Dune Dance

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Story Behind the Photograph: Dune Dance

South Africa is my home, and I do much of my “work” there. Can I even call it work, as I cannot imagine doing anything else?

To prepare for this shoot, I knew I was going to need very specific camera gear that would allow me to work in breaking surf. This meant a camera body with a high frame rate, very good autofocus and an ultra-fast lens that could cope with all the movement that comes with working on a moving boat.

It was a two and a half hour boat ride, all the while battling the waves of the Indian Ocean, from Port Elizabeth Harbour to the uniquely magnificent Alexandria Dune Fields located along the shoreline of Algoa Bay. Knowing this was an area regularly patrolled by the Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin in their search for various species of baitfish to feed on, I was also hoping to find them playing and surfing in the breaking surf. I knew that by using the dramatic dune-scape as a background to the athletic feats of the dolphin would create a captivating image.

On this shoot, the actual photography was only one of the ingredients in the creation of an amazing visual. The more unpredictable challenge was to align the two key components which required darting in between sets of waves that reached 6 or 7 feet without rolling the boat, and then travelling in tandem with the dolphins whilst hoping for a spectacular exit from the waves they had just surfed.

The challenges were numerous and hours ticked by as the dolphins moved ever closer to the end of the dunes and thus the window of opportunity for my perfect canvas. On so many occasions we would be heading into the surf only to encounter a shallow reef that prevented us from following the dolphins too closely, or have a set of wave’s force us back out, the boat captain steering harshly, sending us all grabbing for a railing. And so many other times the dolphins would choose not to surf what we felt sure was a perfect wave.

Capturing wildlife doing incredible things doesn’t always go as planned…. My memory card from this day has hundreds of shots of barely-there tails and splashes, the dune in the background not quite perfect, and of course images not completely tack sharp due to navigating the unpredictable waves. But patience sometimes pays off, and I was rewarded with this moment when dolphins and dunes danced together.

Like a well synchronized team, a family of bottlenose dolphins athletically leaps out the back of a wave set against the mesmerizingly beautiful backdrop of caramel colored dunes.

About Untamed Photographer

Untamed Photographer is an online art gallery that brings together wildlife photography and stories from a range of international environmental artists, both emerging and established.

Structured as an online marketplace, Untamed Photographer offers a selection of handpicked, limited-edition works of art, alongside the photographers’ compelling stories of what occurred in the wild to get the shot. The exclusive limited-edition pieces are printed in Miami and come with an artist-signed certificate of authenticity from their respective worldwide locations.

The Nature Trust of the Americas (NTOTA) was founded with the mission to give back. While building awareness for NTOTA’s causes, the founders met talented nature photographers who are passionate not only about photography, but also about saving the planet. Their life’s work and stories are inspiring, and their art, passion and stories deserve to be shared on a platform that benefits the environmental causes they are dedicated to.

Just as the photographers preserve the beauty of the planet in their art, Untamed Photographer is dedicated to preserving the planet for the future. All profits from photographs go to Untamed Photographer's two pillars: the artists and causes that protect the environment, ecosystems, and wildlife.

About the Photographer: Chris Fallows

Chris Fallows is a world renowned wildlife photographer and authority on Great white sharks.

South African-born, his work represents authenticity, intimacy and emotion. Chris has loved wildlife since his first breath; his passion for wildlife and the natural world is reflected in his photographs and the unique manner in which he treats each species and brings it to the foreground.

The engaging manner in which he photographs his wild subjects bears testimony to the decades he has spent in some of the world’s most remote regions, uniquely working in all areas: ocean, land and air. He seeks to bring the audience to the subjects at eye level, and in that way create the feeling of being with the subject rather than dominating it.

His composition style is clean and unobstructed with landscapes that empower the subjects, rather than overwhelming them.

Fallows wishes to touch the audience of his work in a way that emotionally connects them to the subject matter, with awe and respect to perhaps guilt and sadness. Most of all, he would like to unearth in his viewers a primal desire to get in touch with the natural world that is our shared origin. Through that most basic urge, he feels we can create a collaborative path toward sharing the planet rather than conquering it.

Fallows’ work has appeared in more than 60 international documentaries with the BBC, NationalGeographic and Discovery Channel.