Field Test: behind-the-scenes look at the making of a NatGeo article



Michael Nichols is working with a micro-copter, an adapted toy helicopter, to photograph lions in the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania.



Anna Kukelhaus Dynan says:

Field Test, a newly launched National Geographic feature, offers a behind-the-scenes look at the making of a magazine article, including the latest technologies used in the field by photographers- camera traps, micro-copters, infrared vision, R/C cars, etc.

In the first assignment, renowned photographer Michael "Nick" Nichols is working on a new project in Africa photographing Serengeti lions. Backed by a team of National Geographic experts, Nichols is deploying a remotely operated helicopter to dangle a camera above a pride of predator and a toy car to drive a camera within a few feet of the big cats. Read his dispatches from the field to Washington, DC based National Geographic senior editor here.

©National Geographic/Michael Nichols

More images after the jump.


Above: (left) Michael Nichols is working with a micro-copter, an adapted toy helicopter, to photograph lions in the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. (middle and right) A lioness gets to know a new creature on the savanna.

National Geographic Field Test