Photographing wildlife: Is a staged photo OK?

Let me start this blog post by saying this: This post about staged photos is going to stir up a lot of emotions (on both sides), but I am writing this for three reasons:

* To respond to a recent blog comment from a guy named Mike
* To open up a conversation amongst all of us
* To express my opinion on this controversial topic

Here is the comment: 

"Are you kidding me, Jeff? Are you seriously promoting a Namibia tour where the guide is digging wildlife out of a sand dune and throwing it on the ground for tourists like your self to photograph? Promoting someone that is baiting birds and reptiles for 'wildlife photography'??? WTF happened to your standards? What would the IOC think of a 'professional' photographer that endorses this kind of eco destructive tourism? 

Jeff, I have respected you, your business, your photography, and your intellect for years. I have referred innumerable people to your site as a reliable and reputable source for photography knowledge, but no more. This is inexcusable. This is a horrifying approach to what you think of as wildlife photography. It completely discredits every wildlife shoot you have ever done in the past as nothing more than a staged photo op"

I did respond to this person, but over the last 48 hours, it has really gotten me thinking about the subject. I don't fault him for expressing his opinions. Actually, I am glad that he did and that it inspired me to think about this more and address it here. I welcome his thoughts on the subject, as I do with all of you, and I fully respect him taking the time to air his concerns. 

To address some of his points:

* The guide who was finding these reptiles in Namibia was doing this to educate us on the fragility of the environment and showing us the ecosystem that exists in the Namibian dunes - his homeland where he has been studying this ecosystem for over 50 years. He never moved the animals from the wild and always made sure to respect them. He would show them to us, allowing us to capture photos, and then let them return to their environment. Not only would he teach us about the wildlife, but he made it a point to stop any time he saw any litter on the dunes, and grab that and put it in his garbage bag. The chameleon that you see below was exactly where the guide found him in the wild. The guide did throw the bugs out for the chameleon to eat (allowing us to get shots like this), but that was fully disclosed in my blog post. 

* I don't think that the IOC (International Olympic Committee) would care about my wildlife photography at all. Trust me, they are not looking at every Olympic photographer and scrutinizing our work. But I would be honored if they cared that much about me and my work.

* I do think that it is overly harsh, discounting all of my work, for a small selection of images, but it is his right to think what he wants. 

* I appreciate the referral of others to my blog and sincerely hope that I have not lost all integrity.

* And now for the most important point, the credibility of wildlife photography. Almost all of the wildlife photography that is in my portfolio, posted on the blog, and taken on our photo tours is completely in the wild. But there are times when we capture photos of wildlife that are in more controlled environments. 

Here are some samples:

In the rain forest of Costa Rica, I always have a half day when the people on my photo tours photograph snakes and frogs that are handled by a native. The snakes are being studied by scientists and the tree frogs are gathered on the property, brought close to us, and then let go right away. They are in their environment and not baited. Does this count as real wildlife photography? I think it does. It is also a great way to photograph these amazing animals, up close and personal, but in a non evasive manor. It allows us to share the beauty with others and hopefully inspire future generations to see it for themselves.

We also visit a butterfly house which has many species of butterflies in a large netted space. Once again, these butterflies are being studied by scientists and not harmed in any way. 

These giraffe were obviously photographed in the Sydney Zoo. That is made obvious by the background. Is this wildlife? No...this is a zoo shot. After doing many safaris and trips to the rain forest, I actually find zoos to be more "invasive" and "destructive" since the animals are kept in such small spaces. Does it make the whole idea of a zoo wrong? I have mixed feelings about that.

I took this photo of an eagle more than 12 years ago. It was in a rehabilitation center in Alaska where it was being cared for. By taking this photo and having it in my collection,  does that mean that I am a bad person or promoting the destruction of the species? I don't think so. But, with that said, I think it is important to tell people that this was not taken in the wild. I always have.

On our first day in Namibia (which is normally a down day for people to get time adjusted), we decided to take the group to a local animal reserve to get photos of big cats and other animals. This cheetah had only three legs and was rescued by the staff. If it weren't for the staff of the reserve, this animal would be dead for sure.

