This set of books, Xiang Kejun was chased by everyone from Weibo, , Douyin, to Bilibili and Xiaohongshu, and he was urged to update it for almost a month.
Today, it is finally official!
"Sounds of Nature" series: "The Language of Insects" "All Creatures" "On Land and Water" is now on the market! The reason why
has been delayed for so long is because it is too ! good! look! Got it!
To be honest, if you are busy with something else, it is best not to read it, otherwise it will be very easy for you to become addicted and unable to extricate yourself like me...
How good can this set of books be? Let's put it this way, before was fully launched, more than 8,000 copies were sold through specific channels in just two weeks. Many students of originally only wanted to "get into" one book to try, but after reading it, they decided to go back and collect the remaining two books.
All kinds of five-star praises are flooding the screen every day:
" exquisite ", " every page is pleasing to the eye ", " domestic physical geography ceiling of photography ", "I originally thought it was Natural history science, I didn’t expect that is all beautiful pictures , you think it is just a photo album? Oh my God! There is also a text master ”...
Pictures: Douban
directly praised our author. Suspicious about : Am I so powerful? Publishers, hire a shill!
Picture: Weibo @ Tang Zhiyuan Dreamman
Seeking truth from facts, as Tang Zhiyuan teacher has accumulated 20 years of hard work , "The Sound of Nature" definitely meets your expectations for a "heavy masterpiece": at the very least, the total weight of is fast 10 You probably haven’t seen many books weighing a kilogram, right?
But for the truly knowledgeable "hardcore" readers, just the three words " Tang Zhiyuan " are enough to become a "must-read in a lifetime" reason.
Insects, plants, birds and beasts, amphibians, ice and snow, fireworks... Tang Zhiyuan photographed things we have never seen in "Sounds of Nature" and told stories we have never heard of.
It is no exaggeration to say that no matter what age you are, as long as you are interested in nature, then you should definitely have this set of "Sounds of Nature" on your bookshelf. If you are not interested in nature, then this set of books should be Your "must-have" .
Picture: Xiaohongshu
Well, having said so much, I believe that at this moment, the first question in the minds of most friends is -
Tang Zhiyuan, who is it?
To understand Tang Zhiyuan, many titles are actually good entry points, such as:
China's top insect photographer ;
China National Geographic Magazine "Museum" magazine photographer ;
Ecological photography website - "Green Lens" "The founder ;
was named by the media as one of China's top ten geographical photographers in 2009 and China's most influential natural geography photographer in 2009. ;
was also the protagonist in the documentary "Insect Photographer" on the American Discovery Channel. .
However, compared to the above, Tang Zhiyuan also has two more concise and friendly code names: " old Tang ", or " uncle ".
Lao Tang actually does not belong to the kind of professional photographers who have a professional background.
Before 2001, Lao Tang’s main business was graphic design. Due to his work, he had to collect materials on various picture websites. A question gradually became clear: Why does the "Crooked Nut Kernel" photo look so natural in ? Class pictures are always so great?
So, Lao Tang bought a 2-megapixel Fujifilm 4900 and started his journey of natural photography from novice to expert.
By 2022, a full 20 years have passed. Lao Tang has not only single-handedly promoted the insect photography industry in China and is regarded as the "master of insect photography". He has also enlightened the world with his persistence and enthusiasm for science popularization. A generation of people, he is the "ageless male god" that many insect fans have been chasing for more than ten years. One of the representatives of
is very familiar to everyone. He is a well-known science popularizer of with over 35 million fans across the Internet, the father of Water Monkey, and the director of Fox - " Infinitely Bright ".
"Infinitely Small Brightness" Zhang Chenliang
In the preface written for "Insect Language", the first volume of the "Sounds of Nature" series, Zhang Chenliang, who graduated with a master's degree in entomology , recalled that he was about to give up his hobby of insects in junior high school. , it was this "Teacher Tang" who opened a new world for him:
I later learned insect photography, majored in entomology, and came to be an editor of "Natural History" magazine, more or less because of the influence of Old Tang .
If I were asked to name a few of the most amazing things in my life, being a colleague with Tang Zhiyuan would definitely be one of them.
But at that time, what made Xiaoliang most curious was: Why did Old Tang always put a watermark of "Dreamman26" on every photo? He is 26 years old?
So in my impression, Tang Zhiyuan has always been 26 years old.
Now, I have been Teacher Tang’s colleague for more than ten years. As expected, he has always been 26 years old. Not only does he always wear short-sleeved clothes in winter and summer, he also goes to the mountains to hunt insects every year.
In this set of "Sounds of Nature", words and pictures, this eternal youthful enthusiasm is everywhere..
In order to take the picture of swallowtail butterfly spraying water, Old Tang had to lie down on the river beach under the scorching sun at noon in Xishuangbanna in August:
In the book, he wrote:
There was almost no wind at all when walking in the rain forest. No, sweat kept pouring out, and
’s clothes were already soaked through.
