Check out the great multi-media story the NANPA College scholarship winners produced during the Summit in McAllen. A talented bunch!
Reconnecting the Rio Grande Valley from NANPA on Vimeo.
Shoot. Learn. Network. Collaborate.
McAllen, Texas is one of the most wildlife-rich locations in the United States, where diverse habitats support more than 500 species of birds, 139 species of reptiles and 159 species of mammals. At the Nature Photography Summit, you will be inspired by presentations by Pulitzer Prize winning photographer Jack Dykinga, award winning conservation photographer Daniel Beltra, underwater photography guru Michele Westmorland and others. You will also have the opportunity to learn digital darkroom skills from Adobe's senior digital imaging evangelist, Julieanne Kost, DSLR multi-media storytelling from 2010 Nautilus Book Award recipient Ian Shive, and a host of other skills that include social media marketing for nature photographers, songbird photography, and how to get your first book published.
Throw in portfolio reviews with leading image professionals, and workshops and field trips to local photography hot spots, and the 2011 Nature Photography Summit promises to be an energetic festival offering nature photographers the opportunity to make great photos while learning new skills and rubbing shoulders with top-notch professional photographers and image buyers from across the country.
Video by NANPA High School Scholarship Winners.
North American Nature Photography Association’s 2011 High School Scholarship Program from NANPA on Vimeo.
Here’s the video created by NANPA’s 2011 high school scholarship winners and produced during the Summit in McAllen.
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McAllen Summit Wrap-Up
NANPA President Susan Day addresses the McAllen Summit.
I just got home from our McAllen Summit, and as usual I return home with a renewed sense of photographic energy (though I’m down a few hours sleep!) The keynotes were inspiring and the breakout sessions educating, but I feel like I learned about a million things from the dozens of casual conversations I had with some of the several hundred other NANPA members in attendance.The networking aspect of NANPA Summits has always been worth the price of admission for me.
Thankfully, I don’t have to write a complete wrap-up here, as NANPA board member Charlie Borland has penned an excellent summary on his blog, pronaturephotographer.com. I highly recommend you check it out.
Come Visit Four Photography Ranches Wednesday Afternoon
For those of you who will be in McAllen on Wednesday afternoon, please come visit some of the local ranches that attract native flora and fauna and cater to photographers. Enjoy a drive in the south Texas countryside, meet the owners of the ranches and check out their facilities.
All the ranches are within an hour’s drive of McAllen and each other, so please consider visiting more than just one.
Possible Routes to Multiple Ranches
Dos Venadas, Campos Viejos and Santa Clara are all within 15-20 minutes of each other. The Javelina is about 40 minutes east of them and Tacubaya is about 30-40 minutes north of them. It would be very easy to see Santa Clara, Dos Venadas and Campos Viejos within 2-3 hours and also see one of the other two ranches on the way to or from.
Those visiting The Javelina first could loop northwest to Santa Clara. From there it is 20 minutes to Dos Venadas/Campos Viejos. From Dos Venadas it is another 30-40 minutes to Tacubaya. This would be an enjoyable afternoon loop and leave you within an hour of McAllen.
CARPOOL and SIGN UP INFO
There is no charge to visit the ranches as part of the open house, but we would like to give the owners a idea of how many people to expect, so please sign up for any ranch you expect to visit. If you have not signed up or would like to add ranches, please send an email to info@nanpa.org and let us know your intentions. Do you need a ride? Please let us know. Can you give someone a ride? Let us know that too. The registration table at the convention center is a good meeting place and will have a clipboard with a carpool list and driving directions.
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Do your homework
Jaguars had been spotted at Marismas Nacionales Biosphere Reserve © Jaime Rojo/WWF
Some species are hard to photograph in the wild. Predators are among those, as most of thema are nocturnal and very elusive, so it is very unlikely to run into, lets say, a jaguar and take a picture of it. Nowadays, photographers have tools that make the challenge of documenting elusive wild animals “a little bit” easier. Camera traps, for example, have allowed many scientists and photographers to get valuable records of these elusive animals in the wild.
