Wildlife photographer talks about trip to Mongolia
PIERRE, S.D. | A South Dakota wildlife photographer says his latest assignment for National Geographic took him to southern Mongolia to capture images of an elusive bear.
Joe Riis photographed the Gobi bear, as well as the researchers trying to follow the movement of the rare creature. The magazine will publish Riis' first full feature next year, the Capital Journal reported.
More than 200 people gathered at the Riggs Theatre in Pierre to listen to Riis talk about his work.
The Pierre native said the Mongolia assignment was one of the largest expeditions he had experienced. The 20-person crew traveled to the remote Gobi Desert, the world's fifth-largest. It was his first trip to mainland Asia, and the experience expanded his view of the world.
He began his career with a 2008 assignment photographing the migration of pronghorn in Wyoming. He said the trek was one of the largest mammal migrations in the lower 48 states, but it had never been documented up until that point. To capture the movement, Riis used camera traps, a technique using cameras triggered by movement. Riis earned an Emmy for his work on the project.
Riis also shared highlights from several other adventures, including a short video of a rafting trip in the Grand Canyon.
He concluded his presentation by showing a 10-minute documentary following the efforts of biologist Bruce Means. Riis said he spent three months with Means as the researcher tried to document the existence of a species of frog found in the mountains of South America.
Riis currently lives in a cabin he built in the Bijou Hills in central South Dakota.
He said he grew up hunting and fishing in Pierre, but didn't take photography seriously until his college years when he took pictures while kayaking hundreds of miles of the Missouri River.
Joe Riis photographed the Gobi bear, as well as the researchers trying to follow the movement of the rare creature. The magazine will publish Riis' first full feature next year, the Capital Journal reported.
More than 200 people gathered at the Riggs Theatre in Pierre to listen to Riis talk about his work.
The Pierre native said the Mongolia assignment was one of the largest expeditions he had experienced. The 20-person crew traveled to the remote Gobi Desert, the world's fifth-largest. It was his first trip to mainland Asia, and the experience expanded his view of the world.
He began his career with a 2008 assignment photographing the migration of pronghorn in Wyoming. He said the trek was one of the largest mammal migrations in the lower 48 states, but it had never been documented up until that point. To capture the movement, Riis used camera traps, a technique using cameras triggered by movement. Riis earned an Emmy for his work on the project.
Riis also shared highlights from several other adventures, including a short video of a rafting trip in the Grand Canyon.
He concluded his presentation by showing a 10-minute documentary following the efforts of biologist Bruce Means. Riis said he spent three months with Means as the researcher tried to document the existence of a species of frog found in the mountains of South America.
Riis currently lives in a cabin he built in the Bijou Hills in central South Dakota.
He said he grew up hunting and fishing in Pierre, but didn't take photography seriously until his college years when he took pictures while kayaking hundreds of miles of the Missouri River.
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