Dana Cama

Dana Cama is a photographer.

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Encountered the most adorable family of explorers this evening. For the first two months of their lives, baby raccoons live in their den and are weened at 7 to 16 weeks. At 12 weeks, they begin to roam away from their mothers for whole nights at a time. They become completely independent at 8 to 12 months of age. With no mom in sight, I’m guessing these guys were on one of their early independent adventures. ❤️

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Had a great time working with the @g_eazy & @vevo team last night (at Optimist Studios)

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Here's to strong women. May we know them. May we be them. May we raise them. #InternationalWomensDay (at Los Angeles, California)

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Tomorrow is World Wildlife Day- an opportunity to celebrate our world’s wilderness and raise awareness on the importance of wildlife and our duty to preserve it. The Global theme for this year is “BIG CATS: threatened predators". With the disappearance of habitat, food supply, and human conflict like poaching and trafficking, big cats are under serious threat. To protect these animals, we must support the organizations fighting the wildlife trade, promote conservational education, and support ecotourism. Here’s some of my favorite organizations to help: @greatplainsconservation, @leonardodicapriofdn, @lionrecovery (at Moremi Crossing)

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Urban wildlife spotting! Can anyone guess what these two birds are? (Hint the location) Spotted them fighting in the sky over some carrion below. (at Eagle Rock, Los Angeles)

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Women’s March, Los Angeles 2018

JENNIFER- “I’m standing up to let the world know that I don’t support this president. I don’t think he was actually elected- I believe he was put in to power by foreign interference and other means. I’m opposed to sexual assault and all of the other things that this narcissistic, lying president stands for. I’ve been marching since I was 18. Last year’s Women’s March was the first time I saw more mainstream women protesting than I’ve seen at marches in the past. It used to be that only progressives and radicals would march. Now we’re seeing middle-american mainstream women (who in the past didn’t protest at all) coming out and protesting because they’re so outraged.” #Womensmarch #womensmarchlosangeles #womensmarchonlosangeles #womensmarch2018 #thefutureisfemale #feminism #equality #womenempowerment #timesup #equalpay #intersectionalfeminism #intersectionalfeminist #intersectionality #feministmovement #womensrights #socialjustice #equalityforall #activism #unity #immigrantrights #transrights #translivesmatter #transgenderpride #metoo #intoaction #yesallwomen #lgbtqrights #savedaca (at Women’s March LA Foundation)

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Women’s March, Los Angeles 2018 ANDRA- "I have been sexually harassed so much throughout my life and unfortunately, I think that's something that all of us here have experienced. I believe our government isn't accepting or helping us in any way whatsoever. I march to fix that." #Womensmarch #womensmarchlosangeles #womensmarchonlosangeles #womensmarch2018 #thefutureisfemale #feminism #equality #womenempowerment #timesup #equalpay #intersectionalfeminism #intersectionalfeminist #intersectionality #feministmovement #womensrights #socialjustice #equalityforall #activism #unity #immigrantrights #transrights #translivesmatter #transgenderpride #metoo #intoaction #yesallwomen #lgbtqrights #savedaca (at Women's March LA Foundation)

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Women’s March, Los Angeles 2018 SARAH- “This is a very important march to me. I’m so excited to be here, hand in hand with my sisters to stand together in solidarity and build our strength up against gaps in pay wages, sexual assault, and sexual abuse. I too am a survivor of sexual harassment, assault, and abuse, so something like that to me is very important. Justice needs to be called. The time is up for us to come together with amazing supportive men, unite, and take down the injustice that has come upon this world. (at Women’s March LA Foundation)

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This year at the 2018 Women’s March on Los Angeles, I met a number of amazing people. While I understand that this is widely covered event, I feel it’s important to show the little pieces that make up the big picture. The numbers and signs make the headlines, but we seldom get a closer look at the force behind those signs. Thank you to everyone who spoke with me today. I am so grateful to have photographed you all. SERENA- “I didn’t march last year because i felt it wasn’t intersectional enough. I felt like a lot of the people that come to this are not thinking about the further dimensions of where liberation and feminism really need to be. In removing myself from the conversation this last year and watching everything happen, I realized you can’t change the conversation if you’re not in it. You have to show up.”