Paying to enter the reserve helps pay for the care of these animals. It also gave the photo tour attendees a chance to practice their photography in a controlled environment prior to us going out in the wild.

At our last lodge in Namibia, they had their own private reserve and fed all types of animals, including rhino, zebra, giraffe and more. This allowed us to get very close to the animals for tight shots like the one above. If I had blogged these as "in the wild" photos, I agree that this would be wrong.

My opinion

I love photographing animals, and started by doing so at the San Francisco zoo. I, like most people in the world, did not have easy access to them in the wild (unless you count squirrels and seagulls). It wasn't until 3 years ago that I started making annual trips to Africa. I don't see anything wrong with people photographing animals in any environment, provided that they are not doing ANY harm to the wildlife. As I said before, I do believe that, if a photo appears to be taken in the wild, it is the photographer's responsibility to disclose if a photo was taken with assistance. I am not a hunter because I could never take the life of another living thing. I prefer using my camera to capture the beauty of the wildlife in any way I can.

Other staged shots

As I dive deeper into the subject of staged shots, it makes me think of all the other photos I have seen that appear to be "real" but are staged. The first time I saw a night shot of an old asian fisherman on a river with his lantern and bird, I thought "wow, that is a great shot!" I was amazed that the guy captured this old fisherman with his lantern and even got a bird perched on the end of the boat. Now, after seeing the same shot of the fisherman on the Li river in Guilin from countless photographers, I know that this is a setup shot. The old fisherman makes himself available to photographers all the time, for a fee of course. Does this lessen the impact of the shot for me? It actually does. I now look at the photo and think, "there is that same guy again, in the same pose and with the same bird tied to the back of the boat." So, yes, staged shots are not the same as capturing the "real moments" in life, but they can still make for nice artwork on your wall.

Your thoughts?

As I mentioned at the beginning of this blog post, I write this as an open to as larger conversation. I would love to hear from all of you, as to your thoughts on the subject. In the spirit of this blog, I would prefer to see constructive thoughts and expressions without any name calling and finger pointing.

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If you are interested in purchasing ANY equipment, please click here to go to B&H Photo, as I get a referral from them if you enter this way. It does not change the cost to you in any way, but it helps me keep this blog up and running.
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Check out my upcoming photo tours to amazing places around the world. I have photo tours to Africa, Costa Rica, Europe, Asia, India and more. And Canon will loan you any gear you want for FREE for any of my tours.
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Penguins in Africa? Yes, and they sure are cute!

Here in Cape Town, South Africa they have a place called Boulders Beach where a large group of penguins live. Since we are here in Cape Town in between our Namibia and Botswana photo tours, we had to stop by and see these cute little birds up close and personal.

We watched as the penguins went in and out of the ocean, usually in groups.

We are lucky, since this is the time of year is when the young penguins are still wearing their fuzzy coats. Cuteness factor overload!

I was using the Canon 1D X Mark II camera with the Canon 100-400mm lens to try and isolate certain birds of interest. I liked the way this one penguin stood out from the others.

Since we were watching the penguins late in the afternoon (planned that way), we had some fun shadows to capture.

I took this photo and thought it could make a good poster about loneliness. :)

The baby penguins were so cute as they huddled together.

This guy was walking down a sand dune and I caught him full stride.

My first ever penguin family portrait!

Ahhhhhhhh.

This is one of my favorite photos showing these two baby penguins interacting.

The penguins do shake themselves all the time.

It was fun to watch them walking on the sand and rocks...

...and when they would just pose for a photo.

Mike (who owns M&M Photo Tours) and I watched as this little penguin was fed.

This pup was shaking and sunny himself.

More interaction between adult and baby,

This penguin was on a mission, walking quickly up the rocky shoreline.

These birds make the loudest noises! When they screech, it sounds like a loud donkey. I had no idea that they made this sound. I did capture some video and will do my best to get that edited and online soon.

Here is a youngster with some fuzz still on his beak.

I took this photo of this penguin because I liked that way that he was surrounded by all the footsteps in the sand.

