Chris Weston - Nature Photography: Insider Secrets from the Worlds Top Digital Photography Professionals

Nature Photography

Insider Secrets from the Worlds Top Digital Photography Professionals

Chris Weston

Focal Press

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Cover image:

Chris Weston Vector art: iStockphoto

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Copyright 2008, Chris Weston, Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Weston, Christopher (Christopher Mark)

Nature photography : insider secrets from the worlds top digital photography professionals / Chris Weston.

p. cm.

Includes index.

ISBN 978-0-240-81016-4 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Nature photography. 2. PhotographyDigital techniques. I. Title.

TR721.W47 2008

778.93dc22

2008014678

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN: 978-0-240-81016-4

For information on all Focal Press publications, visit our website at www.books.elsevier.com

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Printed in China

T HE P ROFESSIONALS

The following professional wildlife, landscape, and nature photographers contributed to the content of this book, directly or indirectly, sharing their ideas, techniques, and experience, and the secrets of their trade.

Heather Angel

Freelance nature photographer

England

www.heatherangel.co.uk

For more than a quarter of a century, Heather has been at the forefront of wildlife photography in Britain and her work has been recognized with many awards both in the UK and overseas, including an honorary doctorate from Bath University, a special professorship from Nottingham University, and a top award from the U.S. BioCommunications Association. Heather was president of the Royal Photographic Society from 1984 to 1986. She communicates her enthusiasm for photographing the natural world via her prodigious writing, workshops and lectures. Her exhibition, Natural Visions, toured the UK from 2000 to 2004, and also appeared in Kuala Lumpur, Cairo, and Beijing.

Niall Benvie

Freelance nature and conservation photographer

Scotland

www.imagesfromtheedge.com

Niall Benvie has published three books and over 220 articles; he is one of the UKs most prolific writers on nature photography. The scope of his writing extends into issues of land management and the polarization of nature and culture as well as travelogues, book reviews and commentaries on subjects as diverse as species re-establishment programs and ecotourism. He does not follow the international honey-pot trail, instead preferring to seek out stories in relatively underworked, although biologically rich, areas.

Steve Bloom

Freelance wildlife photographic artist

England

www.stevebloom.com

Steve Bloom is a photographic artist who specializes in evocative images of the natural world. Born in South Africa, he first used the camera to document life there during the 1970s. He moved to England in 1977, where he worked in the graphic arts industry for many years. In the early 1990s during a visit to South Africa, his interest in wildlife photography emerged, and within a short time he had swapped his established career for the precarious life of a wildlife photographer. He has won awards for his work and his pictures are seen around the world in calendars, posters, advertising, editorial features and a multitude of other products.

Jim Brandenburg

Freelance nature photographer

United States www.jimbrandenburg.com

Minnesota-based Jim Brandenburg has worked as a photographer with National Geographic magazine for over 25 years, resulting in 19 magazine stories, several television features, and over 19 books. His photographs have won a multitude of prestigious national and international awards, and he was twice named Magazine Photographer of the Year by the National Press Photographers Association. He has also been the recipient of the World Achievement Award from the United Nations Environmental Programme in Stockholm, Sweden.

Pete Cairns

Freelance nature and conservation photographer

Scotland

www.northshots.com

Peter Cairns is a freelance nature photographer with a deep fascination for humanitys relationship with the natural world. In addition to documenting Europes high-profile wildlife species, his work focuses on a diverse range of issues such as wildlife management, ecological restoration, ecotourism and evolving land-use regimes.

Joe Cornish

Freelance landscape photographer

England

www.joecornish.com

Joe has made major contributions to many National Trust publications, especially Coast and Countryside, published in 1996. His first book was First Light: A Landscape Photographers Art (2002), now in its fifth printing. More recently, he wrote and photographed Scotlands Coast: A Photographers Journey, and shot the pictures for Urbino (a hill town in central Italy), a rare departure into architectural photography. He writes regularly for Outdoor Photography and Amateur Photographer magazines, and his work has been featured in Outdoor Photographer magazine.

In January 2006, Amateur Photographer honored him with their annual Power of Photography award. Joe has given lectures on landscape photography throughout the UK and as far afield as New Zealand, and he is an experienced workshop leader. Photographic companies who work with Joe include Lee Filters, Fujifilm UK, Gitzo, and Lowepro.

Steve Gosling

Freelance nature photographer

England

www.stevegoslingphotography.co.uk

Steve specializes in producing creative and contemporary images of the natural world landscapes, flowers and plants, and trees and foliage. His photographs have been published internationally as posters and in books, magazines, newspapers, calendars and greetings cards. Prints of his work have been exhibited in venues throughout the UK and have also appeared on sets for both theatre and film productions. His work has won awards in national and international competitions, including the Royal Horticultural Societys Annual Photographic Competition in both 2002 and 2003. More recently he achieved success in the 2006 Black & White Photographer of the Year competition.