Seeing polar bears is not easy. Because of where they live, because when you get there you must be respectful of them and their habitat; Furthermore, it is very likely that you will see them from a great distance or that the light will not be adequate. On this occasion we found a female, which could be the mother, and two young males. While she was looking for prey on the shore, they were playing in the water. The sky was very leaden, the bears were swimming among icebergs, with a beach of gray stones in the background. We watched them from afar so as not to disturb them and we took a few photos, but in these conditions we dedicated ourselves more than anything to enjoying them with the binoculars. The young people went from one iceberg to another, feeling themselves and nibbling on some algae. Throughout the morning, clearings opened in the sky that gave way to that fantastic low-lying light of the Arctic. The zodiac surrounded them as we left. I liked the calm sea, the pastel tones of the sky, the icebergs, and the water. And the figures of the bears, which a ray of sunlight from behind made them stand out so powerfully in the image.

Olympus E-M1X camera. Olympus M.40-150 F2.8 + MC-14 lens. ISO 250, 1/2000 and f/8. Author: Yolanda Moreno

While in a pool of sea water, near a beach on the coast of Asturias, we saw a bird heading straight towards us, and which landed on a dry log just in front of our position. Fortunately we had our cameras ready and were able to take this photo before it ate the fish and moved out of our reach.

OM-1 camera. LEICA DG 50-200/F2.8-4.0 + TC2.0 lens. 1/1000, f/8 ISO 400. Author Juan Abal

These anemones are beautiful invertebrate animals that we enjoy in the little pools that the sea leaves when it recedes at low tide, where they remain anchored without moving. Well, without moving is a saying because its tentacles are activated as soon as they notice any small touch, or simply by a bit of breeze or when the tide begins to rise. I like to observe them to try to compose an image that reflects their beauty, while looking for adequate light conditions, which sometimes lack what is critical to capture their movements; and others are left over, generating many brightnesses and strong contrasts.

This time I used a tripod at water level to compose this detail with a macro lens, that reminded me of a still life.

Olympus E-M1 Mark III camera. Olympus M.60mm F2.8 Macro lens. ISO 200, 1/6 sec. and f/8. Author: Yolanda Moreno

During a trip to New Zealand, in the south of the South Island, we were coming home after an astrophotography session. With the sky clear and having predicted possible auroras australis, we managed to find an open place in the forest from which we saw this luminosity and colors on the horizon. Indeed, they were from an austral aurora, which must have been very intense to be seen from that latitude. We were very lucky because few people have seen and photographed the Northern Lights and the Aurora Australis.

Note: the cloudy patches you see are the famous Magellanic Clouds

Panasonic GH4 camera. Lumix G Vario 12-35 F/2.8 lens. ISO 1600, 60" and f/2.8. Author: Juan Abal

We often find forests with magnificent colors in autumn, but we are not able to take any photographs that reflect their splendor. So I was, walking around to see if I could get an interesting frame when I looked at the ground and found this group of leaves that perfectly reflects the colors of that season.

PhaseOne XF + IQ160 camera. Schneider Kreuznach LS 80mm f/2.8 lens. ISO 100, 1/20 and f/8. Author: Juan Abal

We had gone for a walk through the town and we saw that the clouds were beginning to take on a very photogenic colour, so we went to a place where we could comfortably watch the sunset and, incidentally, take some photos.

The houses were very dark so I had to increase the exposure a lot in post-processing. The wide dynamic range of this camera and the noise reduction in the DxO PhotoLab prevented noise from being too noticeable.

Pentax K3 camera. Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8 lens. 1/60", f/4, ISO 280.