A Good Read on Some Thoughts on Nature Photographers

[GilbertGoh]

Not only the rubbish is disgusting. Already two times that I have been to Punggol waiting for the sunset and a horde of photographers literally invaded the area: making a hell of noise, radio / hp music, plastic bottle and bags flying around. Best of all: putting up their gear right in front of me and another photog sitting there, thus blocking the view to sunset, completely unaware of other people who obviously want to take the same scenery. How can people be so blind but have a hobby that needs eyes?
"Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but foot prints." - In between make yourself invisible.

i feel your pain now i look for very out of way places to shoot. i join outting to guild and share if i can

 

[night86mare]

Not only the rubbish is disgusting. Already two times that I have been to Punggol waiting for the sunset and a horde of photographers literally invaded the area: making a hell of noise, radio / hp music, plastic bottle and bags flying around. Best of all: putting up their gear right in front of me and another photog sitting there, thus blocking the view to sunset, completely unaware of other people who obviously want to take the same scenery. How can people be so blind but have a hobby that needs eyes?
"Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but foot prints." - In between make yourself invisible.

to be fair, i think i end up in a lot of people's photographs

because i think everyone scared of the sea, no one ever goes to the water edge. and i like simple compositions. so i boh pian.. but i do try to move around so that i don't end up being in every picture.

 

[chngpe01]

Discussions to create awareness here are most welcome.

Please try not to point any blame on any particular segment as this is not the purpose of this thread.

I sincerely hope that we can do our part in education and creating awareness for the sake of nature and our future generations.

 

[Octarine]

Discussions to create awareness here are most welcome.
Please try not to point any blame on any particular segment as this is not the purpose of this thread.

It's not blaming but without identifying the root cause it's difficult to determine the cure and many efforts will be wasted. What is the root cause of such behaviour? Is it a global thing or just a local flavour? Is it education? From the latest PISA tests one could conclude that Singaporeans should have a similar awareness as some leading industry countries but reality looks different. Let's discuss the root cause here.

I sincerely hope that we can do our part in education and creating awareness for the sake of nature and our future generations.

That requires more than just posting the latest owl shots here. If just plainly posted here these pictures will only fuel the urge of "Oso want, where got?" and the crowd will storm the parks at night.
Pictures could have a write-up about the animal and additional information, e.g. whether it is common, rare or close to extinction. Together with information about habitat and behaviour it will raise awareness. But still, this is just passively sitting there with the camera.
Next week NPark will order cutting down the trees where the owl was spotted...

 

[Morphis]

Discussions to create awareness here are most welcome.

Please try not to point any blame on any particular segment as this is not the purpose of this thread.

I sincerely hope that we can do our part in education and creating awareness for the sake of nature and our future generations.

Thanks for ya heads up on the article. Good job!!!
I see those who have commented in the article have also participated in the shooting.
Especially ppl like m...., b....., k...... shoot & post soo much but no balls to hold responsiblity.
:thumbsd:

 

[FireHouse]

Firehouse: can i know why are you so offended? did you do something? how offen do you bird?

Please know that Deswitch is not blaming "newbies" for the events. We are all still newbies. there are groups out there that do the right thing and some the other.

Please do not change the topic of blaming who, but to bring awarences and stop what is going on and hope our childrens get to see what we have seen.

Deswitch: we do what is within our power and enjoy the nature.
we can educate and share, but EVERYONE has a duty to THINK BEFORE YOU ACT.

shoot more nice birds. this year is a good year.

Gilbert, this is a discussion and I think forum members are free to express their opinions. I did not find Deswitch thread as offensive and thus why should I be offended. I merely stated what Deswitch stated as his observation (please read his thread re his observation) and it was bias towards newbies. If for all intend and purpose this posting to meant to highlight the poor etiquette of photographers in the field just mention the wrong doings or acts. Why narrow it down to newbies.
I certainly did not change the topic here. I am all for creating awareness and hoping to see less of this poor etiquette in the field. Like Octarine says "what is the root cause of such behaviour"? Is this really a newbie thing?
As for your 1st question, if there is any relevance to it, I am new to nature photography and I am guided by commonsense and rational whenever I have the opportunity to go into the field. Yes, I did something....I refuse to break NPark rules or modify enviroment to get my perfect picture.
Cheers

 

[eng60232]

Dear All

I am a newbie who is not into birding.. I was initially very impressed with 2 experienced birders from the knowledge they shared when we chatted at CG last year...
But after seeing their actions and some lies in their thread when asked about the Pitta shooting I have totally lost all respect of them...

All I can say is some of these people are blinded by their hobby and trying to take nice pictures at "all cost" just to show off on clubsnap... I just hope newbies do not learn these bad habits... But that doesn't mean newbies are angels..

Me as a newbie will also admit that I have ventured off board walks in bid to get a better angle for shots... but from now, I will stop doing that...

Lets hope that everybody just does his or her small good deed and co-exists with nature.. Lets not get angry with who said what in this thread, since you have taken the effort to come into this thread to read the article, learn from it. That would be the best take away...

Thanks TS for putting up such a good article :thumbsup:

 

[chngpe01]

IMO:

Good or bad... right or wrong... not sure who is to judge. I think such matters does not apply only to nature photographers or photographers in general. It applies to all other areas as well. Bottomline is that it is hard for anyone to always make everyone else happy while making himself/herself happy.

