Close to deadline...

First an update...

The past two months have been hard work trying to finish my latest project on wildlife and conservation in India. It has been a lot of late nights working hard at the computer and now I am finally near deadline. But will this mean some much needed vacation? No, not for now - This summer has turned out to become very busy indeed...

Greenland and Finland
Unfortunatlythe deadline of my India project mean that I had to cancel a trip to Iceland but shortly after my deadline i will be going to Greenland. I have'nt been to Greenland since march last year and i thorougly miss it. I am still working on my Arctic Fox Project and I have decided to visit a spot in Greenland which I know is rich in foxes. 
This place is way out of reach of the cellular network and i will spend 7 days there alone in a tent with my camera, coocking gear and a sattelite phone to keep in touch with my family.
Hopefully the foxes will be collaborative and the weather will be good. I will have good light almost 24 hours a day so I foresee quite a lot of working hours and very little sleep. But just photographing in Greenalnd again will feel like a vacation after all.

After that I will be going back home to celebrate the birthday of my oldest daughter and then it is off to Finland where I will be leading a tourgroup to see the wild brown bears near the Russian border. Here we will be spending 5 nights in hides looking for these cuddly brown teddies.

So July looks to be all set and after spending almost two months in front of the computer I really look forward to getting some time back in the wild.

I will be posting some more articles to this blog as soon as I have news from the trips and some photos to show.

I wish you all the very best summer.

Volcano slideshow on National Geographic Nordic

Hello everybody,

Wow - what a fun and busy week this one have been.

I started out giving a 3 hour talk to a danish photoclub and had to make a brand new slideshow for the occation. I have sorted trough most of my images from Iceland and India and at the same time i have done some serious layout on my new book that will go to print in june/july.

It has been a lot of long nights working at the computer listening to good music on the Ipod and let my creativity run freely.
Then, today i decided to take a day off and found out that Politiken (One of Denmarks largest papers) had run one of my images from iceland on the frontcover. To top it all off, I had a call from National Geographic Nordic that wanted to run a slideshow on their webpage http://natgeo.dk/ with 10 of my images from Iceland as well.

What a great way to end the week.

National Geographic Channel Photo Competition

Hello everybody,

I have just returned to Denmark after a fantastic start to the Arctic Fox Project. A part of the project is about describing the incredible arctic nature and just as i was starting to pack up my things to leave for Iceland the volcano at Myrdallsjökull erupted. So instead of going north to the foxes i decided to work on the volcano for this time. A thing like that only happens very seldom so it is all about grabbing the chance when it is there. But more on this soon.

Also i would like to announce that i have been chosen to judge the Danish National Geographic Channel Photo Competition.

The competition will be focusing on danish nature and there are some exciting prizes to win. So try and check out this link and make sure to sign up for this interesting event. http://natgeotv.com/dk/konkurence

I will be judgeing the competition together with Sisse Brimberg and Cotton Coulson who have both worked doing articles for National Geographic Magazine for years and i must say that i really look forward to this.

The competition is allready running and i cannot wait to see the images. So good luck everybody.

All my best,

Uri

Snow – Finally…

The last couple of weeks have been busy to say the least… I have been working on getting the whole Arctic Fox Project (AFP) up and running. It has been a lot of writing, emailing and phone talking. The project is growing bigger and bigger and I am constantly in contact with other photographers, biologists, researchers, editors and possible supporters. What started out as a small idea is now growing in size and starting to make sense? The whole idea of the project is to raise awareness about some important issues happening up north. But more on that in my next post…

Meanwhile I have got some great news – I have been in contact with Canon and National Geographic Nordic and both have agreed to support the project. National geographic Nordic will be the project main Media Partner and Canon will be Image Partner. I am really happy that two such great partners have joined in the efforts of telling this important story.

But while all this has been happening, there has been no snow on Iceland. The place I am going is close to the Arctic Circle and let me say it again… “THERE HAS BEEN NO SNOW” Incredible, what is happening? Down south here in Denmark we have had more snow than for decades and temperatures have plummeted way below zero. Some people have even started debating the reality of global warming. But way up north in Iceland, Greenland and Canada, the winter has been warmer than ever. In the Disko Bay area snow conditions has been so poor that it has not been possible to go out with the dogsledge and we are talking about a place 400 km north of the Arctic Circle. My friend even joked about going on winter holiday to Denmark.
But then yesterday I got an email from Ester at the Arctic Fox Centre. They had just had a snowstorm for some days and now the whole landscape is covered in beautiful white snow. So now I hope that it will last until end march so that I can go to photograph the foxes in a proper winter landscape. So, I for one do not hope for an early spring. At least not in Iceland…

Back to the Arctic

Hello everybody,

Sorry about the waiting time, i guess i will have to pick up on my blogging skills ;o)

I am now finishing up my project on conservation in India and what an exiting project that has been. Especially my last trip to Kaziranga was incredible and i got some amazing shots of Rhino and Elephant. I am now planning my last trip to get some more and i will be writing some more about that later on...

Being in India has been an incredible experience and the fact that i actually saw and photographed wildlife each day has been a nice change after many years spent tracking down elusive animals in the cold. The warm weather, the good food and the colors has given me a creative kick but also made me realize that i miss the far north. The loneliness, the cold breeze and all the gearing up before an expedition into the wild has been drawing in me all the time. The Arctic bug has bitten me and i will have to admit to some kind of addiction with the place, the people, the wildlife and the really wild nature. OK - Call me crazy but the Arctic is where i feel at home, what can i do about that?

So here is some news that have just got out today. I have just been named Official Photographer for The Arctic Fox Center in Sudavik in Iceland. The AFC and I has made an agreement on a new project for 2010 and 2011 which means that i will be spending A LOT of time in the north photographing and documenting the life of the Arctic Fox. You can read more about the news here: http://melrakki.is/news/An_official_photographer_of_the_Arctic_Fox_Centre/

So back to the Arctic (Subarctic really) it is. I can not wait to start the project and i am all ready checking up on my winter gear. I even picked up my daughter from kindergarten on my telemark skis and dragged her all the way home on her plastic sledge to get some practice. What an expedition that was :o) and now i can only sit in my chair writing on my laptop because of my sore legs. Surely i will have to work on my physical condition and burn away some of that good indian food, before venturing back into the cold.

I will keep you posted as soon as there is news.