“I once worked at an elevation of more than 5,000m in Bolivia and it was very difficult to breathe, eat and sleep.”

Initially coaching as an economist, Renato swapped a life behind a desk for one behind a digicam, and now works as a wildlife photographer and tour chief. 

How did your profession in wildlife images begin?

After spending 15 years working behind desks for giant firms, I made the choice to give up and begin a profession in nature images. I can proudly say that I’ve been having fun with life as a wildlife photographer since 2014.

Photography has given me the chance to have a way more dynamic existence, to journey the world and see issues in another way. I don’t see it as a job, fairly an exciting journey.

What has been a current focus of your images work? 

I help Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary close to Freetown, Sierra Leone, the place employees look after orphans whose mother and father have been killed for bushmeat, and in addition rehabilitate injured people.

I’ve been visiting the sanctuary since 2020, taking pictures and making movies that inform the story of those chimps, and that elevate consciousness of wildlife crime and different environmental points. It’s not at all times been a simple subject, nevertheless it’s paramount to protect the nation’s wildlife and habitats, and to help native communities. 

What have been the hardest situations you’ve ever had to deal with? 

I’m pretty used to difficult environments – I’ve spent most of my images profession both within the freezing chilly, or in scorching and steamy environments equivalent to equatorial jungles. Where I do wrestle is at excessive altitudes. I bear in mind as soon as working at an elevation of greater than 5,000m in Bolivia, and it was very troublesome to breathe, eat and sleep.   

What form of chilly situations have you ever skilled?

I often journey to the Arctic and Antarctica in summer season, however I’ve visited Svalbard in winter a couple of occasions. Once, I spent a number of days at temperatures of -25˚C. Luckily I had packed a couple of further layers of merino wool…

What’s been your most memorable encounter with wildlife? 

I’ve spent a variety of time with chimpanzees, each wild people in Uganda and Rwanda, and rescued people at Tacugama. Chimpanzees have been listed by the IUCN as Endangered since 1996, as a result of a variety of elements, together with poaching and habitat loss, and I need to present them in all their splendour and provides them the dignity they deserve.

Spending a lot time with these primates has had a huge effect on my life. They are our closest relations, and over time my encounters with them have develop into more and more memorable.

On one event, after spending a number of days with one explicit troupe, a feminine sat in entrance of me breastfeeding her toddler, suggesting a deep degree of belief.

Which different species would you prefer to {photograph} in the future? 

At the very high of my checklist is a protracted overdue go to to a colony of emperor penguins. I’ve seen many penguins throughout the globe, together with in South America, South Africa and New Zealand, however I nonetheless haven’t managed to see the biggest penguin species on Earth.

Which merchandise of equipment would you by no means be with out, photographic or in any other case? 

Someone as soon as stated “the best camera is the one you have with you”. For me, imaginative and prescient is extra vital than bodily tools. When I discover myself with out a digicam in entrance of one thing attention-grabbing, I as an alternative body the scene in my thoughts.

Doing this retains my eyes skilled to search out new angles and views. It helps me to construct an concept, a plan, a imaginative and prescient, which I’ll then return and execute.  

Any ideas for budding photographers? 

Put apart the technical data of the digicam and its options, and focus extra on constructing your personal imaginative and prescient. Be daring and decided to attain your targets.

Get impressed by the work of others by visiting images exhibitions and occasions. And participate in images competitions – they might help you perceive the place you stand on this thrilling type of artwork.

See Renato’s work at renatogranieri.com.

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