Living In The Land

We all live on the planet Earth but do we all live in the land? I have written many times that as a nature lover and one time nature photographer I am drawn to all of the subjects our planet provides. I have made more wildlife images than anything and exploring nature on your hands and knees to locate macro subjects is the greatest teacher you will find. Still everything begins with the land. All of those wildlife and macro subjects reside on (or In) the land or the plants who’s roots are embedded in the land. I think you can love wild animals but show no respect for the land. I have never known anyone who truly respects the land who did not respect what lives there.

I have always believed that anyone who calls themselves a photographer enjoys photographing anything that they find visually stimulating. We all have preferences or professional priorities. Obviously mine (like your’s ?) has been nature. Still I have turned the camera to other subjects when my trigger was tripped. Photographing subjects that are not your specialty can in fact help you become a better photographer. You will look at the whole image in graphic terms instead of only the central subject. At least it has worked that way for me over these many years. While I am a lifetime lover and explorer of nature I was a photographer of other subjects before I chose nature as my 98% subject. In other words I was already a visually driven photographer of many subjects when I chose my first love nature, as my primary subject. Those who are involved in nature and decide to record what they see have a very different way of looking at what photography is. Neither is better than the other but I do think those that start with a passion for the visual arts become better nature photographers as long as they have an equal passion for nature subjects, which will then lead them to tell the story of nature through their camera.

Colorado 2007