The 65-year-old dream-chasing photographer captured a rare image of a sable, "I captured it, I captured it, wow, it's so cute, it's just amazing, small nose, small eyes, look at it, it's so cute, look, it's so clear, it's so cute "In the ice and snow, the furry sable emerged from

65-year-old dream-chasing photographer captured a rare sable image

"I captured it, I captured it, wow, it's so cute, it's just so cute, small nose, small eyes, look at it, it's so cute, look, it's so clear "It's amazing." In the ice and snow, the furry sable emerged from behind the tree trunk, raised its two front paws, and looked around with its bright little eyes as its head moved. The person who captured such an adorable scene was Lao Wan, a 65-year-old photographer from Yanbian, Jilin Province.

△Sable

Changbai Mountain Lao Wan, whose real name is Wan Xingfu, has been tracking and photographing sables in Changbai Mountain for five years. In order to take a photo of the national first-level protected animal sable, Lao Wan drove out at 4:30 in the morning and waded through the knee-deep snow in the Xianfeng National Forest Park at the northern foot of Changbai Mountain at more than 20 degrees Celsius. Carrying a camera and lens weighing nearly 30 kilograms, I walked through the woods. "According to the living habits of sables, when the snow is at its deepest in January and February, they will go down the mountain to look for food. This is when they are most likely to be photographed," Lao Wan said. Sables are few in number and move quickly, so squatting becomes the basic job. Stationed in the snow 7 hours a day. Even though I was wearing a pair of down pants, a cotton hat, and a thick military coat, I was still very cold. Photographing the adorable appearance of sables on a snowy day has become his persistent goal in recent years.

After he first photographed a wild sable in 2017, he gave every sable he photographed a name. "Little Flower Scarf, this is the first name, because Xiaohua Scarf has little leopard spots on its fur. The second name I named is Little Beauty, and the third name is Diao Chan. Because I want to record all the sables in video Come down and name them, so you can remember how many sables there are here. "Among the sables photographed by Lao Wan, the little flower scarf appears the most, and Lao Wan is fond of the little guy because of his appearance. Have a special liking. "I have been taking pictures of the little flower scarf for three years, and it is different every year. In the first year, it was a boy, in the second year, it was a young man, and in the third year, it reached adulthood and became a little stronger. I watched it grow up, It’s so childlike, so good.”

Lao Wan has always had a dream to shoot a documentary about Changbai Mountain wildlife. Sable will be the protagonist of his documentary. This is a gift from Lao Wan to his hometown.

Go round and round to realize the dream of photography

"People have to work hard. If you don't work hard, you will fall behind. If you don't work hard, your head will get rusty. You see, I am 65 years old, but my mentality is very young." Lao Wan told reporters .

Lao Wan is not a professional photographer. Before the age of 45, Lao Wan was an out-and-out farmer who worked as a construction worker, a truck driver, and the director of a brick factory. After the age of 45, he went to France to work. He started as a dishwasher, posted advertisements, opened a hotel, became a Japanese cuisine chef and held Japanese cuisine training classes. He often participated in various local social activities and won the Paris Table Tennis Club League. The champion of the amateur group has been invited to attend the China Annual Conference in Paris for several consecutive years and has become a popular figure in the local Chinese circle. At the age of 51, he returned to China to start a business, opened a travel agency, and stepped into the cultural travel industry.

html At the age of 458, Lao Wan fell in love with photography and has been out of control ever since. With long guns and short cannons, in the sky and on the earth, Lao Wan, who loves to toss, has been struggling in Changbai Mountain for seven or eight years. The long-term outdoor shooting has turned him from a beginner whose pictures were shaky and blurred to become a wildlife photographer. He is a big internet celebrity in the industry, with more than 5 million fans on the Internet, and even the little fox on the mountain is familiar with him. As Lao Wan drove up the mountain, the fox did not hide when it saw him. Instead, it waited by the roadside, hoping to be fed by this old friend. Lao Wan and the ranger on the mountain were familiar with each other. He told the ranger that foxes and martens didn’t have enough to eat in winter, so if there were any leftover chicken bones, he would feed them.

△Kingfisher eating fish close-up

△Red fox

As a wildlife photographer, Lao Wan said that he has always adhered to the concept of protecting the ecology when shooting.When posting his works on social media, he does not mark the exact location and only informs netizens of the general scope. He feels that too many tourists will destroy the natural environment where animals live, but he still hopes that everyone can learn about animals from video data. "I will devote all my energy to wildlife photography during my lifetime, use my lens to record the beauty of nature, and continue doing public welfare activities to protect wild animals and nature," Lao Wan said.

Start the China Miles Photography Tour

In 2022, Lao Wan decided to start the China Miles Photography Tour to photograph rare wild animals across the country. He will set off from his hometown of Yanbian with the arrogance of the Siberian tiger and the bravery of the Steller sea eagle, along Xianghai and Momoge in western Jilin and turn north to the Zhalong Wetland in Heilongjiang, where he will see the red-crowned crane. Under the guidance of , we headed to Yancheng, Jiangsu Province. When we passed the Red Beach in Yingkou, Liaoning Province, we said hello to the migratory birds. The next destination is Poyang Lake in Jiangxi, a paradise for migratory birds, where you will have close contact with more than 600,000 migratory birds and more than 300 species of migratory birds. Then go to Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan to chase the footprints of golden monkeys and giant pandas. Next, we will enter Qinghai, Tibet, Sanjiangyuan and other regions, follow the footsteps of Tibetan antelopes and wild yaks, and gradually uncover the secrets of their survival and reproduction in the wild.

△Oriental white stork

△Steller's sea eagle

Lao Wan expects that this photography trip will shoot and produce a series of 100 short videos to present at least 100 rare and rare wild animals to friends across the country. At the same time, Lao Wan will form a team to follow up, shoot and produce a 100-episode series of geographical and humanistic documentaries to reflect the local ecology, geography, folk customs, specialties and other people’s living conditions through Lao Wan’s perspective, thereby promoting the protection of wild animals across the country and Development of cultural tourism. (Text/Green China Media Reporter Fu Chao Photo/Changbaishan Laowan "Green China" 2022.6A)