Dr. Yaron Schmid has a strong love for animals, and his entire life (even his vacations) is devoted to helping them. Dr. Schmid has been a veterinarian for 13 years and currently works with the Humane Society of New York. The clinic is a no-kill shelter and offers low-cost veterinary services to those people who want to care for their pets but need assistance financially.
“They are helping me, too,” Dr. Schmid said of all animals: the ones he treats in his clinic, his three pets at home and the ones that take him on great adventures around the world. When he’s not treating patients, this hardworking vet likes to take photographs of animals in the wild. He first began taking photos 13 years ago, but says it’s been in the last six months that he has really become a professional.
“I got into photography to enjoy this ‘artsy’ part of me, which I never thought I had.”
Dr. Schmid also has another purpose behind his photography. When he began taking photos, he noticed how much harder it was to spot some of them due to their dwindling numbers. “I want to use photography to be a little more proactive about animal conservation,” he said, adding that he has recently begun working with organizations and donating his photos to help raise money as well as awareness.
Home
Listing this photo as one of his favorites, Dr. Schmid had a special reason for giving it the title “Home.” He took the photo on a recent trip to Kenya, where he saw a cheetah mother with her cubs. “They were the youngest I had ever seen, maybe 2-1/2 months old,” he said.
At one point, the mother paused to survey the horizon in search for food. Apparently, she had been having a hard time hunting, thanks to her rambunctious brood having a tendency to scare away their prey. While she stood, one of the cubs took a seat underneath his momma’s belly.
“I call this picture ‘Home’ because he feels safe there under his mom. His legs and her body are like the walls and ceiling of his home.”
Chilling
Timing played a big part in this photo of a grizzly bear in Alaska basically giving a wave to the camera.
“I was watching him for a while,” Dr. Schmid said of the bear. “I don’t know what made me hold up the camera just as he was waving. Probably a minute later if he had done it, I wouldn’t have had the camera on me. [It was] perfect timing.”
The Feast
When the local people have their annual whale hunt in Alaska, polar bears enjoy what the hunters leave behind. Here, Dr. Schmid caught a polar bear mother and her cub scaring away some seagulls to get their fair share of the meat.
“It was a nice moment to see the bear on the bone pile and the seagulls hovering around. It was a nice thing to watch,” Dr. Schmid said.
Near and Far
Dr. Schmid is proud of this photo as it marked an important moment in his career as a photographer. Picked as National Geographic’s Photo of the Day, Dr. Schmid was happy with the way the photo captured the perspective of the massive elephant in the foreground, while also capturing some of the other herd members in the background.
“[This photo] was another thing that pushed me toward becoming a little more professional.”
Bent Out of Shape
Dr. Schmid worked hard to capture this photo.
“This guy was very itchy, so he kept on turning around and [scratching]. Every time I tried to catch him, he would close his eyes or do something else to mess up the picture. But eventually I managed to catch it.”
Run
This photo captured one of the more difficult aspects of being a wildlife photographer: the hunt. In this instance, a baby wildebeest became separated from its mother and began following another tourist vehicle as some calves will confuse the rumble of the engine with their mother’s bellow.
The cheetah had been sitting on Dr. Schmid’s vehcile when it leapt off to go after the car. It was a puzzling response as the animals don’t usually get excited about other cars. Then it became clear that the car wasn’t what caught the cheetah’s attention.
“That one was hard because we saw it happening for a while. We knew it was going to happen, and it was very difficult to watch,” Dr. Schmid said of this hunt.
The Great Migration
The great migration can be impressive to watch, but it is sometimes the stories of individual animals that can be the most interesting. Dr. Schmid once witnessed a wildebeest attacked by a crocodile.
“That was a struggle that was hard to watch, and I was so rooting for the wildebeest. Funnily enough, a group of hippos came and scared the crocodile away, and the wildebeest walked out of there. I don’t know if he made it, but he walked away without limping.”
Blurry Pink
On choosing the names of his photos, Dr. Schmid said, “Usually when you see it on the big screen. When you see all the tiny little details, that’s when the name comes more to fruition.”
Staring
Dr. Schmid was saddened by the death of Cecil the Lion, and it inspired him to want to spread a new message about wild animals.
“Hang a photo not a head,” he said.
“That’s something I felt was really important with photography: To teach people and show people that this is the right way to shoot animals – through a camera.”
Embrace
“I hope this is just the beginning,” Dr. Schmid said of his burgeoning career as a wildlife photographer and conservationist. “I hope to use my photography either to raise money or to raise awareness.”
Dusty
Dr. Schmid said there is a reason he often captures moments that other photographers might not get to see.
“I don’t like to go in a crowd. I don’t go where the tourists go,” Dr. Schmid said.
Mouthful
Dr. Schmid described this moment of a mother lioness moving her cubs to a safer place as something rare to see. Usually mothers will only move their cubs if there are no other animals around and they feel it’s safe. Dr. Schmid felt honored to witness this wild mother take care of her babies.
“When you think of a lion or lioness, you think of them as killers. But here she shows the mother side of her,” he said. “For instance, she had just placed one cub down and halfway through walking to the new place to get another cub, she heard the first cub crying and the second she heard him crying, she turned around and started running towards him. She stayed with him for an hour. It was amazing to see, it was a very emotional moment to experience that.”
Moose in the Fall
Preferring to stay away from other tourists, Dr. Schmid likes to catpure quiet moments in the wild.
“When you go far away, you really see the animals in their natural environment,” he said.
Through Fields of Gold
The lion rules the plains and just like any creature, he has to eat. But watching how the lion and other animals get their meals is hard for Dr. Schmid.
“The first time was also very hard,” he said.
Stripes
“Usually I’m attracted more to the cats and the elephants more than any other animals. But on this trip I decided to pay more attention to giraffes and zebras,” Dr. Schmid said about his most recent trip.
The Sun King
Some hunts are more difficult than others to watch, but Dr. Schmid has found one aspect that makes it easier.
“When I watch it through the lens, it’s much easier than watching it with your eyes,” he said of the hunts he has witnessed.
The Leap
Dr. Schmid recently saw a cheetah mother with the youngest cubs he had ever witnessed in the wild, and he enjoyed the antics of the babies.
“The first time I saw them, they came running toward our car and were playing with each other, which was very cool to watch,” he said.
Peekaboo
When viewing these beautiful creatures through his lends, Dr. Schmid said he often wonders to himself, “How can people shoot these animals?”
Ready
For every great shot, there are also those moments that never make it on film, and Dr. Schmid is OK with that.
“That’s one of the things about photography, as much as you want to catch those special moments, sometimes I like to put the camera on the side and just enjoy the animals.”
Roar
Dr. Schmid admitted that many of the moments he captures on film leave him emotional as he often ponders those that have been hunted for sport.
The Eye
Watching big beasts like this crocodile take down their prey isn’t always easy, but Dr. Schmid admitted it’s better if everything happens quickly.
“Most of the time when it happens, it happens so fast that you don’t even think about it,” he said.
Waiting
Dr. Schmid sometimes has some help when it comes to naming his photos, and he appreciates the input that his friends, as well as his followers on social media, have. “Mostly I come up with names myself, but I like when people give me their two cents of what they think it should be named,” he said.
Wildebeest at Sunset
Want to know how to see more of Dr. Schmid’s photos and get involved in conservation? Be sure to check out his website yswildlifephotography.com and follow him on Facebook and Instagram at YS Wildlife Photography.
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