Just sharing my thoughts. Mod, if this post is irrelevant, feel free to delete.

I will not delete your post. As you have every right to voice your opinion as long as it does not break any rules. What I can see or everyone here can see or read into what you are trying to say, is like "I don't care, as long as I am happy to get my images". That is also your rights as no body can stop this type of attitude.

 

[Yih Yeong]

I will not delete your post. As you have every right to voice your opinion as long as it does not break any rules. What I can see or everyone here can see or read into what you are trying to say, is like "I don't care, as long as I am happy to get my images". That is also your rights as no body can stop this type of attitude.

Actually I am trying to say that sometimes the limits are not clear and people may have different standards on what is right and what is wrong. Especially when the boundary is not clear. E.g. some say use flash on animal is no no. Some say is ok. I am also not sure.

Instead of "I don't care, as long as I am happy to get my images", I meant to say something like "Huh? I thought I do this is ok? Really not good and recommended?"

Btw, I think I am not very good with words. And I think maybe still no one understand what I am trying to say. :sweat: Got chance I explain more to you over coffee. :embrass:

 

[tanhb]

I thought I share with everyone here the Code of Birding Ethics by the American Birding Association.

You might want to use this as a guide when out in the field shooting or just watching birds.

 

[Yih Yeong]

I thought I share with everyone here the Code of Birding Ethics by the American Birding Association.

You might want to use this as a guide when out in the field shooting or just watching birds.

Many thanks, its v helpful Didn't know such a guide exists.

 

[GilbertGoh]

Gilbert, this is a discussion and I think forum members are free to express their opinions. I did not find Deswitch thread as offensive and thus why should I be offended. I merely stated what Deswitch stated as his observation (please read his thread re his observation) and it was bias towards newbies. If for all intend and purpose this posting to meant to highlight the poor etiquette of photographers in the field just mention the wrong doings or acts. Why narrow it down to newbies.
I certainly did not change the topic here. I am all for creating awareness and hoping to see less of this poor etiquette in the field. Like Octarine says "what is the root cause of such behaviour"? Is this really a newbie thing?
As for your 1st question, if there is any relevance to it, I am new to nature photography and I am guided by commonsense and rational whenever I have the opportunity to go into the field. Yes, I did something....I refuse to break NPark rules or modify enviroment to get my perfect picture.
Cheers

for your first reply,
It is worrying that when newbies sees some old bird do things like that, then they follow till someone tell them that they are wrong, which in singapore is very rare. so that would result a quite a lot of newbies doing such thing. see it quite a bit. Hope it will change but can say it is very unlikely. sad.

for your second reply,
it is tell how wide your circle is and how much you have seen.

basicly here i only hope ppl would be educated in the Ethics of birding

 

[FireHouse]

for your first reply,
It is worrying that when newbies sees some old bird do things like that, then they follow till someone tell them that they are wrong, which in singapore is very rare. so that would result a quite a lot of newbies doing such thing. see it quite a bit. Hope it will change but can say it is very unlikely. sad.

for your second reply,
it is tell how wide your circle is and how much you have seen.

basicly here i only hope ppl would be educated in the Ethics of birding

Thx Gilbert.
Sadly, we live in a very imperfect world where there is no ideal situation. As another member has rightly said, who are we to impose on to others our principles. Sadly, I must admit I don't have the guts to tell this photogs off (unless I know them) if I see them in the act.
I guess this thread has created quite a bit of awareness and let us hope for the best.
Cheers

 

[GilbertGoh]

Thx Gilbert.
Sadly, we live in a very imperfect world where there is no ideal situation. As another member has rightly said, who are we to impose on to others our principles. Sadly, I must admit I don't have the guts to tell this photogs off (unless I know them) if I see them in the act.
I guess this thread has created quite a bit of awareness and let us hope for the best.
Cheers

well said and very true

 

[chngpe01]

Actually I am trying to say that sometimes the limits are not clear and people may have different standards on what is right and what is wrong. Especially when the boundary is not clear. E.g. some say use flash on animal is no no. Some say is ok. I am also not sure.

Instead of "I don't care, as long as I am happy to get my images", I meant to say something like "Huh? I thought I do this is ok? Really not good and recommended?"

Btw, I think I am not very good with words. And I think maybe still no one understand what I am trying to say. :sweat: Got chance I explain more to you over coffee. :embrass:

Thanks for the clarification, my bad.

You are right in that there are sometimes differing "expert" views on what level and what constitute stress or distress on the animal as you have pointed. As some members have said a good practice would be to follow the guide lines and ethics laid out and most important do it with consideration of the subjects from our heart.

 

[Yih Yeong]

Yes. Thanks chngpe01

 

[blk160]

I hope Singapore has similar law as in US and Canada :

http://www.castanet.net/edition/news-story-45183--search.htm

It is good to know that Clubsnap bans these type of posting (http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showthread.php?t=371192). I hope all the so call nature forums will have similar ban on active nesting shots of threaten and/or endangered species.

 

[slaam]

I thought it may be good to read this :

This is an article written on this BLOG http://besgroup.talfrynature.com/2009/02/15/some-thoughts-on-bird-photographers/

I do encourage nature photographers to read it. It a good article written without any hidden agenda but an honest observation.

Finally to all here, Please keep up the good work and posting here. Let your images inspire and create awareness of nature in this land scarce island of ours.

Cheers

Well said an a timely reminder for 2009!