Wildlife photographer and Nikon Ambassador Michelle Valberg is well known for her beautiful photos of Canada’s most incredible and iconic animals, including wolves, bears, moose, whales, and so many more.

PetaPixel contacted Valberg after seeing her photos in an ongoing exhibit, Wolves! Shape-shifters in a Changing World, at the Museum of Nature in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. As it happens, the exhibit was recently extended, and will not be on offer at the museum through next September. The dozens of large prints of Valberg’s photos was a highlight of the visit to the museum, which is one of Ottawa’s finest offerings.

How Michelle Valberg Got Bit by the Photography Bug

No matter how accomplished a photographer is, everyone gets their start the same way — with their first time taking a photo. For Valberg, that came when she was a teenager. Her dad gave her his camera before she headed off to Lake Placid, New York, on a trip.

“I came back and said, ‘I want to be a photographer.’ And I always joke that my dad replied, ‘And what else? Because you’re not going to make a living in photography,’” she tells PetaPixel.

After realizing her passion for photography, Valberg received a fine arts education in Ottawa, Ontario, including technical training at Algonquin University. She started her photography business as soon as she finished school, and at that point, she “did everything,” including videography.

While these days celebrated celebrated for wildlife, nature, and landscape photography, which has always been her passion, Valberg did events, weddings, and portraits to make ends meet for a long time. She says the skills she honed then, including communication, marketing, skills with people, and working in fast-paced environments, have benefited her greatly as a wildlife photographer.

For a while, the budding photographer had to “say yes to everything…if you want to make a living at photography or you want to build a business, you cannot say no to any jobs.” And building a business is precisely what the photographer did. At one point, she had 13 people working for her.

“In artistic, creative, and technical ways,” Valberg’s time as a wedding photographer informs her work today. “I haven’t done a wedding in 20 years or so, but I go back to that whole time. The time management, thinking on your feet, it’s really important.”

“I would never have thought that kind of background would have ever translated into what I do today,” Valberg admits, “But all the opportunities that come your way craft you into a better photographer.”

Breaking Through in a Male-Dominated Industry

For many talented women across diverse fields, talent alone has not always been enough to get the opportunities that people deserve. Valberg doesn’t think being a woman has ever been a limitation, but she credits women who have mentored her and helped her for much of her success. She also emphasizes that some of the most influential figures in her life haven’t been visual artists but businesspeople.

When Valberg got her start decades ago, she had taken her ex-husband’s surname, and many people associated her business with him (he was at the time a professional athlete). “It drove me nuts. He had nothing to do with my business. I just had his name.”

Even getting a business loan to get her up and running was a challenge, partly because she was a woman. “We’re talking about 38 years or so, so it was a lot different then,” Valberg says while explaining that even though her husband didn’t have an income at the time, he still had to be present for the bank to approve the photographer for a loan.

“I don’t want to generalize. I have wonderful, amazing male friends and male photographers that I hang out with that are so supportive,” Valberg explains, “But [women] struggle perhaps a little bit more, especially being young women, and you want to do this or do that, but [clients] don’t always trust you or that you know what you’re doing.”

“I did a book on Canadian women because of my experiences. I wanted to highlight the amazing women in Canada and celebrate who they are and what they’ve done, whether they were a president of a company, or if they were a survivor, or a mom, or whatever it was they were doing,” Valberg explains.

As for advice for young women trying to carve their own way in photography or any other industry, Valberg says to “forge ahead and be confident. That’s the most important thing. Don’t back down. If you’re met with prejudice, those people aren’t supposed to be in your life.”

“I never said to myself, ‘I can’t do this’ or ‘I don’t deserve to be here.’ You deserve the opportunity just like anybody else,” says the photographer.

Canada’s Roots Run Deep Through Michelle Valberg

“Canadian photography is huge for me. I embrace it. First of all, I love my country. And second, our parents taught us about Canada growing up,” Valberg says, explaining that her parents took the family all over the country as a kid. “They wanted us to experience Canada, and the more I did, the more I realized how much I love my country.”

