Post 8 Photographer Steve Winter

Steve Winter is a photographer who has worked with national geographic for over 25 years.
When he first started as a photographer, his work was with people and different cultures around
the world. In photographing the people that he did he provided his viewers with a rare look into
these cultures that they might not have ever even heard about, without having to travel to where
they are located. Through this, he discovered the power of storytelling. On his website,

https://www.stevewinterphoto.com/, he talks about how he can tell a story with a single image, and
the importance of being able to do that as a photographer. 

Today Winter works as a wildlife photographer and conservationist. His photographers show a rare
view of the frontlines of the war between animals that are poached for parts of their body or are
endangered for other reasons and the humans causing these reasons. Most of these animals are
big cats, which is what Winter specializes in, but there are other animals as well that include but are not limited to rhinos, polar bears, elephants, and crocodiles. While there are plenty of photographs that show the animals, Winter also shows in his photographs the other side of the equation where humans are involved. These can be some of the hardest photos to see but they are also probably some of his most important ones to see. Many of these photos show children, the next generation, being raised to continue in their parents’ footsteps. This can be hard for people to see because it shows the next generation of poachers, but it also shows the hardships these people live with. They struggle to put food on the table and selling the skin of an animal can feed their family for a good amount of time. It is a difficult concept to swallow, but it is important to understand both sides of the equation, because if we can help the people who feel that they need to go and harm these animals, then we can help the animals.

Instagram: stevewinterphoto

https://www.stevewinterphoto.com/

https://zoomphototours.com/steve-winter/

Post 7.5: Share & Critque

Aperture: F5.6

Shutterspeed: 1/1000

ISO: 100

Aperture: F5.6

Shutterspeed: 1/1600

ISO: 3200

Post 7: Yellowstone Photography Trip

This past week I had time off from classes and decided to take advantage of the time and go to Yellowstone for a photography trip. It was most definitely an adventure, to say the least. I went with a friend, for a simple day trip. We wanted to take advantage of the beauty that covers the entire state of Montana, so we decided to take the back roads from Billings and Yellowstone. Many of the roads that we took were made of gravel and dirt. While this meant that we had to drive slow, doubling our time, it also meant that we had prime opportunities to photograph many scenes that are far out of the eyes of the general public. We stopped about once every 30 minutes, or whenever we came across a scene or an animal that we could simply not resist the urge to stop and photograph. I hope that there will never come a time where my breath is not taken away from the beautiful mountains, streams, lakes, geysers, clouds, grass fields, animals, and of all the things that make up big sky country. The journey was great and very rewarding since we came across many scenes that allowed for some remarkable photographs. Unfortunately due to the gravel and dirt roads, I ended up getting a flat tire as we were pulling into Livingston. It looked like for a while that we would not actually make it to Yellowstone, but after about an hour of trying to fix my tire myself we took my car to a tire shop and within 20 minutes my tire was patched and we were back on the road to Yellowstone. Crisis averted we began to enjoy our road trip again, spotting other scenes to photograph and talked about the wildlife we wanted to try and photograph in the park. My friend really wanted to photograph some swans because many flocks of swans had just been released into the park to try and bring the population within the park back to what it used to be. I was hoping to get some photographs of a bull elk, bison, and of course, we both had our fingers crossed that we would come across a bear. I did end up getting my photos elk, as well as a photo of a hawk, and my friend got photos of elk and goats. We did come across a swan, but it was too far away for either of us to capture it with the equipment that we brought. I was traveling with my tripod, my T6 rebel canon camera, and my EFS 18-55mm lens. I also brought along two SD cards: one 16GB and 32GB. Due to the fact that we spent so much of the day on the back roads to get to Yellowstone, we did not get to go very far into Yellowstone, and we did not get to spend very much time there. Overall the trip was a lot of fun, but looking back at it from a photographer’s perspective I think I would have extended the trip from one day to 3.5 days. I would not change us taking the back roads to get to Yellowstone because those were beautiful, but I would have taken an entire day to allow us time to get there and to fully enjoy the Montana landscapes. I would then spend the next two days photographing in the park, and scoping out locations for photographs, then spend the last half of a day getting back to Billings. I would have also planned the trip for a time when the weather was a little better if I could go back and redo the trip.

