FRITZ PÖLKING JUNIOR PRIZE 2016
Winner: Quentin Martinez – France
Captivated by reptiles and crawlers from an early age, Quentin Martinez has spent a large part of his life around these often alien-looking creatures. When he became interested in photography, he discovered a way of sharing his experiences with others. At the moment Quentin is completing his degree in evolutionary biology and hopes to become involved in scientific research on tropical amphibians and reptiles later on.
"The power of an image is really important to me. It offers us the possibility to share our knowledge and feelings with others, and to encourage them to go out and experience nature for themselves. I firmly believe that children have to be introduced to nature: they should be allowed to throw stones into the water, blow the seed of dandelions into the air and catch grasshoppers ... Finally, I would like to thank everyone, who has supported me and my project all this time!”
Project: An unexpected world
While studying evolutionary biology, Quentin Martinez spent two years in French-Guiana, where he contributed to the discovery of previously unknown frog species. On several more field trips to Asia’s rainforests, he broadened his knowledge as a herpetologist. This portfolio presented here was created during these journeys.
Stranger from the jungle
The Malayan horned frog (Megophrys nasuta) is very common in the Malayan part of Borneo, but it is not easy to spot. For this photograph I used the natural light as backlight and an LED torch as a fill light.
Canopy inhabitant
This image shows an Amazon milk frog (Trachycephalus resinifictrix), which was released back into the wild after it was scientifically examined. These frogs are very difficult to photograph, because they live in the canopy of the rainforest.
The smaller majority
The book of the same name by great entomologist and photographer Piotr Naskrecki gave me the inspiration for the title of this picture. It shows a poison frog (Ranitomeya amazonica) in its natural habitat in French-Guiana.
Honeymoon
This species of toads Rhinella castaneotica is wide-spread in French-Guiana. I wanted to document the nightly mating in an appealing manner, and because the pair kept still for long enough, I used two LED torches to create well-balanced light conditions.
Tropical dragon
The Amazon tree boa (Corallus hortulanus) is a common snake species in French-Guiana. I discovered this specimen in a bush and opted for a backlight exposure.
The impostor
This leaf-mimicking katydid from Borneo, certainly knows the art of camouflage. I blurred the foreground to place more emphasis on the insect and its amazing resemblance to a leaf.
Lord of the waters
Juvenile caimans live well-hidden in dense vegetation out of sight of their numerous predators. Only at nightfall do they appear from their hiding places to look for food. I knew a spot where many young caimans lived, and after a few days I was lucky and could take this picture.
Stay away!
The white-spotted cat snake (Boiga drapiezii) is a harmless but nervous snake. We found this individual on an excursion to Borneo and after a very short time the snake tried to attack. To capture the speed of such an attack, I used a long shutter speed and moved the camera during exposure.