Canada is a massive, diverse country, and Valberg’s photography reflects its varied beauty. “That’s really the bulk of my sales, my Canadiana,” Valberg says, adding, “There’s an enormous interest from the United States and all over the world in Canadian wildlife.”

Nature photography is a fantastic way to highlight hidden and underappreciated habitats and animals, which Valberg achieves through her work. It is also a meaningful way to jumpstart ever-important conservation efforts.

Although she has traveled worldwide to take photos and is on a trip to islands in the South Pacific at the time of writing this, one of Valberg’s all-time favorite photos is from her homeland.

“It was one of those moments that I will never forget. As photographers, I think we’re always looking for that one image that speaks to us or highlights what our personal experience was. I think it was the experience and that connection to that animal that was only feet away from me [that makes ‘The Boss’ so special]. He trusted me in his space,” Valberg says.

“Of all the places in the creek, he stopped right in front of me, faced me, and then put his head under the water as he was fishing for salmon roe off the bottom of the river. I had never seen him do that before,” she explains. “When he did it the first time, I didn’t have the right lens. I didn’t have the right settings. I wasn’t ready for it.”

Fortunately, Valberg got a few more opportunities and nailed the shot.

Putting All the Pieces Together

A common theme among many successful photographers is that their best shots include a bit of luck but would be impossible without the skills afforded by hard work and experience. While a once-in-a-lifetime shot inherently requires good fortune, a photographer must do more than just being in the right place.

Granted, knowing what “the right place” is a skill in and of itself. Valberg has spent an incredible amount of time in the field, learning about different wildlife and honing her photographic skills. But she admits she’s not a wildlife biologist or an outdoors guide. She relies heavily upon the talents of others to help put herself in the best position to succeed.

“If you have a really good guide, they’re going to help you,” Valberg asserts. “I learn a lot from guides.”

There are many excellent reasons to hire a guide. “For safety, if you’re photographing wolves or bears — I’m constantly listening to guides and taking their lead. I don’t want to put the animal in danger. I don’t want to be in danger,” she says. “We’ve got to be completely respectful in every way so no harm comes to either side.”

Even if she is only going to have an afternoon in a location, even if it’s one she’s been to before, Valberg regularly hires a guide. “I’d rather hire somebody to take me to the places that I know will provide me better luck than if I had gone out on my own.”

Attracting Attention in the Instagram Age

Although undoubtedly true with The Boss, Valberg’s portfolio is filled with extraordinary, eye-catching, and attention-grabbing wildlife and nature photos. How does she ensure that her photos have the instant impact required to get (and keep) viewers?

“I’m looking for an emotional impact, so I know that I can draw on the viewer or at least engage them enough that they don’t continue thumbing through to the next image. With Instagram, we’re flooded with amazingness. And if you’re following wildlife photography, it’s just one after the other. So how do you stop that person so you can tell your story?”

“I think [you must] start with emotion. Your technical skills have to be good, too, and you have to have the right opportunity. Well, you must create that opportunity and then have the right luck.”

Like every photo genre, light is critical for wildlife images. “You have to have the light. You need the experience. And then, from there, it comes down to image choice.”

Valberg admits that even she sometimes makes the wrong decisions. “I might not always choose the right image in the moment to send the desired message. I think after many years, I’ve got it. I think I get how I want to create an emotional impact.”

From there, photographers must select the correct camera settings and nail the technical aspects of an image. And of course, a compelling composition is a must.

As a frequent competition judge, Valberg knows first hand what it’s like to see many amazing images, one after the other. “It’s that immediacy, the first reaction. It must be visceral.” Often, the difference between winning and losing a contest comes down to whether a judge is stopped in their tracks by an image. A successful photo makes a seasoned vet go, “I love that. I want to take a photo like that. What is it? Where is it? I need to go there.”

