Why do you do nature photography?

I'm curious about what motivates photographers to do nature photography, and as Christopher Guest

once said, "Remember, this is posterity, so... be honest." Also, how do you choose the subjects that you

do?

I like shooting wildlife for the simple reason that it's rewarding (not financially) to me and it's enjoyable. The subjects are chosen simply by what's available.

Because the cricket and equestrian seasons are over.

 

That's a glib answer but in truth, when I'm not shooting the sports I love to follow, I find nature a very pleasing diversion.

 

P

Nature is universally available.

It allows one to see the best wonders nature has to offer, and in most cases, the real thing is far better than what your camera can capture.

The short answer is I tried painting and never was very good at it (besides Salamanders never seem to wait around long enough to get themselves painted).

 

Personally I'm a naturalist first and was first doing it to document the natural history I encountered. I came to appreciate the artistic side of photography first through the works of the many masters of nature photography and later in my own hands as I developed the skill and eye of an artist. It's been an incredible journey for me traveling through that small glass window on the back of my camera. Hope my weakening eyes let me continue it for a while longer.

Because it's there?

Nature photography gives me an appreciation for the world that we live in. It takes me to places for extended periods of time, and an opportunity to see and experience things we sometimes take for granted. It provides me with some wonderful memories and photographs that I can share with others.

It motivates me to get off my lazy a$$ and get out of the house instead of watching TV and playing on the PC.

I love being outside. I love hiking through the woods, I love looking at flowers, I love watching animals run around. I photograph those things that I love so that when I look at them days, years, decades later it takes me back to the feelings I had at the time.

I'm with Douglas, as a professional naturalist I need to document what I see so I can share it with my clients (mostly schools and vacationers to Rocky Mountain National Park). Within the last two years I go out looking for different shots. Sometimes I want to document what I see, and other times I look for art. Even though my shots don't end up on walls or on paper I sell my photography nearly every weekend.

 

On a personal note its just plain fun, the only time I get giddy for landscape is during perfect morning light, but when there is a bird, or mammal in the viewfinder its like a legal high every single time. And in the long run 10k in gear is probably cheaper than a crack addiction.

Nature photography is a hobby. I have dreams of making it my third career if I had the wherewithall to visit the Serengeti and similar destinations at least once a year. As busy and as consumed as I am in my second career, I would have missed countless daily "little wonders" of the world that surrounds us if nature photography were not a hobby.

From my biography on this site: "I prefer landscapes. There are two reasons for my choice

of subject matter. I grew up in a family in which alcohol and the unpredictability that it

produced was a constant theme. In contrast, I find landscapes to be solid, stable, and

predicatable, even when they express their potentially violent aspects during the seasons.

Another reason is that I had cancer 32 years ago, and that experience did away with any

sense of complacency about life that I may have had. The silver lining to five years of

radiation and chemotherapy is that it is impossible for me to take the beauty of the natural

world for granted. Trying to capture the essence of a natural place through photography

only enhances the experience of being there. There's nothing else that I'd rather be

doing."

Nothing in the natural world ever tried to punch me in the nose or smash my camera after I took its picture.

Because I am constantly out there anyways. Having a camera is an added bonus. Toss in the danger of bears, nasty weather, uncertain terrain, the excitement/aprehension/thrill of not knowing what may be around the next corner, and stir in a mix of solitude blended with capturing images no one else can ever reproduce pretty much does it for me.

 

Or the simple "I like it" fits the bill too.

As a newcomer to photography, I find nature photography more rewarding and helpful for improving my skills.

 

It doesn't get bored with me constantly taking shot after shot tweaking a different setting each time. It never whines "Can we go home now, I'm cold". There's plenty to chose from either on the doorstep, or deep in the remote valleys.

 

And, if I get home and I don't like the shots I have, I can always go back the same spot and it'll still be there.

Be it landscapes or wildlife, nature subjects are beautiful to look at and enjoyable to capture on images.

 

I appreciate it more than ever now after recently seeing a presentation (as part of a series of "fine art photography" sessions), of a known photographer who specializes in photographing dead human bodies, naked or otherwise, arranged in a variety of forms. I am so glad I have no interest in photographing dead bodies! :)

 

Mary

no 2 landscapes are ever the same.

always a different light, always different conditions... whether it's a new or an old place. That's what i love about nature and landscape photography.

 

please take a look at my mini-gallery of landscapes.

http://www.photo.net/photos/NetMaster

http://picasaweb.google.com/vtabrizi

 

 

 

Thanks

...no 2 landscapes are ever the same.

always a different light, always different conditions... whether it's a new or an old place. That's what i love about nature and landscape photography.

 

please take a look at my mini-gallery of landscapes.

http://www.photo.net/photos/NetMaster

http://picasaweb.google.com/vtabrizi

 

 

 

Thanks

I agree with much of what has already been said. I do nature photography because I enjoy being out in nature and try to do my best to capture what I see on film. To be out hiking and taking pictures is a real stress relief for me.

For me, the enjoyment of nature comes first. Just walking in the mountains and enjoying my surroundings is everything. Occasionally I will carry a camera. If I carry a camera but do not get a single picture, it will not matter as I will have enjoyed just walking, observing, and listening. As much as I do enjoy nature photography, I think it is important to make sure hauling a lot of equipment does not interfere with that enjoyment.

 

A photographer without a strong interest in nature, may look for subjects, but never really see, hear, or fell what is around him. It takes time to settle in and fell you are a part of nature. Can you go to the Grand Canyon, walk to the edge, and snap a few photos and fell part of it. No, certainly not. To that person it may appear to be just a hole in the ground. They may be standing there, observing, but they are still isolated from the environment. Spend a few day, weeks, or visit over many years and surely it will appear as more than merely a hole in the ground.

 

The top nature photographers are accomplished naturalist, knowing their subjects very well. You have to let yourself become part of the environment, not isolate yourself from it. Art Wolfe was a naturalist before he took up photography. Need I say more on his accomplishments?

 

But I do wonder why you ask this interesting question. Some people would not enjoy being out a few miles from the nearest person. I love the thought! But I would be out of my element and circle of comfort doing wedding photography. Everyone is different.

Yo, Justin:

 

The correct line is "And remember, this is FOR posterity, so PLEASE..., be honest."

 

Simple answer, grand landscapes, because they make me feel connected to something larger than myself.

 

Cheers,

 

Gary.

Mostly for the beauty of it - both for myself and so I can share it with others. It reminds me that I'm part of something larger that's worth some effort. I try to capture emotion with a lot of my photos: awe, mystery, serenity, wonder, joy... Emotion draws people in to enjoying nature with you.

Yo, Justin:

 

"The correct line is "And remember, this is FOR posterity, so PLEASE..., be honest."

- Gary Crabbe

 

Yeah Gary, I know. I noticed my omission shortly after I posted. If I could have edited I

would have. By the way, be honest, you pulled out the DVD to check the exact wording,

didn't you? :)

 

All my best,

 

Justin

To me, nature photography is a communion of sorts, or perhaps it is like dancing. To this

vast world of Reality I bring my own world of imagination, and together we seek what we can

find. It is not a search for what I SEE out there but a search for what that "seeing" hides

behind it. The trick for me, is to try to photograph that which really can't be seen, like

"spring morning", or "end of summer", and so on . John