About this item
In this beautifully illustrated book, author Joe McDonald presents a wealth of knowledge pertaining to the natural history of mountain gorillas, one of the world's most endangered great apes. The volume includes over 170 photos from Joe, his wife, Mary Ann, and a third contributor -- plus interesting, eye-opening facts about gorillas (plus a chapter devoted to other great apes) , spiced with personal observations and anecdotes from the author and his wife's combined 202 treks to study and photograph Rwanda's mountain gorillas.Readers will learn all of the essential facts about gorillas -- from what they eat, to how and where they live, to why they chest beat, how they play, and their future prospects as a threatened species. This book contains the most thorough and diverse portfolio of mountain gorillas images ever published, featuring detailed, full-color photographs that show every facet of their behavior, some of which has never been captured before.
About the Author
Joe's been photographing wildlife and nature since 1966, starting with images of his pet turtles, lizards, and snakes that he made as a high school freshmen. By high school he was selling his photos to the National Wildlife Federation, and by his freshman year in college he was publishing in that magazine. Soon after he was represented by several different stock photo agencies, eventually being represented worldwide by over 18 agencies.
Since then, Joe's been published in every natural history publication in the U.S., including Audubon, Bird Watcher's Digest, Birder's World, Defenders, Living Bird, Natural History, National and International Wildlife, Ranger Rick, Smithsonian, Wildlife Conservation, and more. He is represented by multiple stock photo agencies, both domestically and world-wide. He is a former columnist for Outdoor Photographer magazine and presently serves as a contributing editor for Nature Photographer magazine. In the prestigious BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition Joe has had winning photographs, including the winning photograph in Mammal Behavior, on 8 different occasions. Together, to date (2015) they have placed fifteen times, with three firsts, and multiple seconds and thirds, they have won more frequently in that contest than any other photography team.
He is the author of nine books and one ebook. His latest, Dangerous Creatures, also features some of his high speed flash and remote trigger photography. His ebook, Understanding High Speed and Camera/Flash Triggering Systems, is the most complete how-to book on this subject. Joe's other books include A Practical Guide to Photographing American Wildlife; The Wildlife Photographer's Field Manual; The Complete Guide to Wildlife Photography; Designing Wildlife Photographs; Photographing on Safari, The New Complete Guide to Wildlife Photography and African Wildlife, A Portrait of the Animal World. His book, Designing Wildlife Photographs, was judged best book by the Outdoor Writers Association of America for 1994. In 1999 he produced Photographing on Safari, Joe and Mary's first instructional video. With Rick Holt and Mary Ann McDonald, he is also the author of an ebook, Digital Nature Photography - From Capture to Output, a PDF that covered both photographic techniques and essential Photoshop skills.
Joe is especially well known for his expertise in electronic flash and using equipment for high speed flash and for remote, unmanned photography. He conducts a special Advanced Flash course nearly every year, covering all aspects of electronic flash and camera remotes.
Joe is a founding member of NANPA, the North American Nature Photography Association, is a NANPA fellow and a former Board of Director for that organization.
He has conducted multiple educational sessions at the annual NANPA summits, and he and Mary Ann have been Keynote speakers at this event. He has also addressed n
