Photo of the Week – January 24, 2013

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Here’s one from the archives.

When I was in graduate school, photography was a welcome break from statistics and photocopying journal articles.  If I had the time, I’d grab my camera and head to a nearby prairie.  If not, I’d just wander around the north edge of the east campus (the agricultural campus) of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.  Sandwiched between some experimental cropfields was Dead Man’s Run, a small stream/ditch edged with smooth brome and weedy trees.  Dead Man’s Run was far from a prairie, but there were a few wildflowers now and then, a family of foxes, and – most importantly – no people but me!

This photo is one of my favorites from those days.

Annual sunflowers along Dead Man's Run in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Annual sunflowers along Dead Man’s Run.  Lincoln, Nebraska.

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Conservation Photography in the Digital Age

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Conservation photographers play a critical role in world of conservation.  They combine nature photography, photojournalism, and advocacy to draw the public’s attention to the most critical environmental issues in today’s world.  Unfortunately, it’s getting harder for conservation photographers to make a living.  That could have serious consequences, especially in light of the growing urbanization of the general public.

Conservation photography can be a lonely profession, but plays a critical role in conservation. Ty Smedes at The Nature Conservancy's Broken Kettle Grasslands - Northwest Iowa.

Conservation photography can be a lonely profession, but plays a critical role in conservation. Ty Smedes at The Nature Conservancy’s Broken Kettle Grasslands – Northwest Iowa.

In some ways, photography is getting easier, and it’s certainly accessible to more people than it used to be.  Today’s cheap digital cameras have many features that, just a few decades ago, were found only on very expensive high end cameras.  As a result, novice photographers can often capture great photos from situations that used to flummox the most veteran of photographers.  In addition, of course, nearly everyone carries a camera with them, nowadays – most often in their phone – so being in the right place at the right time (with a camera) is a much more common occurrence than it used to be. 

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