The information above this caption and below this image is what is known as Metadata or what I refer to as Contact Information. This is embedded in each image when I put this through my digital photography software, Apple’s Aperture. This information is hidden and is only viewable if you have a program like Apple’s Preview which is what I used to open this information.

To start off I uploaded about a dozen images I shot of my sister teaching an art workshop while I was home in Duluth this past week. When I uploaded these images to my computer, from my camera’s SD card, my photo program Aperture automatically embeds all my Metadata/Contact Information in to each image.  That info includes my copyright info, physical address, email, web address, phone number, year the image was first published and all the other items commonly added on Import in to Aperture. Some programs show all Contact Information, however Apple’s Preview shows just the basics which are visible above. The photo above was an image I exported from Aperture onto my desktop

Here is the same image after I drug the photo to my desktop from my Flickr page. Notice all Metadata/Contact Info has been removed compared to the one above. If you review the first image above, look for the tab that says IPTC. That is where Contact Information resides and it’s gone form this photo.

and then opened in Preview. The image below is the same image after it was uploaded to Flickr. I then drug this image from the Flickr web site to my desktop, opened it in Preview and found all Metadata/Contact Information had been removed. What’s even more unsettling is Flickr is allowing the highest quality files to be uploaded. You can actually upload a full resolution image to Flickr now. This will give people the ability to pull these images down and use them in magazines, posters, web pages, books, calendars, ANYTHING they want. And nobody will have any idea who owns YOUR image. Flickr does have some options for restricting downloads but even their FAQ warns against posting any photos you don’t want to loose control over. Here is the info from their FAQ This is from the FAQ:

“We’ve made changes to the page to discourage casual downloading and make people more aware of image ownership …. by ‘discourage’ we do mean simply ‘discourage’. Please understand that if a photo can be viewed in a web browser, it can be downloaded by people who actively disregard our roadblocks.”

As beautiful as the new Flickr is, I’ll be sticking with my PhotoShelter account for all my photos other than the people pictures I shoot of our guests in the field. If you do plan to upload images to Flickr I would certainly not upload any image larger than 600 pixels on the long side, I would also make certain it had a watermark on the image itself and I would Register all images with the US Copyright Office. You can find out about adding watermarks and registering your photos by following this link, How to Protect Your Photo Rights

Adobe’s new Creative Cloud subscription model for Photoshop and Creative Suite

With this in mind there are have been a lot of photographers wondering what other options there might be. Awhile back I wrote about my favorite anti-Photoshop program called Pixelmator. With this question on the mind of many, DPReview has put together a list of programs you might want to consider if you’ve decided you’re not a subscription type buyer. They offer ten other options aside from Adobe’s Photoshop. Take a look and let me know what you think of these options. For me it’s been an easy decision since I’ve never used Photoshop and have always felt it was bloated and overly expensive. Are you planning to buy into the subscription model for Photoshop and other Creative Suite programs? Add your voice here.

The Bozeman Hawks host a regional track and field meet in Bozeman, Montana. Click on the image to see a series of track and field images captured with the GH3 in predictive AF.

I’ve uploaded every image I shot so you can see how difficult it is for the photographer to keep the GH3 on the target. Any image where there is no dog in the frame is a situation where the dog bolted out of view, either left or right, and due to not being able to see that movement, the frame is missing the subject. As you’ll see, this happened several times. It also happened with the track athletes but not nearly as often since they were so much slower than the dogs.

Here is the link to the GH3 test on Track Athletes.

Here is the link to the Gh3 test on running dogs.

Tired pooch takes a break

Click here to view the embedded video.

Daniel:

Whether images have rights-based or other metadata embedded was one of the points that we brought up in the original “Metadata Manifesto” that was distributed at the Microsoft Pro Photo Summit in 2006 on behalf of the Stock Artists Alliance. It was also the point of a survey we conducted on the major stock agencies (like Getty, Corbis, etc.) in 2007/2008 as part of the Photometadata project, so I guess you could say that I’m intimately aware of the issue. 

Mark Zuckerberg of FaceBook

Canon’s soon to be released 200-400 F/4 Super Zoom. Notice the bump on the right side at the rear of the lens. This is the space taken up by the built-in teleconverter.

