“I endured one and a half hours submerged in the freezing water, with only my head visible.”

Knut-Sverre Horn is a photographer and journalist based mostly in Varanger, Norway. His work has gained awards in Wildlife Photographer of the Year and Nature Photographer of the Year.

How did your profession begin?

I took an curiosity in birds once I was round 4, saved cash for my first binoculars at seven, received my first SLR at 12 and shot my first nature photos for a nationwide journal at 15.

Since 2002, I’ve been an all-round information journalist with NRK, the general public Norwegian broadcaster, and nature, local weather and conservation tales are a part of what I cowl. I primarily shoot birds, however often landscapes, bugs, flowers and mammals. 

Which of your photos is most necessary to you? 

My kittiwake picture from Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2021 might be one of many weirdest photos that has ever been awarded. Lots of individuals don’t get it in any respect. It serves as a reminder to attempt novel approaches and belief your individual imaginative and prescient.

What’s been your most memorable wildlife shoot?

It was late May, and the ice was breaking on a lake right here in Varanger (sure, I dwell at 70˚north). There was a synchronized mass hatching of chironomid midges, and the following feeding frenzy included ruffs, phalaropes, a Temminck’s stint and a ruddy turnstone.

Clad in a number of layers of wool and down underneath my drysuit, I endured one and a half hours submerged within the freezing water, with solely my head seen, in magnificent night mild. 

What attracts you to chook pictures?

Birds have all of it. They are stunning, charismatic creatures that show a spread of fascinating behaviour. And they’re pretty accessible – in contrast to most mammals, they don’t have a tendency to cover away at the hours of darkness. 

What’s been your hairiest shoot?

The hippo charging our small boat on the Chobe River in Botswana positive received the adrenaline flowing. Our information did his greatest to guarantee us that we weren’t in any actual hazard, however he’s obliged to say that, proper?

Any epic fails to share?

I used to be as soon as a second too sluggish to understand {that a} peregrine falcon was heading for a ruff feeding on the seaside proper in entrance of me. But I don’t waste time brooding over such issues – I simply benefit from the expertise.

Which species are in your bucket record?

I used to have a bucket record, however the fixed longing took the enjoyment out of my pictures. I’m now comfortable to take 99 per cent of my photos at house. That stated, I wouldn’t thoughts spending time with the unbelievable Inca tern in South America… 

What’s been your largest problem?

Trying to get respectable underwater photographs whereas snorkelling with guillemots. Boy, these birds are lightning-fast. I ended up utilizing a polecam, which was not a lot simpler, however I ultimately received one pretty good picture.

What’s the best discomfort you’ve needed to endure?

Once, I sat in a disguise from daybreak until nightfall, in -20˚C. I used to be ready for sea eagles to go to the carcass of a harbour porpoise that had washed ashore. They by no means confirmed up.

What merchandise would you not be with out?

My drysuit. Wildlife pictures is about entry, and that always means getting down low within the mud or water. Once you don a drysuit, you’re free to discover all these positions with only a few constraints. 

Any suggestions for budding photographers?

Spend a while within the discipline with skilled photographers. They can train you a thousand tips which are laborious to be taught from books or YouTube movies – methods to spot and method good topics, for instance, or about mild and backgrounds.

Go all in with the gear you already personal, in areas you possibly can entry regularly. Getting to know a neighborhood hotspot and the habits of its wildlife will open up a complete world of potentialities. I’d slightly see a splendid picture of a home sparrow within the metropolis than yet one more terribly lit shot of Blakiston’s fish owl. 

Follow Knut-Sverre Horn on Instagram.