Post 6: Photographer Robert Frank

Lately, in my blog posts I have been talking a lot about current photographers. For this post, I want to take a step back in time and discuss not a nature photographer, but a photographer who changed the field of photography for documentary. Robert Frank born on November 9, 1924, and died September 9, 2019, was a postmodern photographer. Frank was born and raised in Switzerland in a world that went through World War II and was dealing with the direct aftermath. Europe was hit hard by the war and was dealing with issues with, society, the economy, governments, trama, etc just to name a few. America though did not have these same problems that Europe had to, and as a result, America as a whole was thriving. It was during this time that America was presented to the rest of the world as perfect, the land of milk and honey. Everyone had the American dream of living in a house with a white picket fence, having two kids, a dog, and a consistent job. This was an idea that Frank was obsessed with when he traveled over to the states and experienced that this was not the case. This lead to him seeking to speak the truth through his work as a photographer. 

Throughout the 1950s Robert Frank road tripped all over the United States; photographing as he went.
He was unique though in what his subjects were. Up until this point photographs that were considered
documentary were staged. The subjects in the photographs were posed and the images were crisp,
sharp, and clear. There was also a type of persona that was always in photographs. Mostly white
important adults. Frank photographed people of color, teenage couples, people going about their daily
lives doing their mundane activities. His photos were real and truthful. They were not staged, no one
was posing, they were not perfectly clear, crisp, and sharp. They were sometimes blurry. Robert
Frank’s photographs were revolutionary because they showed the truth.

Post 5: Photographer Paul Nicklen

This is the photographer, Paul Nicklen. He is a Canadian photographer whose work is unbelievably
inspiring to me. Before I ever began to show any interest in photography, my attention was captured
by the photos that he posted on Instagram. One of the things that make his images so memorizing I
think is the unique looks he provides his viewers. A perfect example is his image of a penguin ducking
under the water for a look. You can see the movement, which I believe he has an unusual grasp of
because he is also a filmmaker and a marine biologist. He studies these animals and understands
them. This provides him with the expertise to capture their movements in a still photograph, and have
a clear understanding of their behaviors as well. He has been recognized for his work by receiving
many awards, and also by contributing to national geographic. 

He is also very well known for his work in conservation. Using his skills and talents to help not along
raise awareness, but cause change. One of the ways that he has accomplished this is by being one
of the co-founders of the non-profit SeaLegacy, which works on conservation and protecting the
environment. Another way he evokes change and raises awareness is he does not always capture
the things that people always want to see, but the things that they need to see. A perfect example of
this is the picture that he posted to his Instagram of a pilot whale that had had most of its tail cut off by
a propeller on a boat. This is not something that everyone is willing to see, but those who are willing
will use this image as fuel in their fight to restore the planet and to protect the animals that also call it
home. This is something that I greatly admire about Paul Nicklen.

Instagram: paulnicklen

https://paulnicklen.com/fine-art/

www.paulnicklen.com/ig

Post 4: Photographer Robert Irwin

Crikey!

If you read the title of this post you're are probably doing a double-take. This post is indeed about the son of the late Steve Irwin, aka the crocodile hunter. Although Robert looks like his father and shares the same love of animals and conservation as him and the rest of his family, Robert stands out from his family in the fact that he has an artistic eye for photography. He is actually quite well known for his photos and has been featured and published many times on places like ABC News, New.com, and several others just to name a few. He has also won several awards for his work, and his work has gone to great lengths to not only raise awareness for conservation but has also raised thousands of dollars for his family's nonprofit Wildlife Warriors. It is easy to say that he is following in his dad's footsteps, but by blazing his own trail.



I grew up watching Steve Irwin on TV and was always fascinated with his shows. I guess you could call me a bit of a fangirl. However, my fascination with the work that Robert produces does not steam from my childhood love of his dad's TV show. I truly love the unique qualities of his photos, the most prominent of which is how close he actually shows the animals. I personally love creating lose up photos like this in my own work, and I love that he is able to do it with animals that one would not normally be willing to get that close to, such as a crocodile. Being that close though, allows the viewer to delve deeper into the wildlife, seeing the texture of the fur, scales, or skin, seeing the animals eyes clearly, all of this is extremely powerful and provides the viewers with an unusually closer look at the photographed wildlife.

https://www.robertirwinphotos.com/