Admittedly, there’s at least one new technological feature being promoted that sounds mostly positive and targeted to the Video/Cinematographer crowd. The Canon Press Release states, “The Power Focus (PF) mode also increases versatility during movie shooting with the EOS-1D C or EOS-1D X, enabling photographers to achieve an accurate pull-focus effect at one of two speeds, simply by twisting the focus recall ring and stopping at a pre-set distance.” Actually, that feature sounds pretty desirable if you’re shooting video, but that rules out a lot of the folks we travel with. Other than that it’s weather sealed, has four stops of IS for low light shooting, and uses a special coating for front and back elements that repel dust. That’s about it. Nothing earth shaking other than the price. So here are some thoughts on how this might go over.

I’m currently working on another blog post highlighting my recent experience with the Nikon’s new 80-400mm zoom. I’ve shot close to five thousand frames with it on my recent trip to the Galapagos Islands and Peru.  The new Nikkor 80-400mm is selling for $2700. Without incorporating that post into this one, let me just give you the title of that upcoming article. It is, Nikon’s Newest Super Zoom is Simply Spectacular!  I won’t give any more details other than to say,  I currently have a Nikkor 200-400 F/4 for sale. Give me a call if your looking for an amazing lens.

Click here to view the embedded video.

My response to the Copyright Killings podcast.

Great job folks on a very important subject. I appreciate your work in this area. One of the issues I honestly believe is working against getting more interest in this subject is the term METADATA. The average Joe, non-professional or serious enthusiast photographer, has no idea what Metadata is and doesn’t care and when the word pops up Joe falls asleep. I’ve been discussing the subject of stripping Metadata/Contact Information at length with those who will listen and I always make a point to replace metadata with the words Contact Information. Everybody knows what Contact Information is and everybody would love to be contacted if someone wants to use their photo.

At the 34:50 point in the conversation David Diamond does an admirable job trying to get Mr. Steidl to discuss how the stripping of Contact Information effects the average Internet user who posts their images to Facebook. Unfortunately, Mr. Steidl misinterprets the question or maybe it was a language barrier; either way the message of how this effects the average Joe was not discussed.

What should have been mentioned was the danger to the average person who is just a casual poster to FB and how they could lose control of their photos with them being used in ways they don’t approve. As was discussed earlier in the conversation, maybe a family photo is used by a a corporation for an ad that the casual FB photographer had no idea was being used. Maybe it’s an ad for something they would find extremely offensive like smoking, Viagra, children trafficking or whatever. The point is, even though you may not be a professional photographer, any image that is void of Contact Information is at risk. We need to make sure the general public understands this. Without the support of ALL people taking pictures, our voice will be unheard. 

I’m working with ASMP in organizing a roundtable on this very important subject at the PhotoPlus Expo this fall in New York. I’m hopeful we’ll have a huge turnout. 

Sincerely, Daniel J. Cox

Help support the little guy. Checkout the Digital Demo and Sale at Hunts Photo today and tomorrow.

]]> http://www.naturalexposures.com/corkboard/our-friends-at-hunts-photo-digital-demo-and-sale/feed/ 0 http://www.naturalexposures.com/corkboard/uk-gov-passes-instagram-act-all-your-pics-belong-to-everyone-now/ http://www.naturalexposures.com/corkboard/uk-gov-passes-instagram-act-all-your-pics-belong-to-everyone-now/#comments Thu, 02 May 2013 14:08:56 +0000 Daniel J. Cox http://www.naturalexposures.com/corkboard/?p=4671 Good grief! Photographers just took another hit in favor of corporations who may want to hijack your images for their own personal gain. The Register, a leading global online tech publication, just released an article detailing a new law passed in the UK . In short, the law allows anybody, any corporation, any entity wanting to use ANY photo, for ANY reason, to use that photo without first getting permission from the photographer.

Click on this image to read more about my work to help stop the thievery of our photographs.

