These elephants were photographed near a field station in the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. "You will see good motifs if you just keep your eyes open," Olsen says. Photo: Per Harald Olsen, NTNU

From a trip to Bjørnøya, an island north of northernmost Norway. Anders G. Finstad is on the left, while Per Harald Olsen is on the right. Photo: Ole Kristian Berg

These walrus bones date from the time when it was a good time to be a walrus hunter, and a really bad time to be a walrus. Photo: Per Harald Olsen, NTNU

It is not always fun to be a scientist. Here Professor Ole Kristian Berg is working in one of the many rivers he surveyed in Finnmark, Norway's northernmost county. But to get the best shot, the photographer has to stand in the river with him. Photo: Per Harald Olsen, NTNU

Professor Bjørn Munro Jenssen holds a seal baby while its mother looks on. This is from a trip to the Baltic Sea, off Estonia. Photo: Per Harald Olsen, NTNU

A seal hunter on Lake Baikal in Siberia, on his way out onto the ice to work. You have to be where the action is, Olsen says. Photo: Per Harald Olsen, NTNU

The goal of this particular trip was for NTNU researchers to travel to Sri Lanka to study elephants. But the security measures in Colombo, the capital, also made an impression. Photo: Per Harald Olsen, NTNU

Some of Olsen's pictures are taken in extremely challenging conditions. Here from an expedition to Antarctica, where Olsen spent three months taking photographs. Photo: Per Harald Olsen, NTNU

This picture from the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard shows researcher Odd Gulseth in action as he studies arctic char. "I lost 8 kilos on this trip," Olsen says. Photo: Per Harald Olsen, NTNU

This snow bunting struck the photographer during one of his many trips to Svalbard. But he has also been involved in NTNU projects in both Sylane and Dovre to document research on this particular species. Photo: Per Harald Olsen, NTNU

This picture of a deer herd is a bonus from a trip to Scotland. The actual goal of the trip was to work with salmon research, but no self-respecting photographer would say no to an opportunity to take a picture like this. Photo: Per Harald Olsen, NTNU

During a break from doing science in Bulgaria. Shown here are NTNU researchers Arne Moksnes, Eivin Røskaft and Bård Gunnar Stokke. Photo: Per Harald Olsen, NTNU

This marsh warbler with a cuckoo chick was photographed in Bulgaria, where researchers from NTNU were searching for bird nests in connection with a project on cuckoos and nest parasitism. Photo: Per Harald Olsen, NTNU

Langurs in Bangladesh. They're cute, but that doesn't mean there aren't conflicts when people and animals get too close to each other. Photo: Per Harald Olsen, NTNU

This is one of two images in this set that Per Harald Olsen did not take himself. He handed a camera to a spectator in Bangladesh, during a project where researchers were studying conflicts between wild animals and humans, in this case langurs, a type of monkey that is shown in a subsequent picture. Photo: NTNU

Another photo from Bangladesh, here on the border of Myanmar, where it was necessary to have bodyguards. Photo: Per Harald Olsen, NTNU

These two dogs in Bangladesh are a part of the rubbish handling system. Wild domestic dogs wander the streets and look for food in the things that people have thrown away. Photo: Per Harald Olsen, NTNU

This young woman is from Bangladesh. She never came very close, but was intensely curious about the work the researchers were doing. Per Harald Olsen fired off a shot with his camera at exactly the right moment and captured her gaze. Photo: Per Harald Olsen, NTNU

Taking good photographs is also about seeing things up close. This arctic violet (Pulsatilla vernalis), is a beautiful alpine plant that in earlier days was used as a medicinal plant. It flowers in the Dovre mountains for just a few days in the middle of May, so you have to be there when it happens if you want to capture the moment. Olsen takes many close-up photos. Photo: Per Harald Olsen, NTNU

"It's not really that hard to take photographs. You just have to be in the right place," Olsen says, quoting a photographer from National Geographic. And to some extent, he's right. NTNU researchers have studied brown bears for many years, but the honest truth about this photograph is that Olsen took it on a private trip the the border area between Finland and Russia. Photo: Per Harald Olsen

NTNU researchers study sea eagles, partly because of their vulnerability to wind turbines. This particular bird was photographed in Flatanger, a place where there are no wind turbines, however. Photo: Per Harald Olsen

Look for scenes, even in your own back yard. This mallard duck was photographed in the Nidelva River in Trondheim, within walking distance of Olsen's own home. Photo: Per Harald Olsen, NTNU

Get up early if you must. Here, a sunrise in Serengeti National Park. Photo: Per Harald Olsen, NTNU

Most people are interesting to photograph. These schoolchildren in Tanzania were doing their schoolwork in the sand. Photo: Per Harald Olsen, NTNU

A photo taken at the right moment can say a lot about a place and its people. This Masai boy was photographed by Olsen during one of the photographer's trips to Tanzania. Photo: Per Harald Olsen, NTNU

Wild dogs were once numerous, but because of conflicts with humans, their populations have dropped dramatically. These animals were photographed in Tanzania, not far from the Ngorongoro crater. Photo: Per Harald Olsen, NTNU

"During my last trip to Tanzania I took 7000 pictures," Olsen says. "Most were taken out of a car window and were nothing to write home about. But this one managed to capture a little bit of daily life there."Photo: Per Harald Olsen, NTNU