Franco Banfi

     
        Paul Nicklen

        
         Göran Ehlme

        
         Jamie Watts

         
         Charlotte Caffrey

        
         François de Riberolles

        
         Jonas Sundquist

        
         Rolf Stange

        
         Dan Zwartz

Franco Banfi  -  is one of the world's leading polar photographers above and below water.  His first underwater shots were taken on an early trip to the Maldives and his diving skills were honed in the rivers and lakes near his home.  Franco became a qualified diving instructor and has been honoured in photographic competitions around the world.  In 1992 he represented Switzerland at the World Underwater Photography Championship in Cuba where he won the individual title of World Champion.

Franco's work has appeared in several books and magazines including : BBC Wildlife Magazine, Aqva, Aqua Geographia, Airone, Dive, Focus, Il Subacqueo, L'illustré, Marine Diver, Newland, Galatea, Mer & Océan, Ocean Realm, Panorama Travel Tauchen , Unterwasser.

Over recent years Franco has dedicated himself to photographing and diving in unusual places - notably Antarctica, the Arctic and the Aldabra atoll.

Franco tries to put his emotion into his images, allowing his unique interpretation to shine through.  To obtain his results, he focuses on shapes, colours, composition, but above all, the light of his composition.

Awards & Qualifications
BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year - Highly commanded: Underwater 1993 , Portrait 2001, World in Our Hands 2004 , Grand Master, Underwater Photography 1999 , World Champion, Underwater Photography 1992 , multiple awards at the Underwater Festival in Antibes, Canon Professional network; cpn.canon-europe.com/content/btl/banfi.do

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Paul Nicklen National Geographic Cameraman. grew up on Baffin Island, Nunavut, Canada.  There the Inuit taught him how to survive in the Arctic, read the weather and, most of all, he says, they taught him patience.

As a child, without television, radio, and computer games, with his friends he would spend hours in the hills watching wildlife, weather and the light playing shadow games across the landscapes.  At that young age, the seed to become a nature photographer was planted deeply.

In his final year, studying marine biology at the University of Victoria, he had a hard time preparing for his genetics final. The night before the exam, he had a huge revelation. Instead of studying, he wrote feverishly, outlining his career as a nature photographer, right down to the tiniest detail: species, locations, goals, dreams, travels and the list goes on.  As expected, he failed his exam miserably but passed the course. But best of all, he says, he had a blueprint for a career filled with passion and hard work.
Paul worked as a wildlife biologist for four years in the Northwest Territories. He has worked with numerous unique species such as lynx, grizzly bears and Polar Bears.  He went on a three-month solo expedition into the high Arctic living on the open tundra with the bears, wolves and open sky and this trip made him realise he could better serve wildlife populations by becoming a nature photojournalist rather than a biologist.

His goal is to bridge the gap between scientific research and the public by producing stories for magazines such as National Geographic. Since 1994, he has been published in hundreds of magazines around the world, seven stories in National Geographic Magazine: "Atlantic Salmon," July 2003, "Northern Exposure," January 2004, "Phoenix Islands," February 2004, "Where Currents Collide," August 2006, "Deadly Beauty: Leopard Seals," November 2006, "Life at the Edge," June 2007, "Narwhals," August 2007.

Awards & Qualifications
World Press Award, BBC Wildlife Photographer of the year 2008 - Category winner

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Göran Ehlme - One of the world's leading polar film makers and winner of the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2006 with his dramatic underwater image of a feeding walrus.  He has filmed many breathtaking documentaries for National Geographic, BBC and Animal Planet. Some of his finest work includes sequences from The Frozen Seas episode of the BBC's Blue Planet series; his feeding Walrus sequence in Toothed Titans; and part of the underwater footage in the Hollywood production March of the Penguins.

Göran has filmed Beluga, Narwhal, Seals, Walrus and other mammals in the Canadian Arctic, Greenland and Svalbard. In Antarctica, he filmed on humpback and minke whales and all members of the seal family including the leopard.

Göran’s footage has been used in numerous series and films including:

Archives of Emperor Penguins under water in the Hollywood Production “March of the Penguins” , 2006
Lord of the Ice, Leopard seals (Discovery/Saint Thomas Productions, 2003)
What do the Walruses know? (SVT,DR, 2003)
Wildlife Special-Killer Whales (BBC/Discovery, 2003)
Hunt for the Red Whale, Killerwhales (Survival, 2003)
Blue Planet - Frozen Seas (BBC/Discovery, 2002, Narwhal, Walrus & Emperor penguins)
Toothed Titans (National Geographic, 1999, feeding Walrus sequence)
White whales & Narwhals chattering of Ghosts (Canal+, 1999)
Lea the Leopard Seal (Saint Thomas/Canal+, 1998)
Avaq-The Arctic Toothwalker, Walrus (Scandinature)
Svalbard-Where the Polar Bears Reign, Walruses (Scandinature)

Awards & Qualifications
BBC Wildlife Photographer of the year 2006, Dive nstrctor

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Jamie Watts - Jamie's passion is marine life and he has dedicated his life to his passion. He is currently working part of the year as a fisheries consultant and researcher. As a marine scientist he spent two years posted as a fisheries scientist for the British Antarctic Survey on the island of South Georgia. Here he published scientific papers and carried out ongoing plankton research, creating photo identification guides used by fisheries observers. Jamie's years of living in both the Arctic and Antarctica have provided him with extensive knowledge an insight into polar environments.

