By Freya Coombes
THESE STUNNING images show animals in their natural habitats, these beautiful landscapes forming backdrops for amazing photos.
One image shows a geladas monkey descending a mountain in Ethiopia. The monkey perched on the rock long enough for the photographer to take a picture, before continuing his descent.
Geladas monkeys are closely related to baboons and only line in the Ethiopian mountains at an altitude of between 1,800 and 4,400 meters. They are the only monkey in the world that feed only on grass.
Another image shows a deer popping its head out of the foliage in a large forest. The deer stares directly at the photographer for a brief second, creating an incredible image.
These images were captured by professional photographer Marco Gaiotti (39) in the Simien Mountains National Park in Ethiopia using a Canon R5 camera.
“During the rainy season, thunderstorms are very frequent in the Ethiopian mountains,” said Marco.
“After an intense storm, just before sunset, the geladas were preparing to descend the steep cliff where they spend the night.
“Travelling has always been my passion, and in the last fifteen years I have focused on exclusively nature-themed trips, which allowed me to devote a lot of time to photography.
“When approached with extreme calm, the geladas allow you to approach a very close distance, in this case, I was about ten feet away, but you can even get a few centimetres away without them being frightened.
“I have travelled to Ethiopia a few times to work with geladas and other endemic species of the area, so I know that the background is quite impressive if you manage to get quite close to the animal and use a wide-angle lens.
“I thought that the dark clouds on the top part of the frame could make the image even more dramatic, and the result seems to work.”
ENDS