(at Women’s March LA Foundation)

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Top Shot: The Hunt

Top Shot features the photo with the most votes from the previous day’s Daily Dozen, 12 photos chosen by the Your Shot editors from thousands of recent uploads. Our community votes for their favorite photo from the selection, and the Top Shot is showcased on the @natgeoyourshot Instagram account.

“What’s more exciting than watching one of the world’s most agile predators hunt right in front of your eyes?” asks Your Shot photographer Dana Cama. “After many failed attempts hunting impala, I watched this leopard settle for a squirrel snack. Stalking through the brush, chasing it under a log, distracting it with her tail…. success! I’m counting down the days until I can return to Botswana and witness a hunt like this again. I truly believe there’s no where in the world quite as wild.” Photograph by Dana Cama

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My work on National Geographic’s Editor’s Spotlight today! 🙊

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Sub-Saharan Africa is the home to the second heaviest land mammal in the world -the hippopotamus. Hippos spend up to 16 hours a day submerged in water to keep cool under the hot African sun. At sunset, they travel on land to graze. The hippo is responsible for more human fatalities in Africa than any other large animal. Despite their size, a hippo can out-run a human (reaching speeds up to 30 miles per hour). Hippos such as these have developed well known rituals to show their aggression. This large ‘yawn’ pictured does not mean that these guys are tired. This is one of the hippos' most aggressive behaviors- showing off their sizable teeth. Not only will they fight each other, but a hippo will charge anything it perceives as a threat. Just when it will charge is anyone's guess -- they are famously unpredictable. (at Okavango Delta)

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#THISISMYTROPHY To those who claim trophy hunting is vital to conservation funding, here's my question for you: Are wild animals worth more for conservation alive or dead? Wildlife-based eco-toursim not only provides jobs for the local economy, but promotes conservational education worldwide. Trophy hunting provides few jobs for locals, and only gives only a small percentage of it's revenue to local communities- the rest goes to foreign outfitters and corrupt national governments. Wildlife-based eco-tourism generates 13 to 15 times more revenue than trophy hunting. One animal may draw millions of tourists for safaris over the course of it’s lifetime, while hunting is a one time deal. Millions of revenue for conservation drawn from one animal's lifetime > a one time hunt fee, removing the animal out of the economy for longtime value. Countries like Zimbabwe and Zambia result to hunting to avoid conflict and create revenue in a broken political system. Conflict has forever existed in areas where wild animals live in close proximity to people – they can raid crops, kill livestock, etc. It's important that revenue from wildlife activities ultimately benefit the local people. Pushing eco-tourism can solve this problem as it has in neighboring countries that have eliminated hunting. So how do we as civilians help? Promote eco-tourism. Show the wealth of this country that a photograph is a far more respected trophy than a tusk. If you can afford it, book a trip to Africa. Support airlines that do not allow hunted game to fly. Tell the US interior that you do not support lifting the ban on trophy imports (visit @humanesociety or call your local representative). Donate to programs trying to push hunting out of Africa. If you would like more information on specifics, websites, people to contact, feel free to message me. #bantrophyhunting #savetheelephants (at Victoria Falls Zambia and Zimbabwe)

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Still in her 20's, Jocelyn has 5 other kids at home & one on the way. How she managed to even get to the clinic while taking care of that many kids is beyond me. Such an immense amount of super strong women here making me all kinds of inspired 💪🏻 (at Port-Salut)

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Learn from my mistakes. Don't make friends with the locals' dinner. 😭💔 (at Charlotte, Sud, Haiti)

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Finally managed to update my site from my most recent assignment in Port Salut for @evolutionhaiti. Link in bio 😬 Very excited to head out to Zimbabwe in a little over a week for my next project! (at Port-Salut)

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Greetings from Zimbabwe! While much of the team took some time to rest after two days of travel, I decided to wander around and make friends. Here's my lunch date. 😝 (at Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe)

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Brothers. Male lion siblings often stay together after being kicked out of their pride by resident dominant males. Starting at around 2-3 years old, they live nomadic lives until they've matured enough to compete for a territory of their own. (at Okavango Delta)