Aboard the Amphibian Ark

In response to the sheer number of extinct and endangered species of amphibians being threatened by development, climate change and pathogenic outbreaks, a group of biologists have put a rescue plan into play known as the "Amphibian Ark." Similar in concept to a seed bank, the Ark team collects species of amphibians, which are at risk, and houses them until re-release into the wild is deemed safe.

In the past decade there has been an increase in amphibian die-off and mutation due to a variety of factors including the chytrid fungus, the origin of which still remains a subject of debate. The group, which has been publicized by celebrity biologist Jeff Corwin, has created some innovative ways to get donors involved including a recent contest to name a recently discovered species of Osornophryne frog from Ecuador.

Ethical Nature Photography

This morning I woke up at 5:00 a.m. and headed out to the Lewis Ocean Bay Heritage Preserve in hopes of finding Venus' Fly Traps in the 9300 acre preserve. When I arrived, the sun was just rising up and a beautiful mist had settled over one of the pocosins that I've spent a lot of time exploring in the past. I was tempted to head straight for the pitcher plants and start shooting but decided to stick to my original plan and began looking for sphagnum filled sandy ditches as outlined in Porcher and Raynor's "Guide to the Wildflowers of South Carolina." After about twenty minutes and a little prayer I noticed an unfamiliar patch of white flowers about ten feet from where I was standing. Thinking that they were Carolina Grass-of-Parnassus, I walked over and was amazed to see about 20-30 Venus' Fly Traps at the base of the long stalked flowers. By discovering the fly traps I fulfilled a life-long dream of witnessing these amazing plants in the wild. After my initial euphoria wore of I began to wonder exactly how I might photograph such an iconic and much publicized species. This is where the ethics part came in.

Venus' Fly Traps are a very small species of plant. The specimens that I encountered were only about 3-5 inches high (without the flower) and scattered among wire grass and other plants. The group consisted of a dense center population that radiated outwards with surrounding smaller individuals. As a result, this all made photographing any of the plants very difficult. I have been fortunate enough to discover several 'rare' species in the field and each time the event has been accompanied by a sense of anxiety due to the pressure to make a great image and not destroy the population at the same time. After studying the group of fly traps for some time I decided that it might be very difficult to make any kind of special photo unless I was willing to risk damaging some of the surrounding plants –which I was not– so instead I decided to focus on some of the smaller, outlying plants. As a nature photographer, it is often very easy to get caught up in the moment and lose sight of what it is that you actually photographing. However, no photographic opportunity justifies the destruction of a particular subject. In the end, I am happy with my images and I feel elated to have finally seen such an amazing plant in a place that it has grown for millions of years.

Developing a Photographic Narrative

One of the greatest challenges that most photographers face –and I am certainly no exception– is finding a way to trim down a potential image to its most basic elements while still retaining enough appealing information that it doesn't lose its intrigue. I refer to this as developing a "photographic narrative." I believe that really strong images should always tell some type of story and at least provide a jumping-off point that will spark the viewers imagination. You want to "dangle a carrot" for the viewer so that you might prompt him/her to ponder about an image time and time again. A great and famous example of this would be the Mona Lisa. Why is this painting still be adored hundreds of years after it was created? I personally don't believe it has as much to do with the quality of the painting as with the fact that folks are drawn into the narrative that Da Vinci cleverly –and surely knowingly– injected into the painting with Mona Lisa's famous smile. We all want to know what she is smiling about, right?

A couple of nights ago I went out for a walk just before sunset. A nice rain had just passed through and a low mist had begun to hang over the field. I was just about to come in for the night when I noticed something odd surrounding the post of one of the old bluebird boxes nearby. As I came closer, I immediately recognized that the odd shape was in fact a black rat snake (my third encounter this spring) that had tightly coiled its body around the post and was working its way up to the nest box (the birds had just fledged). I ran inside to grab my camera gear and came back out with a a great determination to illustate the story of the snake and the box; predator and prey. I photographed the scene with a 20mm wide-angle lens from above, below and straight on. That didn't work. The sky was too washed out and the angle too severe. Next I tried zooming in and shooting from afar but still nothing was working. Meanwhile, the sun was quickly setting and the snake was getting tired of being gawked at. How could I show this powerful predator inching its way for what it hoped might be an evening meal? Then it occurred to me that I should just focus on the form of the animal. The bluebird house was a nice addition but it only served to distract the me from the crux of the shot. By now the snake was fairly calm, and it was fairly cool outside, so I moved within a couple of feet and carefully composed the shot. I became excited as I looked through the view-finder at the snake. It was easy to imagine that it was a piece of sculpture. The field looked great, the reflected sunset on the snake's dew-covered scales appeared iridescent, while the post now became an anchor within the image. It also would provide something for viewers to question and wonder about. I was reminded of my new mantras "Cut out the clutter" and "Create a Narrative." In the end, I may not have created anything like the Mona Lisa but for me, I know that I created a better image by having the willingness to focus in on what really mattered and develop a narrative.

