PODCAST OF Wildlife Photography

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PODCAST: Wildlife Photography in Peru’s Amazon Jungle

 

I recently sat down with Rick Vecchio of FerTur Travel to share some of my personal stories, explain what the amazon jungle photography tours entail, and offer expert advice on taking photos in Peru’s southern Amazon jungle. – Jeff

Click here to listen to the interview:

Jeff Cremer Jungle Photography Interview

Introduction
For six years, photographer Jeff Cremer has practiced his craft in Peru, documenting the people, wildlife, and natural beauty of high mountain plateaus, remote coastal desert, and mega-diverse Amazon rain forests.

Jeff offers an all-inclusive, five-day Amazon photography tour designed for small groups (4-6 people max!). The tours are based in the eco-lodges of Rainforest Expeditions and are geared toward the beginner and intermediate photographer. The program includes in-the-field instruction, as well as formal workshops. You don’t even need to bring a camera. All of the standard and specialty equipment is provided.

Turtle and butterflies by Jeff Cremer

Turtle and butterflies by Jeff Cremer

 

Transcript

Rick Vecchio: To start, Jeff, tell us a little bit about yourself and your background. Where are you from originally and how did you get involved in photography?

Jeff Cremer: Well, I’m originally from Pueblo, Colorado and I’ve been in Peru for about six years now. I started in photography when I was doing astrophotography out on the prairies of Colorado. I just went out there with my telescope and stuff and used to take pictures of galaxies and stars and planets, and all that. And after a while I thought maybe I would turn my camera towards more terrestrial subjects, and I started photographing that stuff as well.

RV: So what drew you to Peru and Peru’s rainforest?

JC: I was basically living in Costa Rica for a couple of years, and I thought, ‘Hey I’ll come to Peru and check everything out.’ I knew there was Machu Picchu. I knew there was the Nazca Lines. I knew there was the Amazon jungle. So I came to Peru and I stayed. At first, it was like a two-month trip, and then it turned into about six years. And then I took a trip to Iquitos a long time ago, and I was in the Amazon Jungle and it blew my mind. I thought it was really, really cool. And then I just fell in love with the Amazon and that’s where I stayed.

RV: Tell us about your photo tours. Who are they for? Where do you go? What do clients have to bring?

mealy parrot

Mealy Parrots and other species at a Tambopata clay lick.

JC: Our photo tour is for anybody who’s interested in photography. It can be a beginner, an intermediate, an advanced photographer. And where we go is through Rainforest Expeditions lodges in Tambopata Peru, and that’s in the Tambopata National Reserve. So, we go to all three of the rain forest lodges — that’s Posadas Amazonas, Refugio Amazonas, and the Tambopata Research Center.

And each lodge offers something different, as far as photography goes. So, like, for example, Posadas Amazonas works with a native community and you can have interaction with some of the native people there. They also have a lot of different clay licks. They also have about a 30-meter-tall jungle canopy tower. You can climb up and look over the canopy. They also have a lake with a family of giant river otters, so we can go out and photograph that.

Refugio Amazonas has another canopy tower. They also have a clay lick. They have a lake out there, as well. You can see Watson birds and macaws and toucans. Bat falcons are out there… a lot of cool stuff.

And then the Tambopata Research Center is well-known for the largest macaw clay lick in the world and every morning dozens of macaws and parrots come out there and eat clay because of the salt content, and they need salt for their diet. It’s a cool thing; it’s almost like a natural wonder of the world. It’s amazing to see all of the macaws come out there, and we get the opportunity to photograph that. And in-between, when we’re doing transfers — that’s on giant canoes with big outboard motors, and we get a lot of time on the Tambopata River: sea turtles covered with butterflies; Capybaras; and then there is always the chance to see a jaguar. And so, you know, there are other things a rainforest has to offer, but we touch on all the best sites for a photographer.

