Kids Conservation Photography Workshops

01/02/2019

SO PROUD of past student Carolina Fraser who was published online at National Audubon Society! Please read her interview and check out the image she talks about! Great to KCPW kids doing amazing things!! Tropical Herping Lucas M. Bustamante International League of Conservation Photographers ILCP

To capture this image of a concealed loon chick, teenager Carolina Fraser focused on a split-second moment.

12/12/2018

So proud of KCPW student Emma Balunek for following the important story of prairie dogs in Colorado! One of her fabulous pictures is published - we are thrilled to see you capturing conservation issues!! You go girl!!

With the move, the animals were spared certain death at a construction sites to face uncertain fates – including death – on a prairie ecosystem.

05/11/2018

On our last Ecuador workshop, we were spoiled with hummingbird viewing (and photographing) opportunities. Creating habitat for hummers and other birds is a popular ecotourism method in Northwest Ecuador-which attracts tourists from all over the world! A great way to save rainforests and wildlife habitat!

At the end of the day, our goal in KCPW is to take students out of their norms, our of their comfort zones—to awaken their senses and open their eyes. We introduce them to firsts—their first flight alone, their first time in a new country, their first time hearing every world around them in a different language, their first time admiring a hummingbird, their first time standing with their own two feet in the magnificent forest where that hummingbird lives, their first time seeing the trees felled in the place the hummingbird calls home. Their first time connecting with that which wows them, and their first time connecting with the understanding that their sense of wonder is coming from a natural environment that ultimately is at stake.

http://kidsconservationphotoworkshops.com

Karine Aigner Photography Karine Aigner Lucas M. Bustamante Tropical Herping International League of Conservation Photographers ILCP Septimo Paraiso - Mindo

31/10/2018

JUST A FEW SPACES LEFT!!

Are you 16-26 years of age and interested in photography, storytelling and FOXES??

If so, join Kids Conservation Photography Workshops' new Conservation Storytelling workshop for YOUTH!

KCPW's Karine Aigner Photography and photographer Amy Shutt of The Canid Project will be teaching a unique photographic storytelling workshop next summer in the United Kingdom where we will get you on the ground with your camera, and a real conservation organization in order to learn how to create a story from the ground up!

More details at:

http://kidsconservationphotoworkshops.com/united-kingdom/

Please share if you know anyone interested!!

Taz Kenward International League of Conservation Photographers ILCP

22/10/2018

Good morning from the Amazonian canopy! On a couple of mornings, we climbed 120 ft up into the trees looking for wildlife that inhabits the canopy. Monkeys, toucans and anole lizards are some of the few species that rarely touch the ground, and are more easily viewed from the trees.

Seeing the Amazon from the air gives a completely different perspective on how large and complex the forest is. Seeing the complexity of the environment gives our students a completely new understanding of what humanity stands to lose if we do not protect these biologically diverse environments. It also reinforces the importance of the work being done in the realm of ecotourism by conservation heroes like the Añangu Kichwa indigenous community.

http://kidsconservationphotoworkshops.com

International League of Conservation Photographers ILCP Karine Aigner Karine Aigner Photography Tropical Herping Napo Wildlife Center Ecolodge Comunidad Kichwa Añangu Napo Cultural Center

17/10/2018

KPCW took home more than one win at the Wildlife Photographer of the Year awards last night. Our student Liron Gertsman ‘s image taken in Ecuador received highly commended in the 15-17 year olds youth category. We are So proud of you Liron!!! Can’t wait to see more of our students and their successes! Check out official page link! Liron Gertsman Photography Lucas M. BustamanteTropical Herping

http://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit/wpy/gallery/2018/images/1517-years-old/5351/colour-sound-action.html

17/10/2018

Congrats to our KCPW co-founder and instructor Karine Aigner, who yesterday had this unique pic awarded in the 2019 Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition.

Karine quietly watched this bobcat raise her kittens beneath the decking of a remote ranch house over several months. As they grew, Karine earned the bobcat’s trust, enough that the mother sometimes left her young with her while she went hunting. ‘Animals can teach us so much,’ Karine says. ‘She taught me what trust was.’

