Background
Nature's Window was established on the initiative of a group of dedicated, Danish amateur nature photographers with a particular interest in the photography and study of reptiles and amphibians. Our main objective is to present an online gallery of pictures, primarily of reptiles and amphibians. However, since many of us have travelled extensively in pursuit of our passion, pictures of other animals, plants, habitats, etc. have been included, as well as travel photography in general, although this is only an addition to the gallery, covering an incomplete array of subjects.
It is our hope that the gallery will be of benefit and joy to the general public and, secondly, serve as an easily accessible catalogue for publishers, researchers, writers and others searching for photos to be used for books, periodicals, websites, or other purposes.
Nature's Window was launched with the perspective of establishing contacts between photographers and potential customers, who would often have more difficulty in finding each other through other channels. Much high quality photographic work is done by amateurs, and it is our mission to make our contribution public.
The name of this website was inspired by the well-known rock formation and namesake of Kalbarri National Park, Western Australia (background picture in the front page). We hope that our gallery, symbolically, will represent a window with a view to the diversity of nature.
Quality criteria
It is our aim to present only photos of high technical quality. Photos which are out of focus, blurred photos, or wrongly exposed photos do not appear in the website. However, in case of rare or unusual animals or situations, a photo which does not entirely meet our quality criteria may be included, at least until photographs of better quality are obtained.
We also strive to present as many pictures as possible of animals taken in their natural habitats. At the time of writing, though, a large number of the included photos illustrate captive specimens. In these cases, we attempt to limit the number of pictures in which surroundings that indicate captivity are clearly visible. As our highest goal, we wish to present not only pictures of high technical quality, but pictures which in addition have aesthetic qualities. We continuously work on the improvement of the choice of photos by eliminating older photos, as newer and better ones become available.
Photo information
We offer digital photos as well as scanned diapositives, negatives, and x-rays. All diapositives and negatives have been scanned on a 4000 dpi Nikon film scanner (Coolscan V ED). All photos have been reduced in size and compressed for website display.
The majority of photos have been taken with digital SLR cameras producing image files of 8MP or more, but in a few cases smaller files have been included. All photos are presented as slightly compressed jpg files, most of which reduced in dimensions to somewhere between 400x600 and 500x600 pixels. In some cases, displayed images may represent cropped originals, but unless clearly stated, no image has been cropped to less than what corresponds to 2500x1700 pixels.
The information attached to each photo includes:
- Scientific (Latin) and common names (in the case of animals or plants) - or description of subject or location
- Photo ID (for ordering purposes)
- Type of original photo (digital photo or scanned diapositive, negative, or x-ray)
- Name of photographer or copyright holder
- Date of the photo
For pictures of animals and plants taken in their natural habitat, location is also mentioned.
Occasionally, you may come across photos of animals or plants which have not yet been identified, at least not to the specific level. In these cases, we encourage visitors at our website to provide any information that might be helpful to us.
Searching for photos
Pictures have been grouped according to subject (Zoology, Botany, Geography & Travel, Themes), and each subject group has been divided further into subgroups.
Using the subject groupings and subgroupings as means of searching for particular photos may require some knowledge of zoological and botanical classification, but as an alternative you may use the search tool at the bottom of the Home page.
Other pictures than those you currently find in this website are available, since we are continuously preparing both older images and new ones for upload. At the time of writing (December 2009), still only 10-20% of the total number of available images are displayed, but we are working hard to increase the number of displayed images. Until now, the included photos have been selected with the intention of showing the range of choice, although some sections are closer to completion than others. First priority has been given to the Zoology section (reptiles, amphibians, and other animals - in the mentioned order), followed by the Botany section, whereas the Geography and Travel section and the Themes section so far are the least developed sections.
Purchasing photos
It is the policy of Nature's Window not to interfere with the arrangements or deals made between photographers and customers, but only to establish contacts. Any request submitted to Nature's Window will be forwarded to the relevant photographer(s). However, in case of purchases, which include more than one photographer, it may be more convenient for the customer if Nature's Window coordinates and negotiates the details of the agreement made between customer and photographers.
Potential customers may request original, uncompressed, unreduced picture files for closer inspection. In case of scanned diapositives or negatives, the files may be used as they are, but if higher scanning quality is needed, we will have fully professional, individual scans produced, or the original diapositives or negatives may be forwarded for scanning by the customer.
Updates
Nature's Window is updated on a regular basis as new (or older) digital photos are prepared for website display, or as additional, older colour diapositives and negatives are scanned and added to the selection shown in the website.
As mentioned above, many other species than those displayed at present are available.
If you are searching for a particular animal or plant species, do not hesitate to contact us, as pictures may be available. If you wish to follow the development of the website and see which new pictures that have been uploaded, click below to check the update page.
Classification of animals and plants
The systematic classification of higher categories (kingdoms, phyla, classes, orders, families, etc.) of animals and plants used herein generally follows Wikipedia.
Exceptions are:
Amphibians: generally follows Amphibian Species of the World.
Reptiles: follows the latest published works, unless controversial. An attempt is made to follow consensus.
Associated photographers (alphabetically)
Dręby, Klaus (Mexico)
Midtgaard, Rune (Middelfart, Denmark)
Skov, Lars (Kerteminde, Denmark)
Contact:
Nature's Window
c/o Rune Midtgaard
Birke Alle 19, 1.18
5500 Middelfart
Denmark
Email:
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Cairns Birdwing (Ornithoptera priamus euphorion)