 

As far as what the clients have to bring, I always say just bring your sense of adventure, because we provide all of the photography gear. We provide cameras, lenses, tripods, all the pro stuff. You just have to come out there. You want to have an adventure, want to learn stuff.  I provide all the rest. You know, Photoshop, all the instruction, everything… It’s a really cool time.

RV: The most important question of all — to photographers, at least — What’s your kit? What glass do you carry with you? What other equipment?

JC: So when clients come down, I give them access to a lot of different equipment. Some of the stuff that I carry is a 600mm/F4 lens for a Canon. That’s a gigantic pro sports lens and wildlife lens, it’s huge. It weighs about 15 or 20 pounds. That hooks onto a carbon fiber tripod with something called a Wimberley head, so it balances a lens really well, and you can move it around to catch pictures of birds in flight and when you’re moving down the river you can swing it around really fast and take pictures of capybaras and stuff on the river.

I carry a couple of macro lenses: a Nikon105mm F/2.8macro, and then I carry a very special CanonMPE 65and that’s a really high-powered macro lens and it can get five times life-size on the subject. I mean you can take a picture of the eyes of an ant or the wing scales on a butterfly with that. I carry other lenses: a 1-400mm Cannon, a 7200mm/2.8 Nikon.

Tapir Walking along the Tambopata River

I got some wide angles. We also have a gigapixel camera that allows people to take 360° photos or take 1000 photos and then combine them into one super high-resolution photo.

And then I have automated focus stacking devices that are good for really extreme macro subjects and you can do special processes with that to get high-resolution macro photos. Then I have a 17 inch Mac Book Pro and I’ve got Photoshop on there, focus stacking programs, HDR programs, plug-ins for Photoshop. Clients get access to all of that on their tour.

RV: Two questions: How have advancements in camera technology changed the way you work? And the follow-up question to that is, with all this advanced equipment that you are taking into the jungle, what do you do if it flips over the side of the boat and goes into the drink?

JC: I’ll answer the second question first. Everything is insured. So, if it falls in the water I got insurance on it. But please don’t have an accident.

How have advancements in camera technologies changed the way I work? I’d say there’s not so much of a learning curve anymore, right, because you fire off a bunch of photos and you can see instantly the results that you’re having, you know, when you make changes to ISO or aperture or shutter speed, you can see the results that are having on a picture right away and then make corrections to it.

Also, you can, you know, Photoshop allows you to do a lot of editing and stuff like that. You can crop the photo very quickly. You can change the colors. You can change brightness, saturation levels, and stuff like that, and it makes the pictures pop. And HDR techniques… we can get a very high dynamic range in the photo and get really cool effects. The focus stacking, you know, that’s something that wasn’t possible years ago. So you can take a picture of, maybe, the head of the ant. Normally the head of the ant will be in focus and then the tail of the ant won’t be in focus.

With focus stacking, a robotic focuser moves the camera throughout the length of the ant. It will take a photograph of each different focus point. You bring all those photographs into the computer and it magically kind of fuses them together and only fuses the in-focus parts, so the entire and will be in focus and that’s a very new technology assembly.

And the same with the gigapixel stuff. You know, taking a thousand or five thousand pictures and stitching them all altogether for a super-high-resolution photo. That really is a game-changer. You can take crazy, high-resolution stuff and huge panoramas. It’s very cool.

RV: How huge is huge?

JC: How huge is huge? I have the record for the largest picture in Peru and that’s about 22,000 megapixels and that’s equivalent to about 22 gigapixels. So you could take something like that and print it out maybe, depending on the resolution, you know, maybe 50 meters long by at least 10 meters high and it will be still full resolution, maybe 300dpi. And that was made with 3060 photos fused together using almost a supercomputer. Yeah, we can get pretty big on stuff like that.

spider-monkeys

Spider monkey in a tree.

RV: So you can get very, very big and very, very small.

JC: Yeah.

RV: Do you see directly any effects on animals or the forest from human encroachment in the time that you’ve been working in Tambopata and the Peruvian rain forest?