……
It’s noon, how about we go back to bed?
...
This is not possible,
Xishuangbanna is a magical place,
As long as you search carefully, there will always be novel discoveries.
In the end, a wonderful photo was born:
In order to capture the most wonderful original ecological moments of sensitive insects, in many cases, Old Tang not only needed to be able to climb mountains and enter the ground to do anything, endure mosquito bites, It is not uncommon to sleep for only a few hours a day for more than ten days in a row, waiting for the opportunity to take photos.
For example, what you see as " Mantis catching cicada " is like this:
But it is like this when photographed:
It is uncomfortable enough to shoot the mantis catching cicada from above,
The leftover "cicada dregs" eaten by the mantis during the filming process It kept falling on my face.
What you see The narrow-mouthed frog is like this: Ouch, how come the picture of the frog has a sound!
The birth process of the photo is like this:
In order to seize the best shooting opportunity, he needed to squat for a long time and had to lie down in the mud.
took more than 3 hours.
(The frog's cry) was so noisy that by the end, I already felt severe tinnitus and my head hurt a little.
In the words of "Infinitely Small Light", the "Voice of Nature" book will tell you why Tang Zhiyuan is China's top insect photographer.
How beautiful is the "Sounds of Nature" book
?
Next, answer your second question: What does this set of "natural sounds" say?
To put it simply, this is the highlight of Lao Tang’s natural photography career over the past twenty years.
has traveled from China to Africa and South America. His photographic subjects include not only insects, but also plants, animals, and even water droplets, fireworks.
The beautiful pictures and text are more worthy of your careful consideration, and the more you taste, the more interesting they become.
"Insect Language" , naturally the focus is on all kinds of insects. The opening chapter selects " spicy food " that can evoke "good" childhood memories:
A large thorn moth larvae. Those who have been stung by it will never forget it.
Normal people’s first feeling about bugs is that they hate them, but after reading "The Whispering of Bugs", your view of this creature will definitely change a lot.
Lao Tang’s lens and pen are two-pronged. What you feel is only two words - cute .
Do you know dorsalis larvae ? Doesn't it sound like someone who is not easy to mess with?
Old Tang said that it is actually a slippery QQ sugar, with this explanation:
QQ sugar, please show your head~
Black-veined nymphal butterfly larva, does it sound very dark? However, Old Tang called it " wheat (pulse) ", and he did not forget to remind you:
Such a cute wheat, it is essential to take close-up shots of the face. You must focus carefully, especially don't ignore it. Remove the small eyes (single eyes) on both sides of its cheeks.
Take two pictures of "angry" expressions and leave, Don't make the little guy too nervous.
Left side: I am the Pseudomonas vulgaris butterfly. Right: I am the black-veined butterfly!
and oleander hornworm larvae , Lao Tang also equipped it with an inner OS, as if it has been reminding himself - " can only be loved, not scary! ":
In order to take pictures Its two big "eyes" were like a deep little universe. Old Tang couldn't help but poked its little head with his fingers. The guy finally rolled up and bulged the front half of its body. The pair of fake breasts hidden in the folds of its body The eye spots "opened" instantly.
" It looks so cute the way it looks now! " Lao Tang wrote excitedly in the book.
In addition, there are also ultra-difficult dazzling classics, Firefly :
This ribbon-like "flight trajectory" is "created" using a slow shutter speed.
and , which is only 2 mm long. :
Compared with it, the dewdrops look very big, forming an interesting picture.
In addition to insects, in the past ten years, Lao Tang has also continued to break through his comfort zone and expanded the field of photography to include plants, large mammals, amphibians, and even snowflakes, water droplets, etc., which constitute the remaining two books: The main content of "Everything Lives" and "On Land and Water".
For example, the Chinese version of Rafflesia in Xishuangbanna - " Rafflesia ":
Green silk-leaf sundew :
The big-eyed cuteness in Jianfengling, Hainan - Red webbed tree frog:
Guangdong Chebaling bulingbuling's Hainan flash-scaled snake :
Guangxi Beihai likes the "V" gesture Fiddler crab :
In Tangjiahe, Sichuan, everyone went to take pictures of big animals. Only Old Tang lay on the ground admiring the "" on the bamboo leaves. "Gem":
In Kenya , although the animals under Lao Tang's lens are no different from those in "Animal World", they can still produce stunning effects.
Deputy Curator of the National Museum of Zoology Zhang Jinshuo sighed:
I have been to Africa 18 times, and I also pretended to take a camera to take pictures of wild animals, but it was not as good as Brother Tang's once!
