Florian Schulz is a world renowned, award-winning photographer dedicated to the support of conservation efforts to protect endangered ecosystems. Sponsored by the Blue Earth Alliance, his book “Yellowstone to Yukon – Freedom to Roam”, was recognized by the Independent Book Publishers as one of the “Top-Ten Outstanding Books of the Year”. Internationally-recognized magazines including Nature’s Best, Outdoor Photographer, Photo Media, National Parks Magazine, The Nature Conservancy, The New York Times, BBC Wildlife Magazine, and Natur & Kosmos have published his images and articles about him. His photographs have won numerous awards in leading international photography competitions like the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year, Nature’s Best Photography Awards, The Banff Mountain Photo Competition and the GDT European Photographer of the Year.
Florian will be awarded as the first recipient of the NANPA Vision Award for 2008 established to recognize early career excellence, vision and inspiration to others in nature photography, conservation and education by the North American Nature Photography Association (NANPA). Schulz is the youngest Founding and Fellow Member of the recently created International League of Conservation Photographers (ILCP), which empowers conservation-minded photographers to use their talents to help create an understanding for the natural world. The bastard’s only 32. www.visionsofthewild.com
Adam L. Weintraub is a photographer based in Seattle. His Photoexperience.net workshops combine inspiring artists which offer insight and collaboration in an intimate setting. Removed from Cusco's tourist section, his B&B plays host to the class, overlooking the Cusco valley and offering respite from the masses. He is currently coordinating efforts to create a permanent archive and catalogue of the famed Peruvian photographer, Martin Chambi. He has been President of Blue Earth Alliance since 2004 and is widely published, collected and hired for his personal work.
Oliver Valenti’s first trip through the Amazon River was in 1985 - 9 months from Belem do Para, Brazil, until Port Maldonado, in Peru. Since then, after a long 7 years back in his native Italy, he returned to Peru with a single destiny: the “Madre de Dios” forest. His first work consisted of 5 years supporting an NGO, working as Park Ranger and conductor of a motor boat taking groups of tourists to the Reserved Zone of the Manu National Park. In 1998 he became an officially licensed guide of the Manu National Park, bringing an average of 30 tourist groups of different nationalities into the UNESCO protected zones as well as creating hand-crafted journeys such as the one he’ll do for PhotoExperience. In 2005, along with his Peruvian wife, Carolina, they created an agency called MANU PERU AMAZON, offering a great quality of service and with an abundance of information for the lovers of the forest, animals and people - they are experts in the areas of the ornithology, botany, Amazonian Cosmology and ecology, in general. In addition, his unique connection with the local peoples, native guides and cooks (!), as well as equipment and river transportation make Oliver one of the foremost experts running groups through the Amazon.
