Wildlife photography is a difficult genre which has been growing rapidly in Vietnam in recent years. It has played an important role in raising public awareness and calling for action to protect the ecological environment and biodiversity in Vietnam.
A blue whale forages in the waters near De Gi Beach in Phu Cat District, Binh Dinh Province. (Photo: NDO/Ngo Tran Hai An)
Last August, whales were continuously sighted in the waters in the districts of Phu Cat and Phu My, Binh Dinh Province, attracting the attention of large numbers of domestic and foreign scientists, as well as photographers and tourists.
According to Centre for Conservation of Biodiversity and Endangered Species (CBES), the whales are categorised as Bryde’s whales, which are named in the world’s list of rare and endangered aquatic species that must be protected.
Many photographers flocked to Binh Dinh to capture the special occasion, prominent among them included Huynh Van Truyen from Da Nang City, Bui Thanh Trung from Quang Ngai Province, and Ngo Tran Hai An from Ho Chi Minh City.
Following experts and fishermen, the photographers spent days at sea and gained wonderful photo collections capturing the moments of mother and young whales cruising and lunging toward fish.
| Wildlife photography has contributed to inspiring the love for nature and responsibility to protect the environment among viewers. |
The photos then went viral on social media, contributing to inspiring the love for nature and responsibility to protect the environment among viewers.
Son Tra Nature Reserve in Da Nang City, which is home to nearly 1,000 species of fauna and flora, is an endless source of inspiration for photographers who are interested in wildlife.
Together, these photographers established a photography club named ‘Forever green Son Tra’ in 2018, and its members have taken many precious images of Son Tra animals and plants.
Photographer Duong Duc Khanh, a club member, said that he goes to Son Tra almost every week to take pictures of nature there.
Thanks to the contributions of many photo hunters, Son Tra is now known not only as the home of langurs, but also as a paradise for many of the world’s migrating birds.
A picture entitled ‘Brown-shanked douc langur’ by Da Nang-based photographer Huynh Van Truyen.
Huynh Van Truyen, Chairman of Da Nang City’s Photography Club, has been engaged in the wildlife photography game for a few years. Recently, his photo entitled ‘Brown-shanked douc langur’ won the FIAP Gold Medal in the Nature category of the Aladag International Photography Contest 2022, which was held in early September in Turkey under the sponsor of International Federation of Photographic Art (FIAP).
Truyen, who is a member of the Vietnam Association of Photographic Artists, affirmed that taking nature photos requires great effort and expense, as wildlife photographers must be equipped with not only modern lenses and equipment, but also forest costumes, tents, and medicine.
They must also have certain understanding about wildlife, habits of birds and animals as well as skills to distinguish themselves and how to avoid wild animals. And above all, they must stay focus and patient as sometimes it takes days, even months to capture a valuable moment.
Photographer Tang A Pau, the owner of a photo collection featuring more than 500 species of Vietnamese birds (Photo: baodantoc.vn)
With a great passion and considerable knowledge of wildlife photography, some photographers even become nature conservationists. One of them is Tang A Pau, the owner of a photo collection of more than 500 species of Vietnamese birds, including many rare ones.
At the age of 60, he has travelled to forests from the north to the south to capture the life of wild animals, thus making great contributions to the research on biodiversity in Vietnam and in Southeast Asia in general. He has also been invited to speak at many symposiums on birds in Vietnam.
His photos have been used in a number of publications, including ‘Birds in Vietnam 2021’ book, and ‘Atlas of Cat Tien National Park 2021’.
It can be said that vivid images of giant whales in the waters of De Gi in Binh Dinh Province, the family of brown-shanked douc langurs on the Son Tra peninsula, or the beautiful and rare birds taken by wildlife photographers have contributed to improving public understanding of the natural world.
Each photo tells a story about the diversity and characteristics of nature in different regions of Vietnam, thus calling for the attention and joint efforts from organisations and individuals to protect the environment.
Hai Lam - Translated by NDO