JC: I haven’t seen many effects of human encroachment in Tambopata, but in other parts of the Amazon, I have seen a lot of the ethics of human encroachment. So, one of the things I’ve seen, like, I went up to Iquitos and basically, I didn’t see much. I went out there wanting to see all sorts of animals and stuff like that and I really didn’t see that much and a lot of the reason is that all the people up there in Iquitos, killed all animals and they’re eating them. So, when you go out into the jungle, you don’t see much.

Out in Tambopata, it’s a little bit different of a story. So, we work with the native community to promote ecotourism. And then we’re also in the Tambopata National Reserve, and that’s a protected area and they have park guards and checkpoints and stuff, so it’s not like this Holocaust of animals like you see in the market in Iquitos. What’s more, they’re providing value to the standing forest through ways of ecotourism and you’ve got a lot more opportunity to see wildlife.

RV: What do you do to minimize your footprint when you’re out there, particularly with less experienced amateur photographers who you’re guiding?

JC: How do we minimize our footprint out there? Well, as we say, it’s an eco-lodge, right? So everything is ecologically friendly. We use biodegradable soaps. We’re using solar power. At night there’s a generator and that’s only run at night for a few hours. Garbage that is generated from the tourism operation is boated off to Puerto Maldonado, the nearest city, and it’s disposed of properly. And then, you know, we try not to interfere with the animals as much as possible. You know, we just leave them alone and just take pictures of them.

RV: And what about the size of the groups you’re taking into the forest?

JC: Normal size of a group… two or three people. I do a maximum of six. You know, we don’t want to have these big, huge tour groups tramping through the forest, and making all sorts of noise and stuff. Then we want to get good shots and then I want to be able to give a lot of one-on-one instruction to the clients. So, we keep the group sizes pretty small.

RV: And in your time photographing in the Peruvian rainforest, what’s the most beautiful thing you’ve seen?

JC: That is a good question, and it’s a difficult question to answer. There’s a lot beautiful stuff out there in the rainforest. Once you get the eyes to spot the different things, you know, you can see a whole lot of different stuff. So, I mean, there are harpy eagles out there, there are the capybaras, all sorts of different birds, and then, you know, you have stuff at the macro-level or a small-scale. And there are all sorts of different ants and ant colonies: leaf cutter ants, army ants. There’s a really tiny little insect called a leaf-hopper. Those are really cool to photograph.

Small grasshoppers. Glow worms, those are really cool. I’ve been taking glowworm photos lately. Those are about 3mm long and they have these tiny little jaws and hide in the embankment and some dirt. It’s really crazy.

A lot of beautiful stuff.

I’d say as far as a bird goes, a royal flycatcher is a pretty beautiful bird, and that has, like, some feathers on the back of its head and when it wants to mate, or when it’s scared, it puts those feathers up on the back of its head and then it dances around in this really robotic looking dance, and that’s really cool. That’s really beautiful. I like the royal flycatcher a lot.

RV: How do different animals react to being photographed?

JC: The animals react pretty well, you know. We try to stay really, really quiet, extremely quiet so they don’t even know that we’re there. And then a lot of times, we’re at a really long focal length and truthfully they just act normally.

RV: And for some of those animals, where you’re doing macro photography, and you’re right up there, very close, is there any behavior that you see with any particular kind of animal or species that’s surprising?

JC: Some things… There’s something called jumping spiders and those are really, really tiny spiders, about half the size of your pinky fingernail, and they live all over the place. They live on logs, they live on leaves, they live on the side of trees. And they’re kind of curious by nature, so when you go out there to take their picture, they’ll kind of start moving their head left and right, and kind of looking at you, examine the camera. Then they get scared so they’ll take some steps back, and then they’ll walk up and take a look at the lens again. And they’re territorial, too. So, if you scare off a little, tiny jumping spider, it’ll kind of run under a leaf, and then maybe a minute later, it’ll come and start defending its little home again. I think jumping spiders are really, really cool. They’re friendly, they’re nice, they’re curious and they have a lot of personalities.

