Posted by Foto Care | Posted in Featured Photo Blogs & Websites
Posted on February 15, 2012 at 12:52 pm

Every leap in technology makes the tools available to a photographer that much better.  Auto focus, digital cameras with 64 gb cards that can shoot for days on end, even laser triggered “trap” cameras have all integrated themselves into a lot of photographer’s workflows.  There are photographers who look at these new tools and make the effort to apply them to their work, then there are the photographers who envision what they need and have the backing and means to realize their plans.  National Geographic Magazine’s Field Test shares some behind the scenes photos of photographer Michael Nichols applying some hi-tech gear to one of the most primal animals on the planet, the lions of the Serengeti.

To see more of Nichols’ wild work visit http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/visions/field-test/nichols-serengeti/assignment

Michael Nichols is working with a micro-copter, an adapted toy helicopter, to photograph lions in the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania.  ©National Geographic/Ken Geiger

Nichols has done just that, taking a Micro-copter and a remote controlled “lion tank”, an armored camera on wheels to offer unique perspectives for the series.  The ground “tank” provides an up-close and intimate angle, while the micro-copter hopes to offer wide-angle, overhead shots from 15 feet above the pride.  Check out this view from the tank and this aerial of the wildebeest migration from the microcopter.

A lioness gets to know a new creature on the savanna ©National Geographic/Michael Nichols

The original model of Lion Tank didn’t stand up to the punishment that the big cats dished out, but a new iteration designed by a U.S. robotics company should offer a sturdier tool.

Photographer Michael Nichols taps out an email from inside his custom-built, camera-laden vehicle.  ©National Geographic/Michael Nichols

Another cool piece of technology that Michael has been utilizing is a set of infrared cameras and lights mounted to a 4×4 that allow him to photograph through the night.  To read Nichols’ daily entries and follow along with his progress on the project, visit the National Geographic’s Field Test site.