Clay

Photographing Carolina Bays

Last year I began making photographs in one of the most unique and biologically rich preserves in South Carolina: The Lewis Ocean Bay Heritage Preserve in Horry County, near Conway, SC. This is a very long name for a sprawling 9300 preserve that is packed with orchids, irises and a variety of other rare and extremely photogenic plant and animal species including the world famous Venus' Fly Trap. The LOBHP contains several 'Carolina Bays' which are mysterious elliptical depressions that range from three acres to over a mile in length.

Carolina Bays were really not discovered until 1933 when an aerial photographic survey was conducted over the Carolinas and Georgia. Two University of Oklahoma professors –Doctors Melton and Schriever– observed the images and were the first to really document the number of bays. Although they range from New Jersey to Florida, the bays are primarily found in South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia. Because of the unique elliptical shape of the bays and the fact that they are all rimmed with sand banks on their southeastern edges, many scientists believe that they were formed by asteroids. Others researchers tend to believe that erosion led to their creation.

When I visit the bays I try to arrive as early as possible to beat the harsh sun and wind that makes photographing the many orchids and pitcher-plants extremely difficult. Early morning is also a great time to spot animals as the preserves are brimming with wildlife including black bears, bobcats and abundant bird-life. LOBHP is mainly composed of dense evergreen shrub bogs (known as pocosins) and long leaf pine savannas. These moist, open areas are easier to access for photography and I have spent many visits in an area smaller than an acre.

I will be visiting the preserve again in a few days and am really looking forward to exploring deeper into the pocosins and surrounding ecotones in hope of photographing venus-fly traps. The preserve can be intimidating if you don't know where you're going (and I really don't) so a lot of looking around is required. However, I never go home without a few really nice images and each time I visit I am able to zero-in of where the best places to explore are. I'll let you know what turns up!

Clay

Top 10 Macro Photography Blogs and Websites

I've gathered a list of my Top 10 favorite macro photography blogs and websites. Certain selections are included because of the photographic artistry and others because of the great how-to information that can be found on the page.

Oregon Wild
Oregon Wild is a wonderful blog by nature photographer Michael Durham. Although everything on the blog doesn't deal directly with macro, a great portion of it does and the conversational tone that is presented by Mr. Durham makes for a very interesting read.

Insect Photography
This is the website of one of the most brilliant macro photographers on the scene, Piotr Naskrecki. I am always inspired by his work and believe that you will be too. His book, "The Smaller Majority" should be on the bookshelf of every inspiring nature photographer.

Macro Art in Nature
Fellow South Carolinian Michael Brown shares his thoughts about macro photography and art in his blog entitled Macro Art in Nature. His work has a lovely, impressionistic feel that is both beautiful and intriguing.

Plonsky Photo
This is a fantastic site for folks who just beginning to become interested in macro photography and want to learn how too improve their technical know-how. Dr. Plonksy's work is very technical in nature for those of you who are looking for a more scientific approach to macro.

Beetles in the Bush
This blog is like a walk in the woods. I enjoy reading about Missouri entomologist Ted M.'s daily adventures in nature and photography. I believe that you will too!

Insect Macro Photography
Insect Macro Photography is a website by Pennsylvania macro photographer Paul McNelis which contains both an original, ongoing collection of bug photos taken since 2005 as well as a daily blog about the insects that he encounters in the field.

Myrmecos Blog
This is an informative blog with lots of biological info that those of you with an interest in natural sciences will really enjoy. It is the creation of University of Arizona biologist Alex Wild who uses macro photography as part of scientific work on the evolutionary history of insect groups.