RV: Now, even though Tambopata has its beaten paths for visitors, and it’s known as a very safe destination for travelers, it’s still the jungle. There’s no shortage of peril if you don’t follow safety guidelines. So my question is, what’s the closest encounter you’ve had with something deadly?

JC: Well, to tell you the truth, the jungle being a crazy, dangerous place for tourists, I think, is a misconception. I think out there in the jungle it’s pretty safe. It’s not crawling with poisonous snakes. It’s not crawling with venomous spiders.

The closest encounter I’ve had with something deadly? Not in Tambopata, but I was up on the border between Ecuador and Peru, in the native tribal area, and these people make a living by capturing bushmaster snakes and they milk the venom to sell as medicine to different pharmaceutical companies in the United States and Europe. So one time a guy walked in with a basket. I said, ‘Hey, what’s that?’ He said, ‘Oh, it’s a couple of giant bushmaster snakes.’ And I looked in the basket and there they were. Yeah, I’d say that was the closest I’ve come to be with something deadly.

RV: For the photographers, you take, what makes a good photo in the rainforest?

JC: Well, I would say that a good photo, anywhere, is when it allows somebody to see the world in a different way. It enables a person to think about something that they never thought of before, or it feels an emotion, or maybe ask a question. I think those are good photographs. Let’s say you have a photograph, and the lighting is not exactly right, or it’s not totally sharp, or something like that, as long as it moves a person to ask a question, or feel something, or stop and think, I think that’s a pretty good photo.

RV: Thanks Jeff for taking the time to talk with us today.

JC: You got it. It was a pleasure being here.

RV: For more information about the rainforest photo tours with Jeff Cremer, visit our webpage: www.fertur-travel.com or our blog, www.ferturperu.info. For Peruvian Travel Trends, I’m Rick Vecchio.

  • What our guest say

    • Valuation Excellent
    • 5/5

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A truly magical experience. It’s set in a completely unique location in the middle of the jungle with no other lodges around. The guide we had (Jarinson) was the best, so so knowledgeable, experienced and lovely to spend the time with. The lodge itself is beautiful and food was great too. Would highly recommend. Read all

Interesting bus and river boat rides bring you to Posada Amazonas on the Tambopata River. It’s managed by the Ese Eja indigenous community. Luis M., our guide, helped us observe birds and learn about plants and other animals. A canopy tower, clay lick and oxbow lake are highlights. All personnel are extremely kind and researchers give short lectures in the evening. The food is delicious! Excellent mosquito netting in rooms! Read all

