Marco Nef

Father and son looking down into the valley

With small mushrooms I often imagine small villages or figures, which are shown by macro photography from an unusual perspective. Here I see a father standing on a mountain with his son and looking down into the valley in the evening light.

This picture is part of the category Close-Up & Macro.

Toadstool (Amanita muscaria)

Sometimes one walks for hours through the woods in search of toadstools and does not see a single one. This time I was lucky and found a whole circle of small and large specimens.

This picture is part of the category Close-Up & Macro.

Grey heron (Ardea cinerea)

Grey herons are very shy animals. They can rarely be observed or photographed from a close distance. Even a camouflage cover is of little use, they notice it somehow. But here I was lucky, because I was sitting camouflaged behind a reed belt when it landed. Afterwards the reed was pushed aside again and again thanks to strong gusts of wind, which made this photo possible.

This picture is part of the category Wildlife Wild.

I had not been with the kingfishers for quite some time. Today I finally took the time for it again. The weather was rather unstable, the water level was pretty high. Accordingly I got very dirty and wet, could hardly reach the site despite fishing boots. And the first three hours I only saw a short blue flash from far away. But then things started, the two birds sat almost all the time near me and I could take some nice photos and videos.

This picture is part of the category Portrait: Kingfisher.

Spotted Nutcracker (Nucifraga caryocatactes)

The nutcracker belongs to the order of songbirds. After observing some individuals of this species over several hours, I began to have doubts about the biological classification. But then one of them actually began to actually 'sing'. They are hardly ever quiet, but the singing is clearly different from the usual calls.

This picture is part of the category Wildlife Wild.

Spotted Nutcracker (Nucifraga caryocatactes)

Actually this beautiful alpine bird had been on my wish list for a long time, but I had never really bothered to find it. As a result, it was still missing on my species list, until today I walked totally unprepared into the coniferous forest where probably most photos of this species are taken in Switzerland.

This picture is part of the category Wildlife Wild.

White-legged Damselfly (Platycnemis pennipes)

For a longer time I had not been engaged in dragonfly photography. But after I had discovered a new nature reserve in the surroundings of my home this spring, where these nimble fliers occur in large numbers, I felt the urge to stalk the dragonflies again. Covered with dewdrops in the light of the rising sun, they are the most beautiful, and when many coloured flowers serve as a background, it is almost perfect.

This picture is part of the category Close-Up & Macro.

Marbled White (Melanargia galathea)

This year I have been working intensively with these beautiful butterflies. I am still amazed how specific they are to be found. Meanwhile I know just two meadows where they can be found in the surroundings of my home. On this photo this individual wakes up still covered with dew on the quaking grass where it spent the night.

This picture is part of the category Close-Up & Macro.

Marbled White (Melanargia galathea)

These colours are almost kitschy, when a marbled white presents itself in the early morning on a blade of grass in front of my camera, its sleeping place of the previous night. Its body and also the wings are still covered with dewdrops. It is waiting for the sun to release it from its rigidity.

This picture is part of the category Close-Up & Macro.

Marbled White (Melanargia galathea)

Early in the morning on the orchid meadow I discover a marbled white every few meters. Outside this meadow I have never seen these butterflies consciously before, but here they reliably appear every year. Thanks to the cloudy and rather cool morning it takes several hours until they finally thaw out and leave their sleeping places. I use this unusually long time to photograph them in many situations.

This picture is part of the category Close-Up & Macro.

Great spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos major)

After a break of two years, I was lucky again to observe a family of great spotted woodpeckers. Nest photography is a critical task, because you consciously take the risk of disturbing the birds, which in the worst case could lead to a breeding stop. But the fact that I was able to observe countless feedings, take more than 900 photos and also some films in a single morning is a clear sign that I approached and behaved considerately under the camouflage cover.

This picture is part of the category Wildlife Wild.

Meadow brown (Maniola jurtina)

At the beginning of June the meadows are suddenly full of the Meadow Brown. Typically, however, they do not sit at the top of the grasses, which is why they are not as easy to spot as the Lycaenidae. I usually find them when I let my eyes wander over the meadows early in the morning, because in the backlight the slightly darker spots stick visually out of the grass.

This picture is part of the category Close-Up & Macro.

Gossamer-winged Butterfly (Lycaenidae)

If the sunlight performs the way you dreamed it would before you got up early, the day is automatically a success. This gossamer-winged butterfly presented itself in the tall grass shortly after sunrise while warming up for its start into the day.

This picture is part of the category Close-Up & Macro.

Gossamer-winged Butterfly (Lycaenidae)

Already a week ago I went to a meadow where I always met many butterflies. But at that time I did not find a single one. Afterwards I could imagine that it was because of the rather cool nights, which temporarily prevailed during the ice saints' days. So I went there again today and was not disappointed this time. Shortly after sunrise I discovered a lot of gossamer-winged butterflies that were recovering from the nightly numbness in the warm sunlight and left the night place shortly after.

This picture is part of the category Close-Up & Macro.

As with all birds, the care of the feathers is part of the regular ritual of kingfishers. Thanks to the backlight, you can see every single feather.

This picture is part of the category Portrait: Kingfisher.