The earth is a beautiful place. As we go about our daily lives, a hike, a swim, or a bicycle ride out among Mother Nature’s elements can quickly remind us of that. So can great videographers who travel the world to capture the full spectrum of wildlife, landscapes, and natural events. These artists help us in an attempt to comprehend everything the big blue planet we live on has to offer.
To honor and celebrate Earth Month, we’re spotlighting both its beauty and its formidable strength–a strength being tested due to the effects of climate change. See our Pristine Landscape collection to marvel at all that Mother Nature has to offer, or browse the Climate Change collection that tells the story of its struggle. We’ve also highlighted several talented Pond5 contributors whose work furthers both ends of this story.
Loggerhead Sea Turtle Swimming With Scuba Diver On Coral Reef Caribbean Reef by dudeunderwater.
Under the Sea
Some of the most astounding views on earth are where most of us can’t see: underneath the ocean. That’s why the work of Pond5 contributors like Undersea Productions EXC (Queensland, Australia) is so captivating in showing us the world below. We can marvel at the rich navy blue of the deepest waters, vibrant blood orange coral, and a rainbow kaleidoscope of fish through his images. We also get to see underneath the water, as sunlight from above turns the ocean into a luminous turquoise or transforms a school of fish into an otherworldly swarm of backlit silhouettes.
Contributors like dudeunderwater (Louisiana, USA) add to our visual catalog of marine life with clips of hawksbill sea turtles playfully eating, sea anemone swaying, and more.
Both videographers, however, don’t shy away from the devastation that climate change and pollution wreak upon our oceans. “[We are driven by] filming everything we see underwater – be it beauty or horror,” Undersea Productions writes.
Waterspout With People On Sandy Beach by ExtremeStorms.
The ocean surface and its life
Mark Rackley (Florida Keys) is another contributor who focuses on the beauty of water. He, however, pulls the camera up out of the water near the Florida Keys to show us the remarkable life that lives there. Explore footage of pelicans gliding just inches above crystal-smooth waters, marble-patterned waters, or vistas like red-orange suns setting over the Seven Mile Bridge.
Filming in Florida means, inevitably, capturing the awe-inspiring ferocity of Mother Nature in the form of hurricanes. Creators like ExtremeStorms (aka. Jim Edds) also capture the acceleration of nature’s more violent side, who gets close to storms with footage of them making landfall, whipping trees, and tearing off roofs. He’s also shot typhoons in the Philippines as water spills out of the sea and onto land.
Baby Harp Seal On Sea Ice by UlannaqIngemann.
The icy north
Brave the frigid weather of the cold north, and you’ll see the natural wonders of life and ice. Prefer to stay warm? Then contributors like Ulannaq Ingemann (Nuuk, Greenland) can highlight the remarkable wildlife that calls ice and snow their home. Find baby harp seals sniffing the chilly air, humpback whales and narwhals playfully diving, and polar bears going for strolls. He highlights the beauty of glaciers while documenting images of them splitting apart, melting into the sea, and contributing to rising water levels. Like others, he provides a stark portfolio that can’t look at the beauty of the natural world without seeing the worrying things happening to it.
Contributor A_Australis, (Gratangen, Norway) compliments Ingemann with similar clips of frozen landscapes and climate realities but adds an environmental touch with images that show hope-inspiring initiatives like negative emission complexes nestled in the snow and ice, promising change.
Maroon Bells Lake-Fallcolors by WayneWilliams.
The wonder and tranquillity of nature
Nature doesn’t just call the sea its home, of course, but land and air too. Contributor DLSR’s work is almost Planet Earth-like in its comprehensiveness, seemingly covering every animal from every part of the world. Kittens, hippos, puffins, owls, and gorillas are all there, showing us the wonders and magic of the creatures that share the planet with us. It makes it impossible not to be in love with our big green globe.
Wayne Williams similarly invokes that appreciation. His images of lush natural spaces like rippling brooks and quiet coves (all untouched by civilization) act as their own kind of awareness-raising. The idyllic tranquility of his shots shows us the beauty that is well worth preserving. “My work is about where we can and must go from here to create a better environment for ourselves and future generations,” he says, with an ethos of wanting to highlight “the importance of greening our planet, not for the planet’s sake, but for our own survival.” It is an ethos well worth adopting ourselves.