But there is something far more important than technology. Research our subject and working area before any field trip is one of the best strategies to be successful in an assignment. Working with local advisors —scientists, protected area officers, ranchers— can give us very valuable information for a photographer. They are essential partners for any conservation story that you want to photograph. Read More
Get creative this winter!
Too often we wait for epic conditions to share the beauty of our world. Perhaps this winter you’re waiting for the snow to fall before shooting a bare patch of woods near your house. The cold quiet experience of winter in the forest is unique, but without snow or ice it can be a serious challenge to convey.
Rather than waiting indoors sipping hot cocoa and waxing your skis, you might venture out to shoot vertical blurs as I have done here in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. This technique is beneficial in communicating the emotion you feel when the leaves have dropped, spring has not yet come, and snow is nowhere to be found. There is a stunning blue beauty to be discovered in the forest.
Worth the Wait…Photo tips from Summit presenter Raymond Klass
Hovenweep Castle, Hovenweep National Monument, Utah, USA. (c) Raymond Klass
All too often, I see photographers packing up their equipment while there’s still ample light to create images. Though I suppose I’ll never know the true reason, it isn’t too far fetched to believe that these photographers pack up because they’ve think they’ve gotten “the shot” – and maybe they have, but perhaps there’s something better on its way… The point is that you’ll never know if you and your camera leave the location prematurely.
I had a serendipitous experience while shooting in the remote Hovenweep National Monument, located on the Utah and Colorado border, not terribly far from Mesa Verde. I had set up camp in the nearby park service campground, and decided to head out in the late afternoon for some golden light on the ancient ruins.
My evening began like many others – with some nice rays illuminating the ancient stone structures. As I worked the scene from various angles, I noticed an approaching storm on the horizon. It was decision time – should I wait and see what develops, or pack up my equipment and return to camp? I decided that since the storm seemed a long way off, I would wait a few minutes and leave before I was in any real danger from mesa-top lightning bolts. Read More
Merging images – landscape photo tip from Summit presenter Jay Goodrich.
Utah skyscape, (c) Jay Goodrich
On a recent trip to the desert southwest of Utah I photographed an amazing sunrise as a winter storm front approached my location. For landscape photographs such as this one, I prefer to use a graduated neutral density filter in the field to balance out my scene’s High Dynamic Range, but the composition that I selected for this particular moment did not allow me to follow this practice for two reasons. One, my horizon line was very erratic and jagged, which would have made the filter’s delineating line visible along the top of lower peak. Second, I decided to use my new Vari-ND filter from Singh-Ray to slow my shutter speed drastically, which blurred the clouds in the sky to give them a more dramatic look as they drifted across my composition. This filter had my shutter speed so slow that my standard practice of hand holding the grad ND filter still in front of my lens, for the prescribed amount of time, would have been next to impossible.
So with the given parameters how would you accomplish the above image? Simple, take two exposures, one for the sky and one for the foreground then merge the two in Photoshop CS5 to yield the desired results. Read More
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NANPA HomepageInvitation From NANPA's President
The Rio Grande Valley in South Texas is one of the best places in the country for nature photographers! Home of the prestigious Valley Land Fund and Images for Conservation Fund photo competitions, this area offers a variety of birds, butterflies and other insects, mammals and flora. Our hosts in McAllen are known for their Texas-sized hospitality and they've helped us put together a Summit that promises to be our best ever.
The Summit Committee has outdone itself in developing an exciting program. We've brought back field trips a perfect fit with the ranches (complete with photo blinds), World Birding Center sites, state parks, wildlife refuges and nature centers all within a few miles of McAllen. Our outstanding keynote, workshop and breakout speaker lineup reads like a who's who in the nature photography community. These speakers will bring you the latest updates in Photoshop CS5, DSLR videography, getting your first book published, social media for photographers, an ethics panel discussion and much more.
This year, there is no single designated conference hotel, but four of them! NANPA has negotiated special rates at four hotels close to the convention center, two within walking distance. The McAllen Convention and Visitors Bureau is sponsoring shuttle bus service between the hotels and convention center as well. Don't be left out! See how much the Summit can assist and inspire your photography. Join me in McAllen in March at NANPA's 17th Nature Photography Summit and Trade Show!
Susan Day, NANPA President