Mark Moffet - Portfolio
Although Dr. Mark Moffett, AKA Dr. Bugs, doesn't have a blog, his photography is absolutely incredible. He is the Indiana Jones of the Insect Photography world and his travels have allowed him to make some really great images. This is his portfolio at Minden Pictures. He is also happens to be a very nice guy and was kind of enough to answer some of my most basic questions when I began my journey several years ago.

Mitsuhiko Imamori - Portfolio
Mitsuhiko Imamori is one of my favorite macro photographers. I really enjoy the subtlety in his work and the dreamlike quality of many of his photographs. He is also represented by Minden Pictures.

Macro-Photography-Blog
The is a blog for the casual macro photographer who just enjoys getting closer to nature and seeing the world from a different perspective.

Hope you all enjoy visiting these sites as much as I have. If you have any more suggestions please let me know!

Room to Roam

The more time that I spend photographing animals in the field, the more that I've begun to pull away from the tight, crisp, maximum depth-of-field shots that I used to make early-on in my career. Initially, I was so intrigued by what I was photographing that I failed to capture much more than just a shell of subject. It took me a while to realize that there were so many folks who literally had thousands of scientifically accurate photographs in their files of just about anything that I could imagine. It also didn't take long for me to realize that the photographs that I was selling –that really grabbed viewer's attention– were not the perfectly sharp, show-it-all type of images. Jim Brandenburg certainly had a great influence on this departure in my work through his masterpiece, Looking for Summer but it was only this year that I believe that I've finally 'let go' of worrying about making images to fit a certain niche. My subject-matter is still –and I suspect will always be– nature based but I don't worry so much about getting it all in focus. What I'm looking forward is narrative, imagination and passion in my work. In order to reach their maximum potential, every artist must come to a place where he or she realizes that there will only ever be one of themselves in this world and that they will be doing the everyone a disservice if they deny their own unique voice.

I photographed this black rat-snake last weekend on a photo hike with my friend and fellow photographer Greg Kiniry. It was hard not to go in tight on this beautiful creature at first, but as it worked its way toward the rock I anticipated that there might be an opportunity to do something special. Although I had captured several frames before this image presented itself I knew that I wanted to keep the snake small in the frame and give him room to move through its environment. For me, there is a beauty in the image's simplicity that is both closer to what might encounter in the wild and also somewhat symbolic –not intentionally– of where I am at in my life. I don't want to be boxed in. I need room to expand; to grow. I am excited about this turn in my photographic experience and feel that I'm finally hitting my stride.

Pencil-Case Bean Bag for Macro

As usual, in pursuit of inexpensive camera supplies I set out to find a good alternative to commercial grade photography bean bags.

To those of you who are new to macro, bean bags are very a useful tool for subjects that lie very low to the ground. Even if you are fortunate enough to own a tripod that can be adjusted to lie quite flat, some subjects remain either too delicate or too short to work well with a tripod. Therefore, the next best solution is a bean bag. It is a very simple and easy-to-use tool that will often reward the photographer sharp images that would otherwise be impossible to make. To use the bean-bag you simply place it near your subject, sit the camera on top and apply pressure with both hands while pressing the shutter. It is (sounds as) simple as that.

One would think that finding a bean bag would be really simple in any craft store or mega-mart but I found this to not be the case. The ones that I did find were just too small for my purposes. To be useful, you really need a bag that is somewhere in the neighborhood of approximately 8" x 10" (for a pro grade slr). You also need a bag that can be sufficiently thick enough to allow your camera to sink into the beans, pebbles, etc. that fill the bag. So, the solution turned out to be a $3.00 jumbo pencil case from the school supplies aisle at my local grocery store. Not only is it cheap, tough and affordable but it also didn't require me to alter it any way– I had considered sewing my own. Another bonus is that it is really handy for carrying filters, etc when I'm traveling and I can remove the beans before packing to avoid unnecessary weight. When I arrive in a location where the bag will be needed I can simply stop by any supermarket and purchase some dry beans to fill it up. Also, I can use the beans to make a trail so that I don't get lost in the woods or feed an angry bean-eating bear on the attack. Okay, those two scenarios only happen 3-5 times a year but you get the idea.

Hope this helps.

Clay