Ever think about all those amazing photographs that you get to see on covers of National Geographic magazine? There is a whole department set up to engineer that perfect shot. Kenji Yamaguchi is in charge of taking photography that one step forward to capture that never before done shot.

His work includes using robotic motors, modifying lenses to zoom in closer than standard, building contraptions which can be fitted on to animals without hurting them and a whole lot more. Kenji has used drones to get images of Chinese cliff faces, and crittercams to get the view from the perspective of a shark, a hyena and a housecat.

Kenji and his team of five engineers build and operate cameras that are used to document  National Geographic funded explorations around the world. They may not be the actual photographers in the field, but it is the efforts of this team that ensure that the images you see are from a fresh perspective.

Wouldn’t it be a fun science project to use a camera to capture an image like one you have never taken before? Maybe fix it to the collar of your pet or attach it to a ten foot pole to capture a bird’s nest in the tree. What would your never taken before photograph look like?