About me

Testo Italiano    

My name is Federico Veronesi. I was born in 1975 in Milan, a big industrial city in the north of Italy. It was there, when I was three years old that the love for African wildlife first appeared in me, through the misty winter mornings, the buildings of the concrete jungle and the hazy grey skies. My parents and grandparents used to take me to the zoo every Sunday, or to every circus coming into town. I would never miss an opportunity to watch wild animals, even though I realized how sad and lonely those animals were, stolen from their habitat, locked behind bars, deprived of their wild spirit.
I first came to Kenya on a twenty days safari with my parents when I was six years old, a dream coming true. I remember how I cried as our plane took off back to Italy. In 2002 I moved permanently to Kenya, initially working as Regional Financial Manager for an Non Governmental Organization in Nairobi. In early 2007 I finally became a full time photographer and guide for photographic safaris.

Now I spend most of my time in the Masai Mara NR, in a camp where I have my private semi-permanent tent. It's a home among the Elephants, the Leopards and the Baboons that visit me regularly! I also visit regularly the other parks of Kenya, mainly Lake Nakuru NP, Samburu Game Reserve, Amboseli NP and Tsavo West NP:

While I am out on a game drive I am always looking for images where the beauty of the animals is enhanced by light, contrast, shape, composition, or the environment around them. I am very keen on images that portray moments of intimacy and unusual behaviours of the animals. I love backlit subjects at sunrise or sundown. I love the dust raised by the Elephants as they walk and the mist in the morning after a night of rain.  These are the kind of images that thrill me the most.

Since 2007 I have been a member of KPSGA (Kenya Professional Safari Guides Association, www.safariguides.org), currently at Bronze Level. In June 2010, after three years of professional guiding experience in the field, I will take the exam for to achieve Silver Level.
Throughout the year I accompany small groups of photographers in the Masai Mara N.R. and in other parks of Kenya and Northern Tanzania, sharing my passion for the African wildlife and trying to make my guests live some truly unforgettable moments in the company of the extraordinary animals of Africa.

Awards

During my photographic career, my images have been awarded in various prestigious international competitions:

2005 – 8^th position, East African Wildlife Photographer of the Year

2006 – 2^nd, 3^rd, 10^th positions, East African Wildlife Photographer of the Year

2007 – 2^nd, 4^th, 5^th positions, East African Wildlife Photographer of the Year

2008 – 3^rd  position, Light and Nature Category, Itaian Championship of Nature Photography

2008 - Highly Honoured, "Animal Antics" Category, Nature's Best Windland Smith Rice Award

2009 - Shortlisted (top 10), Sony World Photography Awards, Storia Naturale

2009 – Winner "Animal Antics" Category, Nature's Best Windland Smith Rice Award

2010 - Highlight, Glanzlichter 2010, Artists on Wings Category
 

Publications

Many of my images have been published on magazines, brochures, calendars, postcards and books:

About Kenya 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 (Official magazine of the Kenya Tourism Board)

Swara, Official Magazine of East African Wildlife Society (various issues)

Oasis (March 2009)

Best of East African Wildlife, STRUIK Publishing, Sud Africa

I regularly donate images to the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF Kenya, www,cheetah.org, no-profit organization for the conservation of wild Cheetahs) for calendars and fund raising initiatives.

I held two photographic exhibitions in Nairobi and Milan, and plenty of slideshows in Italy and Kenya.

Equipment

All my images have been taken using Nikon photographic equipment. After using Fuji Velvia slides until 2005, I am now using digital equipment. My main bodies are a D700 (Full frame camera, fantastic for low light conditions) and a D300 (DX camera with smaller sensor). I still use a D2X as backup. 

The telephoto lenses that I use are 600mm f4 AF-S II, which I use for the majority of my images. I also use a 200-400mm f4 VR AF-S and a 80-200mm f2.8 when I need some more flexibility.

For wide angles I own one 17-55mm f2.8 DX and a 14-24mm f2.8.

The softwares that I mostly use for processing my images are Adobe Lightroom v2, Nikon Capture NX2 and Adobe Photoshop CS3, according to specific needs.

Contacts

Don't hesitate to contact me to send me your comments, suggestions or requests.

Federico Veronesi
federicoveronesi75@gmail.com