The life of a nature photographer, photographic reflections from Charlottesville, a review of the Panasonic GH5… read about all this and more in our weekly roundup of photography news.

1. Face to face with polar bears

Photographing wild animals is often a challenging and scary process for nature photographers, but most of them wouldn’t trade it for any other job. Wild nature photographer Joshua Holko, along with filmmaker Abraham Joffe and cinematographer Dom West, recently put together a video to give us a feel of what it’s like to be photographing wild animals face to face. Watch the full video below.

Source: FStoppers

2. Photographic reflections of Charlottesville

Photographer Ruddy Roye headed to Charlottesville to document the scheduled protests against the removal of a Confederate statue from a state park. What he didn’t expect was to encounter a devastating conflict resulting in one death and several injured. After the fact, he decided to document the stories of individuals present in the conflict. Check out a few of the photos below.

Source: Time Magazine

3. Reviewing the Panasonic GH5

The Panasonic mirrorless series has attracted both photographers and filmmakers with its impressive features. The brand’s most recent launch, the GH5, has a series of upgrades from its predecessor GH4, such as the new focusing system and the ability to record 4k video at 60p. Read the full review on PDN.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH5 by Sanda  Stanca on 500px.com

Source: PDN

4. Photographing the search for friendship

Photographer Peter Garritano’s photo series “Seeking” was inspired by hundreds of Craigslist posts of people looking to make friends in the city. Peter decided to follow up on the posts to hear the stories behind the posts’ authors and photograph them.

Source: Resource Magazine

5. Top photos from 500px Class Quest “Mastering the Art of Composition”

Ian Plant’s recent 500px Class, “Visual Flow: Mastering the Art of Composition,” challenged photographers to think beyond the rule of thirds by identifying design elements like shapes, leading lines, foreground, and negative space to create dynamic compositions. After the class, photographers were invited to share their photos in the class Quest. Check out some of Ian Plant’s favorite submissions below and see the full list here.

South Stack by Mariusz Talarek on 500px.com

Sewing Fishing Net by Sharon Wan on 500px.com

Source: ISO

Highlights from Editor’s Choice

Soaked In Darkness by Adeolu Osibodu on 500px.com

Albania - Hotel Liro bar by Bergina Leka on 500px.com

SamAlive by Sam Alive on 500px.com

hourse dish by Ali Al-Jazeri on 500px.com

Pavli by Tuncay on 500px.com

Untitled by Tobias Kruse on 500px.com