Daisy Gilardini

I am a Nikon Ambassador and shoot mainly with the Nikon D5, Z7 and D500.When shooting bears I use my 800mm lens. In Antarctica my favourite lens is my 80/400mm. For landscapes I use the 14-24mm and the 24/70mm. For birds in flight photography I use a 500mm lens.

I usually plan my expeditions one or two year ahead of time.Considering the remoteness of the places I visit little can be left unplanned.Knowing your subjects and the ecosystem where they live in is crucial in order to be able to anticipate behaviours and catch the action at the right moment.

Returning to the same locations year after year will give you better understanding of the light conditions and spending an incredible amount of time with the animals will give you the opportunity to know single individuals and come up with something new and different. It takes time and knowledge to capture their personalities and freeze - in a single shot – in a fraction of a second - those anthropomorphic expressions that will be essential to make the connection with the viewer.

Before leaving on assignment I do a lot of image research to have a good idea of what is on the market in order to avoid repetitions. Once I know what’s out there then I can come up with newer innovative point of views. I pre-visualize the images I wish to achieve but once on location before even taking out my camera from the backpack I immerse myself in the situation letting the environment speak to me and letting my imagination and spontaneity take the lead.

My work is focused on the Polar Regions, Arctic and Antarctica and North American Bears. I photograph Brown Bears in Alaska, Russia Far East and British Columbia, Black Bears in British Columbia and Polar Bears in the Arctic (Canada, Russia, Norway).

My favourite location is Antarctica. Antarctica is the coldest, driest and windiest continent in the world.I always think of Antarctica as a planet on our planet. It looks as if everything stopped at the time of creation. Everything is in harmony, pristine and pure, probably because no humans ever colonized this continent.It’s one of the few places on Earth where animals are not scared of us, where penguins approach you to interact, where seals want to play with you and birds don’t fly away. 

I tried many times to understand this irresistible attraction to the Polar Regions, which I would define almost as an addiction or obsession. These extreme adventures transport me out of my ordinary world and lead me in a voyage of self-discovery. The isolation from the modern civilization and all the distractions that comes with it allow me to focus on Nature’s simple rhythms. The healing feelings of rediscovery our primordial connection with Nature and the interconnectivity between all species on Earth, inspires in me a feeling of awareness and deep respect for the importance of these delicate ecosystems.

I believe the best approach to wildlife photography is to photograph the animals on their own terms. This means position yourself in their environment and let them decide if they want to interact with you. When they accept you as part of their environment, they will reveal their personalities. In order to get intimate portraits of wildlife, you have to be patient and never force the situation.