Felix Leander 4/23/15 Felix Leander 4/23/15

Featured Photographer - Thomas Peschak

My dad always said you need to get close to your subjects...Thomas Peschak with Tiger Shark in South Africa.  Photo by Wolfgang Leander 2007 — My dad always said you need to get close to your subjects...Thomas Peschak with Tiger Shark in South Africa. Photo by Wolfgang Leander 2007

My old man wrote this about Thomas Peschak years back: "In his field, wildlife and shark conservation photography, Thomas is, in my and many others' opinion, one of the best - world-wide."

Thomas with large Tiger Shark in South Africa.  Photo by Wolfgang Leander 2007 — Thomas with large Tiger Shark in South Africa. Photo by Wolfgang Leander 2007

While I have not had the pleasure in meeting Thomas (we have corresponded) - my father was able to spend a lot of time with him in the water in Aliwal Shoal, South Africa, freediving and photographing tiger sharks. Then already an accomplished photographer, Thomas has risen above most capturing stunning wildlife images and is a contributing photographer to National Geographic.

The now famous Great White shark and kayak photo by Thomas Peschak

But what makes Thomas so special, beyond his photography, is his involvement in conservation. "Thomas believes that the combined force of photojournalists and conservation NGOs is very powerful. In the past he has worked as the official photographer of WWF-SA and the Chief Photographer for the Save our Seas Foundation. He continues working with NGOs on a regular basis, collaborating often with Pacific Wild, the Manta Trust and WWF." He now is the director of conservation at Save our Seas Foundation

Be sure to follow his Instagram feed - https://instagram.com/thomaspeschak/ and visit his website at: http://www.thomaspeschak.com/ and http://saveourseas.com/

Please be aware of the fact that diving with sharks can be potentially dangerous. Do NOT closely interact with sharks, touch them, feed them unless you are very experienced and know exactly how to interpret their body language. While it might look easy and harmless to interact with sharks the way we do, we do NOT encourage this type of underwater activity.