“I need the questions ‘What, where, when, who, and why?’”

How Changing Technology Has Evolved Wildlife Photography

Having been in the industry in one form or another since the film era, Valberg has been through it all. She was one of the first wedding shooters to make the complete transition to digital, which, she admits, included some growing pains. However, it also gave her the ever-important “unique selling point” in a competitive market.

For her wildlife photography in the past few decades, improving camera technology has been acutely felt. Better lenses have mattered a lot, too. For example, with the advent of mirrorless technology, telephoto lenses have gotten lighter.

Among Valberg’s favorite lenses these days is the Nikon 800mm f/6.3 VR S, which is remarkably compact and lightweight.

“I would shoot the 600mm f/4, but that meant a tripod. It meant an extra bag. And there was no way I could handhold that in a moving [boat] on a dark morning or pouring rain.”

As for camera features, the move to mirrorless cameras like the Nikon Z9 has meant much more than lighter lenses. It has also meant faster continuous shooting speeds and significantly better autofocus. In fact, in the DSLR era, even when shooting fast-moving subjects, Valberg says she frequently utilized manual focus.

Somewhat ironically, manually focusing has never been easier than it is with mirrorless cameras and their ability to focus peak and zoom in while shooting through the viewfinder. Still, Valberg touts the Z system’s AI-powered autofocus and powerful subject detection as a total gamechanger in the field.

“It’s phenomenal. When it picks up an animal’s eye at distance? It’s ridiculous.”

Although she has been capturing amazing images for a long time, way before mirrorless camera technology arrived on the scene, Valberg says that she can get shots now that were impossible not so long ago.

Conservation in the Digital Age

Although she doesn’t consider herself a “conservation photographer,” insofar as “conservation” is a “big word,” Valberg thinks she is more like a steward and a visual storyteller. Further, the photographer argues that we are all stewards.

“It doesn’t matter if you have a DSLR, mirrorless camera, or a smartphone, whatever it is, you have an opportunity to share with the world where you are and what you’re looking at. If you have a story that involves the environment or conservation or animal under threat, or you see something that’s not right or bad behavior or whatever it might be, your images are a powerful tool. And it’s not just still photographs, but videos too.”

Valberg passionately believes that everyone can make a difference through photography, and images are remarkably powerful ways to create lasting, meaningful change.

More From Michelle Valberg

Michelle Valberg is a Nikon Ambassador and celebrated wildlife photographer. Her accolades are too lengthy to list here, but can be read in full on her website.

Her beautiful wolf images are on display at the Museum of Nature in Ottawa, Ontario, through September 2024.

Valberg is also a valued member of the Journal of Wildlife Photography, and has a new video course releasing later this month on November 24. Additional information about memberships to the Journal of Wildlife Photography is available here.

On December 1, this contest page will update to reflect the Journal of Wildlife Photography’s annual end-of-year photo contest. There will be $6,000 in prizes awarded and subscribers can enter the competition for free.

Image credits: All images © Michelle Valberg. Additional photos are available on her website and Instagram.

It is an image of stillness in an increasingly chaotic world: a young woman sits in a park, immersed in nature and music. And it has caught the mood of the times, becoming the winner of the 2023 Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait prize.

Judges awarded Alexandre Silberman the prestigious £15,000 prize for his picture Diena, which was taken in Paris’s La Courneuve Park. The winning portrait forms part of Silberman’s series Nature, which explores the intersection of human interventions and the natural world. Judges praised the image for its blend of the traditional and the contemporary, juxtaposing historical depictions of a Madonna with modern signifiers such as the sitter’s nose ring and headphones. The titular Diena, sitting for her first ever professional photograph, is wearing a floral blouse which appears to blend in with the park’s surrounding lawn.

