Late last month NACC proudly hosted not one but two wildlife photography workshops in the regional towns of Jurien Bay and Geraldton.
The workshops were led by award-winning nature photographer and Birdlife Australia member Georgina Steytler Photography. Georgina has a passion for ethics and bird conservation, and she is widely published in books and magazines, producing articles, running workshops and giving talks on bird photography throughout Australia.
During the workshops the 30 plus eager participants were provided with handy tips and hints on capturing an incredible nature photograph and heard some secret tips for taking an award winning bird in flight image.
As both a nature photographer and an environmental conservationist Georgina shared some excellent insight into ethical behaviour when photographing in nature. Georgina said that ‘taking great nature photographs should never be at the expense of the subject’.
Georgina provided a list of ethical considerations that she abides by when out in the field.
- Respect the spatial needs of the subject
- Don’t force an action ‘flushing birds’
- Don’t feed or leave food for wildlife
- Avoid using call playback
- Avoid nesting birds
- Avoid habitat disturbance (stick to designated paths)
- If you see a rare bird report the sighting to authorities
- Never post an exact location on social media of a rare or nesting bird
(These can be found on Georgina’s website at https://www.wildandendangered.com.au/be-an-ethical-bird-photographer).
And to ensure the participants got some ‘action’ shots while not distressing any local wildlife, NACC’s Malleefowl Mascot Lee brought her native animals friends along to pose as models.
NACC’s Bushcare Officer Jarna Kendle attended the workshops and said that photography can play a crucial role in conservation.
“A lot of times people are unaware of environmental issues or the threats that a species may face.”
“Photography exposes those issues and does so in a compelling and easy to understand way. It doesn’t matter what part of the world you come from, because the language of photography is universal.”
“And as photography can inspire a love of wildlife and desire to protect it, NACC is launching its Threatened Fauna Photography Competition as a way to encourage people to get outside and learn about our threatened wildlife.”
NACC’s Threatened Fauna Photography Competition is a regional competition that awards and promotes threatened Australian wildlife through the medium of photography. NACC invites photographers to raise the plight of threatened wildlife and aims to encourage photographs taken in the Northern Agricultural Region or of fauna known to occur across the region – which reflect the diversity and uniqueness of our threatened Australian wildlife. The closing date is the Monday 25 November and more information can be found at https://www.nacc.com.au/project/photo-comp-2019/
This project is supported by the NACC NRM through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program.