WAnd I think to myself, what a wonderful world. Every time I hear those words sung by the late Louis Armstrong I can’t help but think about how amazing nature is.

As a nature and wildlife filmmaker, I am so fortunate that I get to document this wonderful world and share it with others. My hope is that people will fall in love with the natural world and be encouraged to protect it.

My journey in life up to this point has helped shape not only who I am but enabled me to see other parts of the world at a young age.

Growing up a military brat, I moved about every three years. Mainly here in the US, Illinois, North Carolina, Michigan, Washington, D.C.. We were also stationed in Iwakuni, Japan and travelled to Korea as well.

While I always had a love for nature and wildlife, it was living in Japan for three years that helped shape what I felt in my heart into something tangible that you can see.

In Japan, everything is an art form. I learned a lot about lines and form while living there. I think it really helped me develop my style.

Being a military brat, that planted the seed to travel. I’ve watched the sun rise on top of Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park and watched it set on Waikiki Beach in Hawaii. I’ve tested cameras for Panasonic in Africa and taught HD cinematography in Hawaii.

I’ve seen grizzly bears walk out of the fog in Yellowstone National Park and fireflies dance across the tallgrass prairie in Iowa. I’ve been amazed and humbled by it all.

One thing I’ve learned and I hope you take this and run with it… It’s a wonderful world where you are right now!

You don’t have to be in Alaska or Africa to film amazing nature and wildlife, you have it right in your backyard. Even in cities like New York, there is amazing nature to be filmed. If you can make that transition that amazing nature doesn’t have to be something on a grand scale, you open up a HUGE wonderful world that you would never have imagined!

So get out there and start filming YOUR wonderful world!

And as always, shoot the ordinary and make it extraordinary!

Kevin J Railsback is a wildlife and nature filmmaker