Born in Dortmund, Germany, Silberman is a director, cinematographer and photographer based in Paris. He said he first spotted Diena sitting in the sun as he was walking through the park. “What I first noticed, apart from the softness of her expression and the way her face took the light extremely well, was a more imposing element around her. Her suitcase, her large bouquet of red flowers, her large white veil falling on the ground.”

Silberman was almost out of film when he took his winning image. “I decided to take a close-up of Diena, concentrating on her face, but also on her blouse. The vegetation was no longer what Diena was standing on, but Diena herself. This gives the portrait a mystical power, accentuated by her very inner expression and the dropping of the veil.”

A second prize of £3,000 was awarded to Gilleam Trapenberg, an Amsterdam-based photographer born on the Dutch-Caribbean Island of Curaçao. His portrait Kisha and LaDarayon, taken from the series Currents, shows a heartfelt moment between mother and son, captured on the Caribbean island of Saint Martin.

Two third prizes of £2,000 were also handed out. British photographer Jake Green impressed the judges with his portrait of Happy Mondays singer Shaun Ryder, whose face is obscured by a plume of smoke the frontman has exhaled. Judges praised the way the sitter’s character comes across, despite the fact his face is not revealed. Carl Francois van der Linde’s portrait Chotu Lal Upside-down was taken from the South African photographer’s series Our Leader. In the image a professional wrestler from Punjab hangs upside down by his feet from a tree, sandwiched between two much larger wrestlers – a ritual humiliation that wrestlers sometimes go through in order to build their brand on social media platforms and attract attention from talent agents.

This year’s award ceremony also featured the inaugural Taylor Wessing Photographic Commission, won by Serena Brown for her warm family portrait entitled me nana fie. Depicting the British photographer’s younger sister, who was visiting Ghana for the first time, it forms part of a larger project in which Brown captures the characters – from friends to street sellers – who visit her grandmother’s home in Accra.

The winning portraits will go on display as part of the Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait prize 2023 exhibition, which returns to the National Portrait Gallery for the first time in three years after renovation work. The exhibition features 58 portraits from 51 photographers, selected for display by a panel of judges including National Portrait Gallery’s director Dr Nicholas Cullinan, senior curator at the Photographer’s Gallery Karen McQuaid and artist Campbell Addy. The exhibition will run from 9 November to 25 February.

Cullinan congratulated this year’s winners, saying that the prize “represents the very best of contemporary photographic talent, showcasing the array of unique perspectives and styles at work in the discipline today. It’s wonderful to see the prize and exhibition return to the National Portrait Gallery after three years, and to share these fantastic portraits with our visitors.”

These pack trips are designed for riders who want to capture their trophies on film.

“I know several people who are totally against hunting, but they sure would like to go on a hunting trip. They want to see and stalk wildlife, but they don’t want to kill anything.”

Those are the words of Yeldon Mor­gan, the owner of Morgan’s, the fine horse products company in Ellsworth, Nebraska. Yeldon has always been a hunter. He enjoys hunting, but he also enjoys simply seeing and photograph­ing wildlife. “I love pack trips in the mountains,” says Yeldon, “and I can get just as much pleasure from photo­graphing an elk as I do from hunting one.”

In pursuit of that kind of trip, Yeldon contacted his nephew-in-law Rick Felts, who owns and operates Grizzly Ranch, near Cody, Wyoming. Rick is a professional outfitter. In the fall, he guides hunters after deer, elk, antelope, and bighorn sheep, and in the summer he offers pack trips for sightseers, pho­tographers, and fishermen.

“I often tailor my summer and early fall trips to suit the needs of wildlife photographers,” says Rick. “There are plenty of wild animals to see in this area.” Rick can even offer photography trips during the hunting season, because part of his area of operation in­cludes Yellowstone National Park, where hunting is not allowed.

“The best time of all is in Septem­ber,” explains Rick. “The weather is just fantastic because we usually have Indian summer about then. And the elk are bugling. They are easy to find, their antlers are all grown out, and they are really putting on a show.”