The giraffe in his lens did not raise its head, but the sense of the story was vivid before his eyes:
and the guinea fowl :
It has a bald head, only a tuft of hair on the back of its head, and blood-red eyes, which is a bit scary. Well, he still has the temperament of a middle-aged greasy uncle...
But the work that satisfied him the most was the "Big Cat" hanging on the tree :
The soft side backlighting at dusk outlined its outline, everything was so perfect .
In Central America Costa Rica, although we have long been accustomed to the star species photographed by Old Tang, they can also show a different kind of beauty.
For example, sloth :
American green iguana :
and the huge toucan :
In addition to beauty
What else is there in “Sounds of Nature”?
Infinitely Xiaoliang said that the book "Sounds of Nature" has three functions: first, you will see all kinds of creatures and all kinds of wonders; second, learn about animals and plants; third, learn Photography knowledge.
Behind each photo of "Insects", "All Creatures" and "On Land and Water", Lao Tang will unreservedly write down the key technical points in the shooting of the relevant photos.
The sense of step-by-step master class on-site teaching is vivid on the page.
Take a picture of Ice flowers on the window glass in winter . He never forgets to remind you carefully:
Before shooting, you can open the window a gap to lower the indoor temperature, which can extend the shooting time.
Ice flowers look beautiful, but they are often messy when photographed, so you must be selective and find the most beautiful one among the "flowers". Focusing on the part of the window glass will make it easier to stand out.
There are also snowflakes that give many photography enthusiasts a headache. Lao Tang said:
In fact, it is not too difficult to shoot snowflakes. You don’t need a microscope or a reverse lens or anything like that, just a 1:1 ordinary macro lens. You can also take pictures.
If you want the snowflake to look more three-dimensional, you have to find a way to make it "stand up":
I use a small pine needle to lightly stick the selected snowflake together, and then stand it on a cluster of small snowflakes. This series of actions must be completed without holding your breath in a windless state.
The largest snowflake is about 5 mm in diameter. As long as you crop it appropriately after shooting, you can get a good picture:
There are also water droplets full of high-end feeling.
Lao Tang said that does not require expensive high-tech equipment . It only requires a SLR camera and a macro lens, plus two flashes, and a tripod is enough. Of course, a little more patience and care are required.
However, taking water splash art photos does cost a little bit of water and electricity:
French sculpture artist Rodin said, "There is no lack of beauty in the world, but a lack of eyes to discover beauty!"
Lao Tang is superficially saying Metaphysical photography skills, but through these subtle operations in life, he is conveying a positive philosophy of life: the truly stunning works of are not a collection of rare objects and superb skills, but a pair of nature-loving eyes. enough!
The most common "big orange" on the roadside, Lao Tang can also capture the cutest moments, which is so popular that Weibo is flooding the screen: How about , do you also yawn when you look at it?
Of course, in addition to the above, the most touching thing about the whole set of books is Lao Tang's heartfelt love and equality for his subjects.
Just as a reader commented, the sentence that moved him the most in the whole book was this sentence:
Leave as soon as you get a satisfactory picture. Don’t disturb the dragonflies too much. Long-term flight consumes a lot of them. of.
This kind of "equality of all living beings" from the heart can rarely be felt in nature photography in the past.
Finally, Xiang Kejun feels that some of the production details of "Sounds of Nature" are worth mentioning.
On the left side of the beginning of each section, detailed information such as the name, location, time, weather and other details of the photo taken are recorded in detail. is like a scientific observation note, with a full sense of form. :
is printed on supersensitive paper. , matte surface, feels textured.
Basically every page of the book is full of color printing, but does not have the pungent chemical smell of ink at all , even "a little bit":
The illustrations on the inner pages, and the handwritten comments of add a touch of kindness, as if Old Tang is in Whispers whispered in the ears.
is printed using fluorescent ink to print . The effect is even cooler when viewed at night:
also has binding. Although the book is very thick, the 16-page page can be completely tiled. The two pages are combined to show a picture, which is clearly visible. It's clear and enjoyable, and you don't have to work hard to find something heavy to hold it down:
"Why do I shoot?" I occasionally think about this question.
I love nature and everything about it. I love flowers, plants and trees, but they don't pay much attention to me; I love birds and beasts, but these guys always keep a distance from me; and I love insects, and I know that insects love me too.
Maybe this is wishful thinking on my part, but the fact is that there are many bugs and they can be seen everywhere. I can get in close contact with and observe them, and even participate in them, and only then will wonderful stories happen.
I don’t need to rack my brains to make up a story, or rack my brains to describe it, I just need to record it truthfully and express it calmly.
In the eyes of others, shooting in the wild is full of difficulties and dangers. How could
happen? Not at all! I am full of infinite yearning for nature, every day and every time I shoot.
Tang Zhiyuan said.
After reading this set of "Sounds of Nature", I hope you will too.
"The Sound of Nature" Tang Zhiyuan
