Ethan Meleg

I just found a Canadian wildlife photographer called Ethan Meleg. He travels all round the world taking beautiful photos. I emailed him to ask if i could do a drawing from one of his photos for him. I was a bit aprehensive as his website (ethanmeleg.com) is quite intimidating with the amount of copyright reminders. But he soon got back to me saying i could draw from his work but that he didn't have any wall space for anymore pictures, which was nice of him.



It was hard to pick just a few images to put up on here as he is a very prolific photographer, but i chose the Hooded Merganser (duck) because i just think it looks hilarious. It got such character with it's unusual head plumage. I love things that have a fiesty personality and this duck really reminds me of Will Smith in The Fresh Prince of Bel Air - brightly coloured, flashy, loud and didn't care who knew it.


I also chose his shot of a group of Monarch Butterflies, partly because of the interesting angle but also because i think it's amasing that these fragile insects migrate southbound across north america then north again to avoid the cold weather (though not all in one lifetime).The light and dar contrast really brings out the orange on the wings and it's nice how some butterflies (or parts of butterflies) are out of focus, reminding us that they're moving, they've got a job to do.
The best reference for work is your own photos, but failing that make friends with a photographer as good as Ethan.