We all had a great time photographing the penguins, and I would do it again any time. As a matter of fact, Mike and I are going to add Cape Town to a future African photo tour.

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Subscribe to the Jeff Cable Photography Blog by clicking HERE!
__________________________________________________________________________
If you are interested in purchasing ANY equipment, please click here to go to B&H Photo, as I get a referral from them if you enter this way. It does not change the cost to you in any way, but it helps me keep this blog up and running.
__________________________________________________________________________
Check out my upcoming photo tours to amazing places around the world. I have photo tours to Africa, Costa Rica, Europe, Asia, India and more. And Canon will loan you any gear you want for FREE for any of my tours.
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Namibia Photo Tour: Photographing snakes, chameleons and more in the desert

After several days of very limited Internet access in Namibia, I am now at a place where I can post a blog. Today's blog post shows images from our day in the desert sands, photographing some of the reptiles (and birds) in the area.

Mike (who runs M&M Photo Tours) knows this guy named Tommy who runs "Tommy's Living Desert Tours" out of Swakopmund, Namibia.  We met up with Tommy in the morning and hopped into his heavy duty four-wheel drive vehicle to drive into the dunes to look for wildlife. Tommy knows this area so well and can find animals that you and I would never see.

Early on the tour, we were driving along the sand when Tommy stopped, jumped out of the vehicle and started digging in the sand. Minutes later he arrived with a Gecko in his hands.

He put the Gecko back down in the sand so that we could all take turns photographing this little guy.

After driving a little while longer, Tommy exited the vehicle again and climbed up a sand dune. He had seen markings from a snake.

Sure enough, he came back with this little sidewinder snake.

He let it go and we watched as it made it's way up the tunes. It was pretty awesome to watch. I shot some video of this and will try to edit and post that and other videos when I return back to the U.S.  As I was taking these photos, I realized that the better shot would be from on the dune looking down at the snake and his tracks.

This was a much more interesting shot, and much easier to see the markings left on the sand. I suggested this angle to the other photo tour attendees but they did not want to climb the dunes and lay down this close to the snake.

Tommy had another snake for us to photograph at the base of the dunes. We were all laying on the sand to photograph the snake at a low angle. Mike told Conrad (one of the guests) to get up!

Conrad did so without questions. It turns out that only 12" from his arm was a small poisonous snake that was not happy that we were encroaching on his space.

I used the Canon 100-400mm II lens on my Canon 1D X MK II to get a close shot of the poisonous snake.

Once we were done with the snakes, Tommy started whistling. And some local birds, who know him well, showed up for some food.

This was a great way for us to get nice shots of the birds as they hovered by Tommy.

Tommy working his magic.

This went on for 10 minutes, which gave us a chance to slow our camera shutter speeds (to approximately 1/125 sec) and get some motion in the bird's wings. I also suggested that we shoot a little wider to include the sand dunes in the background.

Then Tommy said that he wanted to continue the tour to find a chameleon for us to photograph. We were all excited about this.

It did not take him long to find a big old chameleon by a plant. 

Tommy had some bugs with him and through them out so that we could get tight shots of the chameleon eating. I switched the Canon 1D X MK II to 14 frames per second, waited for the chameleon to make it's move with that big sticky tongue and...

We all had a blast photographing this action.

This last shot made me laugh, with the chameleon making a funny face and looking like it was smoking a cigar.

It was a really fun time photographing the wildlife as well as driving through the incredible sand dunes. And the photos are so cool to look at!

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Subscribe to the Jeff Cable Photography Blog by clicking HERE!
__________________________________________________________________________
If you are interested in purchasing ANY equipment, please click here to go to B&H Photo, as I get a referral from them if you enter this way. It does not change the cost to you in any way, but it helps me keep this blog up and running.
__________________________________________________________________________
Check out my upcoming photo tours to amazing places around the world. I have photo tours to Africa, Costa Rica, Europe, Asia, India and more. And Canon will loan you any gear you want for FREE for any of my tours.
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Namibia Photo Tour: The animals from our first couple days of safari!