Wow where do I even begin. This was one of the most unique and special experiences we've ever had. You are smack dab in the middle of nowhere, deep in the Amazon jungle. Surrounded by plants and animals of all kinds and some of the most breathtaking scenery you can imagine. And in the company of scientists doing conservation work all around you. The facility is gorgeous beyond belief. Everything is so thoughtfully prepared, from water servers everywhere to comfy couches to hammocks to raised walkways so you can pad around barefoot without feeling like you're going to step on a scorpion. The meals are positively gourmet. They have delicious fresh juice out for you when you come back from your hikes. We spend 2 days there and I genuinely feel like I saw the jungle. 2-3 excursions a day with a private guide to show you everything from plants to birds to animals to a very tall tower where you can watch the sunset over the canopy. We only had 3 people in our group but I believe there can be up to 7. You have the same guide your whole trip so you really get to know them. Johan was our guide and he was wonderful. And I do believe the number of excursions/type/length can be adjusted based on your groups physical ability. The rooms are beautiful and comfy and they help you prepare mosquito netting at night so you can be comfortable. There's a full bar, in the middle of the rainforest. At night there are short (30 min) lectures you can go to if you want where the scientists talk about their work. Fascinating. We loved that the center was very eco conscious and put a lot of effort into being low impact while also offering a truly luxurious experience. That being said. Do yourself a favor and read the web site. This experience will not be for everyone. Ppl posting negative comments here about the heat, bugs, open rooms, etc did not do their homework. You are far, far inside pristine Amazon jungle. It is hot, humid, rainy, and there are bugs. You can expect to use your lovely shower a few times a day to cool off. Fortunately you have lots of down time during the heat of the day to rest under the ceiling fan in your room. There were lots of grasshoppers, moths etc around our room but honestly we didn't have many issues with biting insects or mosquitos despite visiting during the rainy season (we did use bug spray). Your room has one open wall that faces nature. Yes, technically than means someone could see you walking around naked in your room, but you are 15 feet up in the air and facing directly into thick jungle, there is no one out there besides birds and monkeys to see you. They do cut the brush back so nothing except maybe some birds could get into your room. The sounds are magical at night and during the day. It's hot especially if you go during the rainy season as we did. If you hate bugs or can't handle life without air conditioning, this is not for you. Truthfully we had no issues sleeping. Ventilation is another big benefit of the one open wall. Think of this as the glampiest glamping you'll ever do and you will not be disappointed. Read the web site and reviews thoroughly and you won't be surprised. Being good hiking shoes, a lightweight waterproof jacket, refillable water bottle, a hat, binoculars (you can rent them too), bug spray, and sunscreen. Lightweight long sleeved shirts and long pants are essential bc you want to be covered so you won't get bitten or in case you brush up against a nasty plant. We saw monkeys, macaws, capybaras, owls, a caiman, and some cool jungle bugs. The guides even have a telescope you can use to both look at the animals and take great pictures with your phone. once in a lifetime experience in one of the most special and precious ecosystems in the world. Worth every penny and honestly we felt the price was cheap considering what you get. The highlight of our trip to Peru. Thank you so much. Read all

It was our first time in the rainforest and we wouldn't do it any other way. The boat rides on the Madre de Dios and the walks through the rainforests were both exciting and peaceful. Exciting when we spotted wildlife and peaceful as we settled in to hear the sounds and sights of the forest. The lodge was comfortable and the food was great. The research talks in the evenings were a great pre-dinner ritual for us. Do check them out. Saul was an amazing guide - friendly, fun, knowledgeable and very tuned to the rainforest. He could pick up on slight sounds and movements and helped us spot some great wildlife. Read all

TRC is up close with nature deep inside the Peruvian Amazon. If you are a fan of wildlife and love being in the nature this is the place for you. This is an eco lodge, so come with similar expectations. The sound of macaws flying over would make your day. TRC is doing some amazing work on Macaw conservation, the visits to the clay lick would be special. During your journey you would be able to spot a number of animals, birds. Do not miss the guided walks, you would really see a lot of monkeys. If you are a photographer, invest in a good zoom lens ( it will pay you back). The other thing is the amazing staff that take care of you. The food is among the very best I tasted in Peru and they really pamper you. So make sure you walk a lot to burn the additional calories :) Starting from the booking to the pickup in the airport everything is meticulously planned. From Mariella of the booking team, Juan Carlos the guide and Tania, our manager in the hotel everyone was fantastic. Ultimately spotting wild animals is a lot of luck, but this would be a great experience. Rooms: Rooms are large, spacious with wide open balconies, but no monkeys come in ( they strictly don't encourage wildlife feeding). Nearby activities: Lots of them, morning hikes, afternoon hikes, sunset cruise Walkability: You need to walk a bit, so you need to be mobile Food & drinks: Awesome Buffet, great food. Read all

TRC is up close with nature deep inside the Peruvian Amazon. If you are a fan of wildlife and love being in the nature this is the place for you. This is an eco lodge, so come with similar expectations. The sound of macaws flying over would make your day. TRC is doing some amazing work on Macaw conservation, the visits to the clay lick would be special. During your journey you would be able to spot a number of animals, birds. Do not miss the guided walks, you would really see a lot of monkeys. If you are a photographer, invest in a good zoom lens ( it will pay you back). The other thing is the amazing staff that take care of you. The food is among the very best I tasted in Peru and they really pamper you. So make sure you walk a lot to burn the additional calories :) Starting from the booking to the pickup in the airport everything is meticulously planned. From Mariella of the booking team, Juan Carlos the guide and Tania, our manager in the hotel everyone was fantastic. Ultimately spotting wild animals is a lot of luck, but this would be a great experience. Read all

