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China Adventures, Nature Photography 1

Photographing China’s Wild Side – Panda Images

By Brad Josephs · On May 2, 2014


I am in Beijing getting ready to start a new Photography Trip and working on images from the previous trip. Due to great weather, lush backgrounds, and our chance to visit 3 separate panda breeding centers, everyone in our group had many. many chances to get incredible images of perhaps the most charismatic animal on the planet! Here are a few of my best-

  • brad josephs image, natural habitat adventures
    At the Panda breeding sactuaries we visit, there are amazing opportunites for images because of the number of pandas, diversity of behaviors, and lush backgrounds.
  • Panda yoga! Hanging upside down in a tree. It really looked as if this arboreal acrobat was just showing off for us!
  • Pandas are amazingly agile tree climbers, especially considering their build.
  • 8 month panda cubs are as cute as any animal out there in my opinion.
  • red panda picture, chengdu, sichuan
    Portrait of a red panda. Although Pandas are bears, and red pandas are more related to racoons, both animals share the same habitat, eat bamboo, and have other similiarities.
  • I used a shallow depth of field by setting my aperture to f4 so the background blurred out, to make the peacock the focus of the image, without distraction.
  • image golden pheasant, brad josephs, china
    Golden pheasant one of the most spectacular birds in China. Again I used shallow depth of field.
  • picture of golden pheasant sichuan, brad josephs
    This pheasant was living in the Chengdu Panda Breeding center. The wild ones are more elusive and difficult to photograph, we did the chance later in the trip.
  • Super cute 1 year old panda cub.
  • Pandas learn to climb when they are very young. In the wild this how they keep safe from predators like wild dogs, and moon bears.
  • I often get nervous that a branch will break and a panda will fall to the ground and get hurt, but apparently it never happens!
  • The lush, natural backgrounds at the Panda Breeding centers offer amazing opportunites for photography.
  • We can get up close and personal portraits when we enter the enclosures at bifengxia
  • Susan and Ken Case hanging out with a 2 year old Panda.
  • Pandas spend 50% of their life sleeping to conserve energy because they survive on bamboo, which has limited avaiable calories.
  • Large female panda
  • can you play with pandas in china?
    Virginia Huang and 2 year old panda
  • playing with pandas in china
    Linda Schuetz bonding with a young panda

 

Here are a few more of my favorites….

best hang (1 of 1)

Panda yoga! Hanging upside down in a tree. It really looked as if this arboreal acrobat was just showing off for us!

best hang (1 of 1)

This Young male was very excited because he could smell other females in estrus, and April is mating season. We positioned ourselves so that when he walked down his trail, we would be below him, making the perspective more dramatic and imtimidating.

The experts at the panda base say they have never had a panda cub fall from a tree and get hurt.

The experts at the panda base say they have never had a panda cub fall from a tree and get hurt.

baby panda, panda cubs

8 month olf panda cub having a bamboo breakfast.

Travel to China to see giant pandas with NHA!
Get up close and personal with giant pandas and learn about their conservation at three renowned panda research bases.
See China Trips »
Bear ViewingBrad JosephsChinaChina Wildlife TripsNatural Habitat AdventuresPanda PhotographyPhotography
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Brad Josephs

Brad has been a Natural Habitat Expedition Leader since 2005, guiding Alaska grizzly bear tours, Churchill polar bear tours, northern lights expeditions and China panda tours. His specialty is bear biology and ecology of the north country.

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1 Comment

  • Anonymous says: May 3, 2014 at 3:43 am

    I want to go back !!!!! Absolutely loved the photos. Thank you so much for posting them. Zozzie

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