Ready for their close-ups: The amazing wildlife photographs taken INSIDE A STUDIO

By SIMON TOMLINSON

Does this colour suit me? A veiled chameleon, Chamaeleo calyptratus, poses for Joel Satore's camera

From a naked mole to a chameleon, a lemur to an elephant, these stunning portraits capture the individual beauty of animals great and small.
Each pictured against a black or white background in a studio, these are just a handful of the world's rarest and most stunning species photographed by Joel Satore.
The photographer, from Nebraska, U.S, aims to highlight their importance and encourage people to pay closer attention to endangered species.

Unforgettable picture: A female African elephant shows off her flexible trunk during the studio shoot

Some of the images feature the world's most threatened animals, including the armadillo and the Delhi Sands flower-loving fly.
Joel, 49, said: 'Photographing the animals in the wild would have done them a great dis-service. Some of the animals were so small they wouldn't have been able to see them.
'By having them pictured on black and white backgrounds, means each animal is given equal consideration.
'The studio shot can make a grizzly bear look the same size as an owl and a polar bear the same size as a snail, it gives each animal equal weight and equal importance.'

Toothy grin: A naked mole, warts and all, flashes his unique style of smile for the camera

Saying cheese: This picture shows incredible detail inside a hippo's terrifyingly huge mouth

But Joel said photographing the animals was no easy feat, some like the grizzly bear were too dangerous to photograph at close range.
Others such as the St Andrew Beach Mouse barely stayed still long enough for him to take the shot.
And others such as the Delhi Sands Flower-Loving Fly were so endangered he had to have permission from the US government, to photograph.
'Some of the animals were exceedingly hard to photograph, a turtle is easy as it doesn't move too quickly but mice run around like crazy and I needed to wait patiently for them to stand still for a second, so I can get the image in focus.

Eyes on the lens: A waxy monkey frog, Phyllomedusa sauvagii, strikes an unusual stance

Lovely fur-tograph: A black lemur has one to be proud of. Joel said some animals were very difficult to snap

He added: 'But by far the hardest animal to photograph was the Delhi Sands fly. This fly lives underground for years and comes above ground for just two days in California.
'To get a picture of this fly we had to get special permission from the US government to catch just one fly.
'We had to work with a fly handler and anaestise the fly with gas. It was unconscious for two seconds, so we set the picture up and take photos as soon as it came round.

Cheeky monkey! A captive five-month-old mandrill pokes its tongue out

Model subject: A spectacled owl keeps remarkably still for the camera, unlike some animals

Joel has recently released a book in the US called Rare, which features his portraits of America's most endangered species.
He vows to continue to take studio shots of animals worldwide, paying close attention to the thousands of endangered species worldwide in the hope it will help save some of those from extinction.
He added: 'A lot of species are dying out but there is hope for almost everything but if people don't step up to the plate we will lose these animals for good.
'But people won't try to save animals if they don't know they exist.

source: dailymail