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This boy is a passionate, award-winning wildlife photographer. And he’s only 13 years old

by 35 Comments

I must admit I rarely meet teenagers interested in something other than video games and social networks. But, from time to time, I hear about kids who amaze me. Young photographer Josiah Launstein is one of them. He is only 13 years old, and he’s been into photography since he was five. He grew to become a passionate wildlife photographer, and he even started getting awards for his talent and skill.

CBC Arts presented this young man in a YouTube video, where he got to say a bit about himself and his interest in photography. His dad John is also a photographer, as well as sister Jenaya. Josiah started using his dad’s backup camera when he was only five years old. As he explains, he took it more seriously when he was seven. Josiah says that he enjoys being in the wilderness and spending time with animals, so it seems he put his two passions together. It’s a wonderful thing, really!

Josiah explains that wildlife photography requires a lot of patience and willingness to go out day after day. He adds that you really need to pay attention to what’s going on around you. He especially likes photographing bighorn sheep, and one of his photos of these wonderful animals earned him Young Outdoor Photographer of the Year award. He has been granted this title three times so far. His last awarded photo, Raindrops, is currently on exhibit in Natural History Museum in London.

The young photographer advises all photographers out there to just take photos of what they love, because “it shows in the pictures.”  He adds to “always go out and take your camera.”

If you’d like to see more work of Josiah Launstein (and his family), make sure to visit their website, follow them on Instagram and like their Facebook page.

[He’s an Award-Winning Wildlife Photographer and He’s Only 13 via FStoppers]

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  • where hi find money for equipment ;)

    • rich parents?

    • stewart norton

      Hi Dad is a photographer so plenty on kit available to him I guess .

  • Even a monkey can be a good photographer with a 20K equipment

    • doubt it!
      I’ve seen some shocking work by so called pros with £K’s of gear…..hahahahaha ;) ;)

    • Really John Shark. I would like to see the results from you using expensive gear

    • Mark sure thing buddy. I would also like to see my results with some pro gear! So when are u gonna send me the D1 and a 500mm f4?

    • U can doubt as much as you like Duncan, but the fact is that pro equipment is….well pro! I doubt that anyone can get good wildlife photos with a crappy camera and a kit lens, unless the bear is like 5meters away from u, you can’t get a useable pro photo with 1/1000 ,f5.6, iso 2600 from any old kit.

    • It’s not the gear that makes a good photo, it’s the person in control of the gear.

    • Sure thing Andrew. But the pro quality of the photo is dictated by the gear, not the brilliant framing that the photographer did. Have you seen many awarded photographers with kit equipment lately?

    • I’ve some brilliant shots by professionals taken on an iphone.

    • The best camera to use is the one you have on hand.

    • John Shark why would you be using iso 2600. How bad is the light.

    • A pro can take a damn good photo with any camera, it’s been proven. You can give an amateur a $5000 camera, the best lens available for it. Now you give a pro a used camera and a cheap lens. Who do you think has a better chance of taking an award winning shot?

    • A pro is not an alien with super powers…. a pro can not create quality from a crappy kit. A pro can edit the crap out of a photo and make it look decent , he can cheat in many ways and be more creative than an amateur but in no way they can get the quality of a full frame with a 35mm f1.4 lens on a cheap plastic camera. I am talking about the award winning QUALITY of the photos that come out of the kit… not the editing skills of a protographer which can go so far if the gear is shite.

      And Mark, in wildlife photography u need shutter speed and good focusing. Try taking a photo in the afternoon with 1/1000 or more on a 500mm lens and tell me what iso settings you’ll need dial in..

  • Fair play the kid….
    Watched the video, seems to have his head screwed on OK…
    Better than sitting at home on the X-Box any day :)

  • If you read the article you’ll see that his dad is a photographer…he has obviously inspired his son which is awesome, great to see someone this age passionate about wildlife photography….despite comments he obviously has talent… anyone who thinks gear makes a good photographer is seriously mistaken.

    • ^^^ THIS

    • aga..i very good driver,i have a talent,but my futher havent labmorgini :))))))))

    • Then strive to do the very best with what you have, in the end it only makes you better 👌

    • Try get a decent pic of a bird in the tree with an iphone. A decent SLR and 500mm fast prime help, and they’re out of the reach of the average buyer.

    • I took this today with a second hand body and lens that cost about $400. How much does a iPhone cost twice that ? It has nothing to do with cost it’s about having the knowledge and skills to get the most out of the equipment you have, nobody who knows what they are doing are going to try and get a picture of a goat 20 meters away on a iPhone but I have seen stunning pictures taken on iPhones by people who know what they are doing.

    • Try getting the lens he has for $400 and pics of animals/birds you can’t entice with nuts.

    • 400$ for a used lens means u bought a pro lens at half price or less.

    • The body and lens combined were $400.

    • Then on a flip side, many talents have not been discovered because parents couldn’t care less about photography and there is no gear at all.

  • It’s really inspirational and I’m not trying to take away anything from the kid but especially in wildlife photography a 20.000$ equipment is really helpful. I don’t think anyone has won major awards with a Nikon D40 and a 18-200mm lens.

    • what kid can save enough money to buy a Nikon D40 and a lens, they’re luck enough to save up for a 20$ game. LOL

  • Anyone will be a good photographer if the parents are teaching the child from the age of 5 with good gear. It’s great that he is into it with 13, but not that impressive.

  • I think I should think ‘great achievement, well done’. But I don’t.

  • At 13 I had a pair of 8*30 bins, a notebook and a leaky biro.

  • Erez Peled something to teach the kid 🙂

  • Like father like son. They catch up quick.

  • CAugustin

    Even if he has access to pro gear – the results show that he gets really impressive results that not everybody would get with the same gear. He’s already good at what he does, and even if his dad encouraged him when he was young – to keep this passion up to his 13th year shows that he actually loves it.

    I only wonder what he is going to do when he is “grown up”. But he might just get better and better (I hope he does) and just “keeps on shooting” …

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