Bobcats usually have one litter in spring with up to six kittens. The kittens stay with their mother before separating from her in winter. They eat mainly small mammals, especially rabbits and birds, and are often considered a nuisance. Despite being hunted for sport and trapped for their pelts, populations have remained resilient.

www.kidsconservationphotoworkshops.com

Karine Aigner Photography, International League of Conservation Photographers ILCP, Tropical Herping, Lucas M. Bustamante

15/10/2018

One of the most important things about our workshops is that they introduce students to a multitude of new experiences and new friends. Brent and Ian live in different countries, but, butterflies brought them together. Butterflies are not one of Brent’s “favorite things….” Brent, in fact, doesn’t mind butterflies as photography subjects but, having them perch on his hand was another story. But, Ian convinced him to experience something that he wouldn’t have willingly done on his own: put nectar on his finger at a butterfly sanctuary, and allow the butterfly to sit on his hand while drinking. But, Brent complied! And another new experience was had!

http://kidsconservationphotoworkshops.com/

International League of Conservation Photographers ILCP Karine Aigner Photography Tropical Herping Lucas M. Bustamante Karine Aigner

11/10/2018

The Andean C**k of the Rock (Rupicola peruvianus), also known as tunki (Quechua) might be one of the strangest looking, (but at the same time stunning) and most difficult species of birds we had the pleasure to photograph during our last workshop.

In the cloud forests of Ecuador, the males of this species faithfully gather together on a daily basis in the early hours of the morning, at courtship sites known as ‘leks.’ Not only are leks dense with foliage but, during the hours that the cacophony of posturing ensues, the light is limited, and the birds never stop moving. The males spend an hour or two fluffing their feathers and facing off, squawking, dancing around the branches exhibiting their wingspans and screaming at each other. IF and when a female arrives (females are dull and brown in comparison to their male counterparts) the decibels of raise tenfold; the males simply go crazy…squawking and flailing. Their goal (not unlike any male)? To convince females to mate with them—apparently it works, but, one might wonder the attraction.

http://kidsconservationphotoworkshops.com

10/10/2018

Student Ian Harland shows his camera to Pablo, one of the kids of the Añangu Kichwa indigenous community inside the Yasuni National Park. Some of the most important moments of the trip were to see our students sharing moments: laughs, conversation (regardless of the language barrier!) and time with the locals. At the end of the day, is there a better kind of learning that this kind of cultural and geographic exchange? The camera not only works as a conversation piece but, a tool to share what is captured and seen.

http://kidsconservationphotoworkshops.com

International League of Conservation Photographers ILCP Karine Aigner Photography Tropical Herping Lucas M. Bustamante Karine Aigner Napo Wildlife Center Ecolodge Comunidad Kichwa Añangu Napo Cultural Center

12/09/2018

How many apex-predators can the Amazon Basin hosts? Our kids were very lucky to spend time with the Giant River Otters. Each of these mammals can eat up to 3 kilograms of fish per day! That's why they are great indicators of the good condition of water bodies. Habitat destruction and degradation have now become their principal threats, and a further reduction of 50% is expected in Giant River Otter numbers within the next 10 years.

We need more places like Napo Wildlife Center Ecolodge to preserve top predators like these ones, that in addition to being so amazing, they are at the top of the food chain of the most biodiverse ecosystem in the world.

Photo by Lucas M. Bustamante.

Karine Aigner Photography, Tropical Herping, International League of Conservation Photographers ILCP

11/09/2018

Who can name the hummingbirds!?

On our recent Ecuador workshop, we were spoiled with hummingbird viewing (and photographing) opportunities. Creating habitat for hummers and other birds is a popular ecotourism method in Northwest Ecuador-which attracts tourists from all over the world! A great way to save rainforests and wildlife habitat!

International League of Conservation Photographers ILCP Tropical Herping Karine Aigner Photography Lucas M. Bustamante Karine Aigner