Isak Pretorius

Isak Pretorius

I was born, 1978, in Pretoria and lived with my parents just outside Pretoria on a small holding for all my school years. As is typical in South Africa, my family loved visiting the National Parks during school holidays, so I developed a love for nature in that way. Although I studied Industrial Engineering at the University of Pretoria and then worked as Business Systems Analyst for many years, it wasn't until I got my first paycheck and bought my first camera that I got my start in photography.

For me what I do is for the love of nature, and not photography necessarily. I find that photography is such a great tool to experience nature in detail and to express your creativity.

I find inspiration in the beauty of the places I go to and the subjects I find. My aim is to take photos of the subjects, naturally wild and free, in their environment that showcases their beauty, unique features and characteristics. To show a variety of angles and detail of the subjects, all done through a simple but unique composition and my own artistic style. I try not just to document nature but to create art. As a perfectionist by nature I aim to get the photos right in camera, and then tweak the colour and contrast in post processing to depict the scene as closely to the way I saw it through my lens as possible without jeopardising the authenticity of the scene.

Conservation is part of my everyday job. I believe that if we can show people the beauty of our natural world and get enough people to care, it's our best chance of saving the nature that we love.

Bird photography was the first genre I became very passionate about. I love birds, you find them everywhere, they always do something interesting, beautiful and even the dullest bird can look spectacular when the photographer position himself at the right angle and with the right light. I considered myself a serious hobbyist photographer until 2007 when I started leading photographic safaris to the iconic destinations in Africa. Today I'm a full-time professional wildlife photographer and specialist photographic wildlife photographic guide.