This issue relates to what I’ve been blogging about in the past concerning online publishers stripping all Contact Information (known as Metadata) from our photos when we upload them to the web. Major offenders include Facebook, Thompson/Reuters, Instagram and almost all other websites. The norm across the Internet, it seems, is most websites strip ALL contact information/metadata out of the photo that you should be adding. When this information is removed, the photo now becomes known as an “orphaned work” meaning nobody has any idea who owns it. Orphaned works, under this new UK law, are now up for grabs. The law even goes so far as to allow the THIEF to now resell that image. In other words, a stock photo agency could literally comb the Internet for orphaned works, grab those images and start selling them with no payment to the photographer. Admittedly, any reputable stock agency would not do that for many reasons, but there are plenty of other corporations, that use lots of images and are currently paying money to photographers to use their work that would. With this new law they can now skip the payment for photo usage. Nice…………….. Below are a couple of paragraphs of text copied directly from the Register’s article. This bullshit is a flipping nightmare and it has to stop. Please share this article with anyone you know. Not just professional photographers. Your party pictures are as much at risk as my entire thirty-year library of professional work.

The following text was taken as short examples directly from Andrew Orlowski‘s article for the The Register.

The Act contains changes to UK copyright law which permit the commercial exploitation of images where information identifying the owner is missing, so-called “orphan works”, by placing the work into what’s known as “extended collective licensing” schemes. Since most digital images on the internet today are orphans – the metadata is missing or has been stripped by a large organisation – millions of photographs and illustrations are swept into such schemes.

Previously, and in most of the world today, ownership of your creation is automatic, and legally considered to be an individual’s property. That’s enshrined in the Berne Convention and other international treaties, where it’s considered to be a basic human right. What this means in practice is that you can go after somebody who exploits it without your permission – even if pursuing them is cumbersome and expensive.

The UK coalition government’s new law reverses this human right. When last year Instagram attempted to do something similar, it met a furious backlash. But the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act has sailed through without most amateurs or semi-professionals even realising the consequences.

This is the lead image for the story that starts on page 18. Click on the photo to be taken directly to the MagCloud digital edition.

You can download a copy electronically as well as purchase a high quality printed version if you choose. The presentation is by MagCloud, an HP company that I’m happy to say is offering published works in a very environmentally friendly way. I’m a firm believer that all books and magazines should be electronic with an option for people to pay for a hard copy if they want. If printed on an as-needed basis, fewer trees are harvested for publications that nobody may has any interest in. There are a host of other great articles in this issue, so don’t just turn to page 18 for my piece. Check it all out and if you enjoy the outdoors and photography, give some thought to signing up and becoming a member of this great organization. Please share with this with your friends and loved ones. Thanks for your support.

I’m confident Apple’s Aperture will be a huge step forward. Be patient – we want them to get it right. Photo courtesy of Apple, Inc.

A little history is in order for perspective. First of all, none of us should forget that it was Apple who FORCED Adobe to bring out Lightroom. Before Apple’s Aperture was released we were all virtually mandated to spend a ridiculous  amount of money on Photoshop – a program that has more appeal to designers than actual photographers, built from the ground up to facilitate creating images as opposed to capturing images. It’s a terrific tool for the commercial world but for general photography and journalism it’s complete overkill.

Aperture on the other hand was the first truly professional program that gave the photographer the tools to TWEAK an image, not completely change it. It gave us powerful database features, integrated beautifully with virtually all of the other Apple programs and eventually became a steal at only $79.00 for such tremendously powerful software. I actually switched from MS-Windows machines to Apple specifically due to Aperture and I’ve become a tremendous fan of all that Apple has done for the creative world and computing.

That said, when Aperture was first released it wasn’t ready for prime time and it took only a few weeks for me to move over to Lightroom. That was nearly ten years ago. Two years ago I switched back over to a superbly updated Aperture and though I miss a few features in Lightroom, I’m very pleased with Aperture’s tremendous power and ease of use.

So even though I’m excited to see what’s coming to Aperture next, I want even more to know that it’s completely ready for the real world. I’m confident Apple is taking their time to make certain it’s as good as it should be. I’m also guessing it will have some major changes, possibly as radical as Apple’s recently updated Final Cut Pro X video editing software. I know many cinematographers who gave up on FCP and switched to Adobe Premier when Apple updated FCPX. However, I know an equal number of folks who stayed with FCPX and are now raving about the benefits of Apple’s forward thinking.

That’s Apple’s genius. They think out of the box which pushes new ideas out into the world. Their ideas are not always immediate block busters but look how long it took for them to even become a major player in the computer world. They think differently than most and not everybody is excited about new and different ideas. Almost nobody likes change, but sometimes it’s the best thing you can do. I’m confident the updated Aperture 4, Aperture X or whatever they choose to call it will be worth the wait.

