Knut Erik Alnæs fell in love with photography when he was 9 and borrowed his father’s video camera to film roe deer and red foxes around their cabin. “I loved being close to wildlife and being able to relive the experience afterwards,” he explains. A couple of years later he bought a Canon EOS 550D digital SLR and has been hooked on nature and wildlife photography ever since.
When he was 15, Knut Erik was awarded second place in the Young Nordic Nature Photographer of the Year contest. While it was great to have his images acknowledged by the professionals that had inspired him, it was also a perfect way to get to know other photographers, to expand his network and thereby his source of inspiration.
For years Knut Erik considered photography as a serious hobby that happened to bring an income. He continued to win awards, but it wasn’t until Canon first reached out to him in 2019 that he realised that photography could be more than a hobby. However, he had signed up to study law at the University of Oslo, and he wasn’t about to back out on that.
Being a full-time law student and a full-time nature photographer requires hard work and great organisational skills. Dedication and time management are key to succeeding in both.