The immersion experience was great. Be prepared though to feel hot and full of bug spray much of the time. Wear hiking pants. Not Lulu leggings (too hot). The guides are great and you can do as much or as little as you want. We saw a lot of animals. Read all

Posadas Amazonas is an eco-friendly lodge that makes a huge commitment to preserving the rainforest for generations to come. The food served (breakfast, lunch and dinner) is fresh and delicious! The staff is extremely knowledgeable and caring. A special shoutout to the lodge manager Cesar for ensuring that we had packed meals for the onward journey when we were delayed by a rain storm. The main attractions apart from the abundant wildlife are the canopy tower and nearby Oxbow lake. The canopy tower gives a great 360 degree view of the rainforest and we were fortunate to see monkeys and macaws from the vantage point. At the Oxbow lake we saw river otters and Caimans and we were able to catch a piranha fish as well. Overall, Posada Amazonas is a great lodge owned and operated by the native communities located in the amazing Amazon rainforest. Read all

I had an amazing time here. I was traveling solo and did 4 days/3 nights through Inca Expert Travel. It was an unforgettable experience! I opted for a group tour for the excursions and am glad I did. Our guide, Boris, was fantastic and made sure we saw as much wildlife as possible. I can't say enough good things about him. The rest of the staff were also very kind. I enjoyed the large variety of fresh food at each meal. I felt safe and well-taken care of the entire time. Read all

TRC was an amazing place to stay. Being in the Amazon rainforest was truly like no other trip I have or will ever take. From arrival we were greeted by staff with cool drinks, warm welcomes. Beautiful main area w bar, sofas, tables,games. Our guide Fernando was SO knowledgeable, interesting, enthusiastic,. We already miss his smile and laugh :) We did every excursion available over our 4 days there. The night hike turned out to be our favorite as we spotted the wandering spider then and many other intersting moths/insects. January is hot and humid, so yes expect to be wet,sweaty. Pack extra bag for wet stinky clothes ... Be ok w insects as no 4th wall in your rooms so at night mosquitio nets do a good job preventing bugs in your bed but when you wake up to use bathroom excpect moths, grasshopppers etc in room. All harmless!! TRC does provide nice rainboots for wet swampy treks.. Read all

A perfect experience in the Amazon. Harry, our guide, made the entire experience very memorable. The food is good, the bar is expensive but good and the support staff were excellent. Tanya, the manager, took care of all our needs and was very supportive the entire stay. Please remember that the rooms are open to the nature and therefore comes with its pros and cons. You wake up with the nature including the mosquitos :) The experiences offered by the Refugio is fantastic and provides a great exposure to the Amazon. Dont miss the Macaw trip. It is just magical. Read all

This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience! From the getgo, it was easy to coordinate our 4-day stay at Tambopata. The booking was all done via email with quick responses, there was clear communication leading up to our stay and even upon arrival the staff was extremely organized (incl. taking our bags and making sure they arrived to our rooms). During our stay the staff was all very friendly and accomodating, the lodge was always clean (actually impressively clean given it is located in the jungle), and the food was great and plentiful. By far the best part of our stay was our tour guide, Saul. Upon arrival, Saul helped us pick our activities based on what animals we wanted to see (using his 10 years of experience). He worked on timing to make sure we can see as much as possible, was extremely knowledgable on the rainforest, the plants, the insects and the animals and noticeably put in the extra effort to find animals. You can tell that he truly loves his job and was always equally as excited to see the animals as us, even though he has seen them thousands of times. He helped us find monkeys, birds, countless insects, lizards, capybaras ect. I am 100% confident our experience wouldn't be the same without him. He even helped us capture these cool photos with only our iphone!! If you are planning to stay are TRC, I would highly recommend asking for Saul as a tour guide, if possible. Read all

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