Audun Rikardsen on saving whales, eagle selfies and sinking cameras
How did you get into photography?
I grew up in a coastal community in Norway. I’d often go out with a neighbour to tag sea eagles. Looking into the birds’ eyes made me want to photograph them, so I saved up for my first camera.
Have you ever lost any photographic gear to wildlife?
Yes. A polar bear in Svalbard grabbed my camera and sunk it to 140m. It took me a year to retrieve it, and though it was of course broken, I was able to access the memory card with help from data experts who worked with the Norwegian police.
You have various home-made camera rigs. Which has been most innovative?
A system where an eagle transports a tiny camera into the air and takes a flight selfie.
And the least effective?
A radio-controlled camera-boat to take split-level shots of swimming polar bears. After spending months making it, I took it on a four-week trip to the Arctic. No bears showed up, and then the boat started to leak. The whole thing was an epic fail.
What’s been your most costly shoot?
I once came across a humpback whale entangled in a subsea internet cable. It took many of us – firemen, coastguards – more than a day to release it. Later, I got a bill for £150,000 to cover damages to the cable (I didn’t pay it!).
Any stand-out wildlife encounters?
Probably the most unique was when a rare and totally white humpback whale showed up right in front of our boat in heavy fog in the remote Arctic Barents Sea. It breached in front of my camera.
Can you share your closest shave?
A young orca repeatedly came so close to me that I had to push it away with my camera and shout to a friend in a boat to ward it off. It was probably just teasing, but it was a bit worrying…
What’s been your most physical shoot?
Shooting waves in a stormy sea. It was like being beaten up in a washing machine.
Audun Rikardsen is a marine biologist and photographer. Visit audunrikardsen.com.
European Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Check out highlights from this year’s competition in our online gallery at discoverwildlife.com/photo-galleries/gdt. Inspired? Why not enter next year?
• WHO CAN ENTER
It is open to amateur and professional photographers residing within Europe and for GDT members
• FIRST PRIZE
This year, the overall winner receives €3,000 and an all expenses trip to the award ceremony in Germany
• SUBMISSIONS
The competition opens for entries on 15th January and closes on 1st March, and there are 10 categories, including two for budding young photographers
Find out everything you need to know at gdtfoto.de