Like wildfire spreading across the web, photographers contact information, known as Metadata, is being destroyed as you upload your photos to some of the world’s most popular social media sites as well as the world’s largest news organizations including Thompson/Reuters. Help retain YOUR rights to YOUR photos. You own them and should be able to keep your contact information in place.

This all was a result of the issue I had with Thompson/ Reuters news agency last summer. You can read about that here. If any of you know the appropriate people, have suggestions, or are the folks we need input from, please send me that information. I’m hopeful through social networking we can make this happen. Our goal is not to litigate but to educate. We all need to work on this together to get it done. Please help.

PS – The uploading of the image above to MY WordPress Blog stripped all contact info/metadata from this image. I’m now trying to figure out why. All photos I’ve been uploading to my blog for the past several years apparently were being stripped of all the information I’ve been screaming about. This is how pervasive this problem is. Even in my frustrated state of bouncing off the ceiling the web is giving me the shaft. I had never checked my images uploaded to the blog. They are all missing the contact info/metadata that I always embedded in them. This is crazy!

Steve Amstrup, Daniel Cox and Bob Elliott at the Boca Grande Community Center for Dan and Steve’s presentation on the ADP and PBI. The multi-media event was in association with Gasparilla Island Conservation & Improvement Association.

Steve is really the perfect person to be delivering this message. He’s such a personable guy, with a wealth of first-hand knowledge on the subject of climate change. He originally didn’t believe in the changes himself but was convinced after studying the science that was being produced by other world-class experts that he had a high degree of respect for.  His delivery is straight-forward, non-judgemental and easy to understand. He won many converts the night of our talk at the Boca Grande Community Center.

Campaign Monitor’s image uploading service was stripping all Contact Information known as Metadata from photos. After contacting them they immediately looked in to the issue and I’m happy to say they changed their policy and technology to stop the stripping. One small victory. One million more to go.

I’m pleased to say we’ve had one small but significant victory. Recently we sent out one of our promotional emails we call Natural Notes. Each Natural Note contains a favorite image of mine. Little did I know, in the process of uploading the images used in our Natural Note emails, the email company we’re using, Campaign Monitor, was stripping all Contact Information from our pictures. This was brought to my attention after a good friend of ours, Susan McElhinney of the National Wildlife Federation, contacted me. Susan and I had lunch a day earlier and I mentioned to her this issue all photographers are facing. During our lunch I shared with her the situation that took place last summer with Thompson Reuters. Susan pulled the photo of the flying puffin from the email to her desktop, opened it, and found it contained NO Contact Information. We contacted Campaign Monitor and they’ve done their part to help all photographers retain the rights to their images. Click on this link to find out how you can preserve your Photo Rights.

A collection of images from my three days at the conference.

For me, NANPA has been an on-again, off-again affair for many years. In theory it was always a great idea but for numerous reasons, I just never embraced the organization as much as I really wanted to. This year may be the turning point for my interest in what really has the potential to be a powerful and FUN group of like-minded individuals who congregate due to a mutual love of photography and the outdoors.

Gone was the often palpable undercurrent of extreme egos. Many of the noted names in the wildlife field were missing. Not once did I see or experience the animosity and antagonism outwardly exhibited at NANPA conferences of the past. It made for a much more relaxing, enjoyable and productive atmosphere and left me feeling like NANPA’s time may finally be coming into its own.

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The positive experience most certainly came from the top down, and that was evident by the superb organization we saw this year headed by Jamie Konarski Davidson, Susan Day and Bill Campbell. There were lots of others doing their part to make it all run smooth such as Eric Bowles, Gary Farber, Margaret Gaines, John Lock, Gabby Salazar, Mark Lukes, John Nuhn, Gina Dorworth, Marcy Monkman, Cindy Svec, Sharon Cohen Powers, Julie Schmidt and Jeffery Davidson. My goodness, just typing this list makes me wince. An event this large is a ton of work.

For me, the highlight of the conference was seeing my colleague Art Wolfe work his magic during his presentation for his Lifetime Achievement Award. His presentation, as usual, was filled with amazing imagery, dozens of belly laughs, insightful thoughts and sincere warmth.

