Our Ethics
“ETHICS IS NOTHING ELSE THAN REVERENCE FOR LIFE.”
We pride ourselves to apply the highest ethics in wildlife photography. Because we believe Nature does not deserve to be manipulated by us in any way, we never ever use any trick to have the animals come to us. We basically do our best to not alter the natural behavior of the animals. The welfare of our wild friends is and will always be more important that the beautiful pictures we can make. Thus, we apply the following rules in every single wildlife tour we guide:
No bait
We find it quite unbelievable that there is still kind of a debate around baiting wildlife. For us, baiting is wrong. Period.
No zoos or game farms
Zoos and game farms do not match with our vision of wildlife photography. All the animals we encounter in our tours are actually wild.
No call
Calling birds can clearly be harmful for them. We understand this practice only for research requirements. In our case, there is absolutely no need! All our encounters happen based on the expertise of our guides and a bit of luck.
No flash
Flash or any other artificial light is not allowed during our tours.
No set up
Even though set ups do not directly harm wildlife, this trick does not match with the way we like to enjoy and immerse ourselves in nature. We strongly enjoy the fact to not stage our encounters in any way.
Keep distance
We mostly stay on roads, paths or trails and we do everything to keep the habitat disturbance to a minimum. First, we keep our groups to a very small number of participants. Then, of course, we do not leave any trash behind us. Also, we never collect flowers, plants, and we never cut branches to have a better picture.
Keep away from nests
To avoid any risk of putting a reproduction cycle in danger, we never approach nests or dens too close.
Keep records
We keep track of our tours observations and submit it to online platforms such as ebird.org in order to help research and conservation.
Keep a slow pace
To avoid stressing birds and other animals, we always make sure to move slowly and as discretely as possible.
Respect the rules
Wherever we go, we always follow the local rules and regulations governing the use of the natural areas we explore.
No stress
With experience, we are able to recognize signs of distress from an animal we encounter. Sometimes it can happen even when you take the greatest care. For example when a resting perched raptor we did not see is looking at you carefully and start to move its body getting ready to take off. In these situations, we always stop moving or step back. We always do our best to not stress the animals.
We just love Nature just the way it is.
If you share the same way to see the world, please have a look to our ethical wildlife photo tours and join us!