The first week of our photo tour was more about landscapes and the amazing sand dunes here in Namibia, But the second week is all about the animals as we spend each day on safari here in Etosha. In this blog post, I am going to share some of my favorite images with you all.

On our first day out, we came across this Bat-eared fox. We were taking photos of the fox in the grass when it moved to it's right, directly into a small patch of morning light.

People always ask me how close we get to the animals. I think this photo shows that perfectly. We have two vehicles on this particular safari so that everyone has enough room for their gear and to move to either side to photograph.  This elephant went right across the road, behind us and in front of the second vehicle.

We drove up on a small group of Common Southern African giraffe. They were so close to the side of the road, that we were able to zoom in and get some nice tight shots of them eating the Acacia trees.

On our first day of safari, we only saw a couple of elephants, but that was not the case on our second day. We went to one of the water holes and saw 25 elephants drinking and cooling off. Well...not really cooling off too much since the weather here is cool this time of year. The morning temperatures have been in the 50s with the afternoons peaking in the 80s.

I watched as this mom pushed her baby along the water's edge.

The female elephants are very protective of the babies, but also very loving.

I saw this Oryx hanging out with a large pack of Zebra and isolated it with my camera. I can imagine this photo as a poster with a quote saying something like "Ever feel like you don't fit in?"

I love the interaction between the adults and the youngsters.

This morning we spotted this Black-backed jackal who was resting near the side of the road. Just like the fox in the first photo, he had great light on his face.

We also watched as another pair of jackal were playing.

I saw this jackal an hour later and loved how we was perfectly framed in the tall grass.

The Spingbok are very common here in Namibia. We have even been eating this meat for dinner (although those are farmed raised and not from the wild). It was fun to see them jousting.

Just before lunch time we found some Ostriches.

The males have a red beak while the females have no color.

We were heading back to the lodge for lunch and an afternoon break, but had to stop for these giraffe who were crossing the road. It reminds me of the Abbey Road album cover. I just need to Photoshop in a fourth giraffe or Paul McCartney.

After they crossed the road, I did get a nice shot of them intermingling with the zebra.

After an afternoon break, we went out for a short evening safari. We were really out looking for lions, since we have a couple of guests who have never done a safari and wanted to see them (of course). We drove around for a couple of hours and did not see too many different animals, and no lions. Then we heard that there were some lions about 20 minutes away. We made the drive there only to find a couple of females which were pretty far away and laying down sleeping.

Our drivers and guide all said that we needed to head back to the lodge, and could not stay to see if they would get up. The sun was setting and we needed to exit the area. We started our drive out, and I was looking at the awesome golden light and thinking "we need to photograph something in this light!"

We were almost out of the park with our awesome guide, Uanee, put out his hand and had the driver stop immediately. I asked him what he saw and he said that there was a male lion coming right towards us! These guys are amazing. There is no way that any of us would have seen this lion so far off in the distance. But he saw the reactions of the springbok in the area and knew that a predator was nearby.

I lifted my Canon 1D X MK II camera with the Canon 100-400mm lens, zoomed all the way to 400mm, and saw this big guy coming right at us.

Everyone in our group was shooting and going nuts. It was the perfect animal facing right into the perfect light. We were so lucky!

Here is a tighter crop of the same lion (and now the background image on my iPhone).

This magnificent lion walked within 15 feet of our vehicle before crossing the road and heading off into the distance. Even on the opposite side of the road, the light was still amazing on this king.

The remaining 20 minute drive back to our lodge was filled with excitement and anticipation. We could not wait to get back to download our images and see what we had just captured. I know that I now have some new favorites to add to my collection, and they do too!

__________________________________________________________________________
Subscribe to the Jeff Cable Photography Blog by clicking HERE!
__________________________________________________________________________
If you are interested in purchasing ANY equipment, please click here to go to B&H Photo, as I get a referral from them if you enter this way. It does not change the cost to you in any way, but it helps me keep this blog up and running.
__________________________________________________________________________
Check out my upcoming photo tours to amazing places around the world. I have photo tours to Africa, Costa Rica, Europe, Asia, India and more. And Canon will loan you any gear you want for FREE for any of my tours.
__________________________________________________________________________