Last August, Yeldon and Rick got to­gether for a camera safari into the Washakie Wilderness, just east of Yellowstone. Along for the ride was Bill Davis, an outstanding western and wildlife sculptor who also has a passion for fly fishing.

The trip started at Grizzly Ranch, where Rick and Candy Felts have, over a period of about ten years, built a cozy and hospitable guest ranch. The ranch is surrounded on three sides by national forest, and is picturesque enough to have appeared in one of the Marlboro cigarette ads. In fact, Rick’s horses, mules, and ranch wagon have been used on numerous occasions for the ads, and Rick has often helped find lo­cations and cowboy extras for the Marlboro photographic sessions.

Grizzly Ranch is just about as close to being home as any visitor could want. Rick and Candy are people lov­ers and wonderful hosts. Their seven cabins will accommodate a total of 15 guests, and everyone-guests, guides, wranglers, ranch helpers, and Rick’s own family-dines together at two gi­gantic round tables in the Felts’ dining room.

“We don’t do anything special,” says Rick. “When people come here, they are coming into our home. We sit round at dinner and then visit after­wards; seeing who can tell the biggest lie is our main event. It is a chance for people to relax, to slow down in this fast world we live in.”

For the wilderness trip, Rick drives his guests to the Eagle Creek Camp­ground, a few miles west of his ranch. Eagle Creek is one of the major tribu­taries of the North Fork of the Sho­shone River. The campground is at the mouth of Eagle Creek, and one of Rick’s most popular trips is the ten­ mile ride up this stream to Eagle Creek Meadows.

“There is no way I can describe Ea­gle Creek Meadows,” says Rick. “When you ride up the creek bottom and through those trees, and then fi­nally get to where you’re going, and you break out into that fantastically beautiful meadow, you can understand why people love it so much. But until you actually see it for yourself, you just can’t grasp how wonderful it is.”

Rick owns 30 head of horses and mules, so he is able to outfit any rider with the kind of mount he or she prefers. At the campground, Rick and his wranglers will help each guest get properly mounted, and then the guide, pack mules, saddle horses, and guests splash across the Shoshone and head for the high country.

The trail to Eagle Creek Meadows winds gradually upward through pine and spruce forests, occasionally topping out for splendid views of the Eagle Creek canyon. Along the way, moose and deer are a common sight, and it of­ten takes longer to reach the meadows than is really necessary simply because there are so many photographic oppor­tunities along the way.

And when you get there, Eagle Creek Meadows tops it all off. It is a huge valley-two miles long and 1/2 mile wide-surrounded on two sides by towering, timbered ridges, and on the southwest by snowcapped peaks along the Yellowstone boundary. While guests are busy taking in the splendor of it all, Rick and guide Roy Sanders unload the mules and set up camp.

“When we take a pack trip,” declares Rick, “we take a pretty posh out­fit. We take tents, chairs, tables, foam pads to sleep on, a “potty” tent, and lots of good food. It’s really not much like roughing it. In fact, the only differ­ence between this and camping out of your car is that you go on horseback and you get into much wilder country.”

The meadows are a perfect place for the horseback photographer. Not only are there many opportunities to photo­graph wildlife like moose, deer, elk, and marmots — but the meadow itself is worth several frames. Early in the morning, when the sun is just breaking through the ground mist, elaborate spi­der webs glitter with dew-drops in the tall grass, and brilliant wildflowers cover the ground in carpets of color. Its easy to run out of film long before you expect to.

If, on the other hand, the guest pre­fers hook and line to film and camera, Eagle Creek is a fisherman’s dream. In the course of one day of fly fishing, art­ist Bill Davis waded up the meandering stream and happily caught and released over 200 hard-fighting brook trout.