Awards & Qualifications
Published Author BBC Wildlife Magazine and Ocean Geographic and school text books. Published photography work in BAS calendar and scientific identification guides. PADI Scuba Instructor PADI MSDT

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Charlotte Caffrey - Charlotte is a Marine Scientist and Director of Aqua-Firma Worldwide. She has escorted several groups to Antarctica, Arctic Spitsbergen and Greenland. As a commercially trained diver and PADI instructor she is more than happy to assist with any queries regarding preparation for the trip and advice on equipment.

Awards & Qualifications
Author of an underwater guide to Bintan Island, Hydrographic Surveyor charting the North Sea, occasional writer for Sport Diver Magazine, (HSE) Scientific Diver, PADI Scuba Instructor and holds an RYA Yachtmaster certificate.

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François de Riberolles - Marine Biologist and Underwater Cameraman.
Francois has a Masters degree in marine biology (ecotoxicology) and has many years of experience as a dive guide/ naturalist in Antarctica, Falkland Islands, South Georgia and Spitsbergen.  He has sailed around the world twice and participated in many international sailing competitions.

As an experienced camera man above and below water he has participated in a number of wildlife documentaries, some of these are listed below:

2008 Director and cameraman: "A winter in Kerguelen" for France 3 and TV5
2007 Underwater cameraman: "Saved by the seals" for France 5 and Animal Planet
2007 Cameraman topside and underwater for a deep diving expedition in the Patagonian channels.
2006 Director : "Fur Seals, the dark side", for Arte and Discovery Channel , Cameraman Super 16mm : "The White Planet" Cinema release.
2004 Cameraman Super 16mm: "Face to face with polar bear" for Canal+ and Animal planet. This was in Spitzbergen/Svalbard and the next expedition for this documentary is in August. , Underwater cameraman: "The March of the Penguins". Cinema (Buena Vista/Disney). Antarctica.
2003 Cameraman underwater and topside: "The Sign of Snake" for France5 and Discovery Channel. New Caledonia and China. Underwater cameraman: "Titans" for Canal+ and National Geographic. Azores archipelago. (Sperm whales)
2002 Assistant director: "Leopard seal, Lord of the Ice" for Canal+ and National Geographic. Antarctica.
2000-2001 Producer assistant and editor , 1999 Director and cameraman: "Men at Sea" for France3. Atlantic Ocean. (tuna fishermen)

Awards & Qualifications
Masters degree in marine biology (ecotoxicology), highly experienced polar dive guide

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Jonas Sundquist - Dive Master
Jonas has been a PADI Master Instructor and PADI IDC Staff member since 1997/98.  He is also an instructor for ANDI (American Nitrox Divers International), PADI TecRec and IAHD (International Association for Handicapped Divers). He is a diving instructor with 21 specialist areas including dry suit, re-breather, ice diving, nitrox, navigation and deep diving.

His hometown is Gävle in Sweden where he owned and ran a complete PADI 5-star, ANDI and IAHD dive center. He holds an international professional Coastal Master and is also certified and has the knowledge and experience to service over 8 brands of scuba equipment, oxygen cleaning and gas blending.

As a PADI Emergency First Response, Medic First Aid instructor (since 1997) and an instructor for the Swedish CPR educational Association he regularly trains Rescue Diver and CPR/First Aid courses including the use of Automatic External Defibrillators and oxygen treatment which also comes in handy in his part-time job as a lifeguard in Sweden.

When he is not working as a diver or as an expedition guide in Antarctica or the Arctic, he seeks adventure elsewhere like climbing Kilimanjaro, photography, marathon running, motorcycling or paragliding or ski-competitions in Greenland.

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Delphine Aures - Expedition Leader
Migrating annually between the Northern latitudes and the Antarctic, Delphine's major passion has always been for the Polar Regions.

She has a B.S. and M.S. degree in biology and ecology, and her research experiences range from studying harbour seals and puffins on Atlantic islands, to orcas and penguins in the Southern Ocean.  In 1996 Delphine was selected by the French Polar Institute for a position as an ornithologist on remote sub-Antarctic Crozet Islands.
"Living for 18 months amongst wild animals in one of the most pristine environment on Earth changes your perspectives in life!".  This led her to seek out further opportunities for sharing her love and knowledge of the Polar Regions with others.