While most teenagers spend their time glued to screens, 17-year-old Denat Lahi dedicates his nights and early mornings to tracking foxes and pine martens in the Swedish wilderness. This young photographer from Lund, Sweden, has already established himself as a rising talent in wildlife photography, combining technical precision with artistic vision in a field that demands exceptional patience and passion.

Born and raised in Lund with Albanian heritage, Lahi began his wildlife photography journey in 2023 and has since committed himself to documenting the secret lives of mammals in his region. "Wildlife photography became the reason to be outside, and only then did I realize everything that was out there – a whole world of wonders I might never have discovered otherwise," he reflects on his transformative experience with nature.

Lahi's path into photography didn't begin with a childhood love of nature, but rather through curiosity sparked by YouTube videos. Inspired by the work of photographer Duade Paton, he purchased his first DSLR camera and telephoto lens, initially practicing on neighborhood birds. What distinguishes him from other young photographers is his solid foundation: four years of experience in visual effects and image compositing, plus two years as a 3D artist. This background in light, composition, and visual storytelling gave him a significant advantage when he shifted his focus to wildlife photography.

Today, Lahi concentrates primarily on mammals, finding them more emotionally expressive than other subjects. "Mammals can express a wide range of emotions, which sets them apart from birds," he explains. He particularly enjoys capturing images that reveal animal behaviors and family bonds, demonstrating how foxes and pine martens can display emotions similar to human families.

Rather than settling for simple wildlife portraits, Lahi works to create images that tell compelling stories. He employs wide-angle compositions and carefully selected environments to place animals within a broader context. His editing approach remains minimal, limited to basic exposure and color adjustments. "The more you do to a nature image after a certain point, the worse and more unnatural it gets," he states. For Lahi, the real artistry occurs during field preparation rather than post-processing.

Behind Lahi's captivating images lies a meticulous and scientific methodology. His ongoing project documenting pine martens, among Sweden's most elusive mammals, has driven him to develop advanced techniques in nighttime camera trapping and motion-sensing technology. He invests weeks mapping animal territories, photographing scat, and cross-referencing local wildlife databases to identify optimal shooting locations. "I have over 400 photos of scat on my phone, and each droppings spot is carefully added to maps where I build up their territories on my computer," he jokes about his thorough research process.

This dedication has produced remarkable results, with images revealing rare behaviors and intimate moments of typically shy animals. However, the technical challenges prove as demanding as the animals are secretive. From sensors misfiring thousands of times daily to domestic cats triggering camera traps, Lahi has solved numerous problems through persistence and creativity. He rewrote his camera system using Python programming, experimented with various lighting setups, and even embraced local cats as practice subjects for refining his techniques.

For Lahi, the greatest rewards come not from quantity but from those rare moments when all elements align perfectly. He recalls with particular pride a golden-hour photograph of a fox mother nursing her kits, captured after months of patient tracking. "It was one of those rare moments where everything – timing, behavior, and light – came together perfectly after a lot of hard work," he says. This intimate, unguarded image remains one of his most emotionally significant achievements.

Currently balancing his academic studies in natural science with his growing photography career, Lahi maintains ambitious goals for the future. He hopes to produce a comprehensive book documenting pine martens in Lund Municipality and aspires to capture dream shots that push boundaries of what has been previously documented: pine martens leaping through forests at dusk, climbing moss-covered trees, or silhouetted against star-filled skies.

"Knowing that all the early mornings, all the countless hours of research, and all the hassle of fixing equipment have yielded an amazing and timeless image that I will carry with me my entire life is the most rewarding part of the process," Lahi explains about what drives his dedication to wildlife photography.

Through his work, Denat Lahi aims to accomplish more than showcasing technical skill – he wants to transform how people perceive wildlife by revealing that animals living quietly around us possess genuine emotions, love, and distinct personalities. "I want my viewers to feel that these animals have emotions and, albeit rare, still live around us, and we must protect them before they disappear entirely," he emphasizes.

What makes Lahi's story particularly inspiring extends beyond the images themselves to his approach to photography with curiosity, creativity, and discipline far beyond his years. At just 17, he already demonstrates how perseverance and imagination can illuminate previously unseen worlds. His journey has only begun, yet his work displays the depth and promise of a photographer destined to leave a lasting impact on wildlife imagery.

In an era when many young people are distancing themselves from natural world knowledge in favor of technology, Lahi has chosen a different path. He embraces the wilderness, invests his energy in understanding his wildlife subjects' lives, and reminds us all of the profound beauty that still exists just beyond our doorsteps.