For visitors who can stay longer, Rick offers a seven-day ride that goes on into Yellowstone Park. “That trip is especially good for fishing,” says Rick, “because we drop right into the head of the upper Yellowstone River. It is un­surpassed for fishing for about a month out of the year, from the 10th of July to the 8th of August. A lot of large trout are spawning then. After that time per­iod, it is done. They all go back to Yel­lowstone Lake.”

You don’t have to go to the park to see wildlife. The Washakie Wilderness is part of what is known as the greater Yellowstone management area. This includes areas of U.S. Forest Service and BLM lands outside of the park. The chances of finding and photographing wildlife are often as good or better than they are inside the park boundary.

Regardless of the reason for going, be it a photographic safari, a fishing trip, a hunting trip, or just a sightseeing tour, guests who have a chance to visit Grizzly Ranch are in for a treat. Rick and Candy really make you feel like you belong there.

Ordinarily, a typical visit to the ranch lasts about five days. Guests can take a pack trip, or day rides, or an over­nighter up Big Creek Canyon, right be­hind the ranch. The Felts will also throw in a one-day van tour of Yellow­stone. “A day-long trip over there is pretty nice, even when the weather is unstable. You see more wildlife on days like that than you do on bright, sunny days.” says Rick.

In addition, they will take guests on into Cody to visit the exciting Buffalo Bill Historical Center and to see the action at the well-produced Cody Nite Rodeo. “We don’t have a big opera­tion,” says Rick, “and we don’t want one. Our guests like the family atmo­sphere around this place. In fact, the people who stay here get to be like part of our family.

“We had people here recently who stayed with us for two weeks. The guy was a lawyer, and his wife was a school teacher. Heck. When they and their three kids left, everybody cried. For two weeks they had lived right with us, just like family. We’ve got guests that have been coming back for four or five years. We are almost closer to them than to some of our own relation, be­cause we get to see them more often.”

Being around Rick is an exuberant experience. He has a great zest for liv­ing and a great sense of humor. His speech and stories are full of humorous phrases. When he introduces you to a group of his cronies, he’ll say some­thing like, “How’d you like to have a pup out of that litter?”

But the most impressive thing is his enormous enthusiasm for what he does. He loves people, he loves animals, he loves working outdoors, and he loves the hard physical work and variety in­volved in owning his own guest ranch. He has to handle about anything. At times he is a farrier, a carpenter, a plumber, a medic, a guide, a wrangler, a nature expert, a businessman, an ac­countant, and a congenial and patient host.

“I like to have a lot of business,” ex­plains Felts, “but I don’t want to get too big. If I did, I’d lose touch with all the stuff that made me want to get into this business in the first place. I don’t ever want to leave it, ever in my whole life, not until I’m at least 128 years old! If I didn’t have to make a living, I’d do all of this for nothing. I love it.”

Another thing Rick likes is that staying small allows him to go on the pack trips. “I don’t go on all of them, but there haven’t been very many of them that left here without me.” Part of Rick’s desire to be along on each trip is that he wants to make sure his guides do things the way he wants them done. Ac­cording to Roy Sanders, who has guided for Grizzly Ranch for several years, Rick is great to work for because he likes to do things properly. Roy ex­plains, “Rick runs a first-class camp. He keeps his equipment in top shape and hates to see anything that looks ratty or shabby. And he’s always look­ing for a better horse or mule.”

The Cody area is perfect for camera hunts. Large game animals are abun­dant, as are many other species, includ­ing waterfowl, hawks and eagles, pas­serine birds, and squirrels and chipmunks. But even without the wild­life, the scenery alone is enough to keep any photographer busy.

Early in the fall is probably the best time to go. The aspens begin to take on their golden mantle, and though the days are still warm, the air is crisp with just a hint of the coming winter. There are animals everywhere. Bears are busily storing fat for a long hiberna­tion, waterfowl are starting to gather for their southern migration, and bu­gling bull elk are battling each other for the right to collect a harem of cows.

This article was originally published in the February 1986 issue of Western Horseman.