wife, Katja. It was awesome.