Charlie Hamilton James
UK
Charlie Hamilton James is a wildlife and conservation photographer for National Geographic Magazine. He specialises in stories and issues in South America and East Africa. He has shot 14 stories for National Geographic.
Charlie Hamilton James's Image
Charlie Hamilton James (UK) captures a world-famous migration from above.
To demonstrate the scale of the greatest migration on Earth, Charlie flew his drone high above the multitudes of travelling wildebeest. Appearing as tiny figures, they zig-zagged through the vast, green plains on the border of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and Serengeti National Park, Tanzania.
Chasing seasonal rains, each year almost 1.3 million wildebeest travel more than 2,800 kilometres in a circuit from Tanzania to Kenya and back. About 70% of the total wildebeest population complete this gruelling trek.
The sheer numbers might imply all is well, but wildebeest faces ever-increasing threats, from competition with humans and livestock for space and water to tourism, poaching fences and the obstruction of their migration routes by fences.
Behind the lens
Image details
- DJI Mavic 2 Pro
- Hasselblad L1D-20c
- 1/240 sec at f9 • ISO 100
- On the border of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and Serengeti National Park, Tanzania
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