Haas pauses for a moment. He seems to be looking for a way to illustrate his point, and, luckily, there are illustrations all over the table. Haas grabs the German edition of his new book and points to a photo of a lone lioness charging a herd of buffalo, then says, of Haas Wheat & Partners, "We have no desire to be hunting like these animals here in the Okavango Delta."

HAAS ALSO HAS NO DESIRE to make money­ at anything other than the investment business. He's never accepted payment for any of his photo books, including this most recent one. All of his proceeds go to conservation in Africa - in 2002, the United Nations recognized him for his contributions to conservation by giving him the U.N. Environmental Programme award. And Haas has put up his own money to give away thousands of his books to school­children and others around the world. In part, Haas has kept his photography a not-for-profit venture because he wants his photos to spur interest in conserving Africa's vast natural beauty. But there's a good business reason for separating business from photos, too: One provides a good break from the other.

"I didn't go into this to make it a commercial enterprise," Haas says. "I'd been in the investment business for 25 years and I was looking to develop a skill set that had nothing to do with money. I decided that if I were to convey what I wanted to convey about Africa - its beauty, its diversity, its natural resources - there did not need to be a check at the end of that process for me. I don't want to engage the side of my brain that thinks in terms of profit and loss."

Still, that other side of Haas's brain is never­ far away. For one thing, setting up ae­rial photo shoots half a world away involves weeks of preparation. There are chopper pilots to hire and fuel that has to be purchased. Flyover rights have to be secured. Locations have to be properly scouted.­ Harnesses that keep Haas mostly inside the helicopters have to be tested. That kind of stuff. And even with all the preparation, things don't always go as planned.