Art Wolfe presenting during his Life Time Achievement Award. NANPA 2013 Conference in Jacksonville, Florida

Robert Glen Ketchum presented an amazing body of work coordinated with the sounds of the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra. I was told there were over 1100 people from the Jacksonville community that came out for this performance. What a phenomenal way to get the NANPA name out in front of the general public.

A NANPA conference wouldn’t be complete without reaching out to local NANPA members from within. Friday evening with Clyde Butcher, the grand old man of the Florida swamps, proved to be a spectacular show for all those in attendance. Finally, James Balog’s tireless work to document the melting glaciers of the world was on stage in a big way with a private screening of his new movie Chasing The Ice.

There were a lot of others offering their expertise to the several hundred NANPA members in attendance. It began with Advance Your Skills Boot Camp lead by Lewis Kemper, George Lepp, Tony Sweet, Mike Moats and Greg Downing. The last day included several workshops on ways to Advance Your Business as a working pro or individuals who are interested in earning income from photography. John Harrington gave one of the most amazing tutorials on negotiating contracts I have ever seen and I’ve been to a lot of seminars on this exact subject. He was terrific.

George Lepp checks a print from a Canon large format printer at the Canon booth.

The exhibit hall had a great collection of vendors though I was astounded at the names that were missing. Where in the heck was Nikon? Canon was there in a big way. They had all their huge glass, a sample or two of all models of the more serious cameras, one of their large format printers and  three or four staff to handle all of the questions. I am just astounded at the support Canon gives the conservation community and I offer my deepest respect and appreciation for what they do.

Carlos from the Olympus booth showing off the Olympus Micro Four Thirds system.

Olympus was showing their newest models in the Micro Four Thirds world. Sigma had a grand booth and my goodness, Sigma has some amazing new lenses. The newest 120-300 F/2.8 looks and feels equal to or better than any lens I’ve seen from ANY camera manufacturer in the business today. Sigma is becoming a force to be reckoned with. What a beautiful lens. Now if they would just give us Image Stabilization in that monster 300-800 zoom they have.

Dave Koerner at the MK Controls booth.

Also in attendance were smaller vendors such as MK Controls, the folks that make the Lightning Bug™, an automated shutter trigger system
used to photograph lightning and fireworks.

Sam Sheng shows off his products of large format photo books.

Cosmos BLS was in attendace showing their line of high quality books they’ve done for self-publishing photographers.

Patty Sullivan of Acratech shows off one of their ball heads at the Acratech booth.

Acratech had a booth with a dozen or more products that defy the traditional ball head concept.

Doug Bush and Daniel Beltra at their MindShift booth showcasing their new pack.

Mindshift Gear was showing off the new combination backpack/fanny pack they’re in the process of bringing to market. The quality material and craftsmanship of this product is better than anything I’ve seen in camera packs on the market.

Gary Farber of Hunt’s Photo, longtime NANPA supporter takes a second for a breather near his booth.

Gary Farber from Hunt’s Photo was there as usual, seemingly always on the job. If there is any harder worker in the world of photo sales I’ve not met them. I had a chance to stop and say hello to Gary and he was as easygoing and enjoyable to talk to as ever. If you’re buying all your gear from B&H or Amazon, give Gary a try. He works tirelessly and is a super nice guy. All that and his prices are very competitive.

CamRanger booth, Melissa Ryckman and her Aunt Maureen show the new iPad and remote control device. Sorry for the camera shake here from my iPhone. My Lumix GX1′s battery died on me and I had to pull out my phone. It was a great test to see that as good as the iPhone 5 is, it doesn’t hold a candle to the GX1.

CamRanger had a booth where they were highlighting their new iPad app that allows you to run a Nikon or Canon camera remotely. Their booth was swamped and I just about didn’t get one of their new devices. It’s a great new tool for the images we all want to capture where the animals are completely unaware of our camera’s presence. The iPad app allows you to logon to your Nikon or Canon camera to see the image the camera sees and to fire as well as change almost all controls remotely. It created quite a stir. I bought one for my Nikons although I hesitated slightly since my new Panasonic GH3 has this exact same feature built directly within the body itself. With the Cam Ranger I’ll have the same capabilities for both systems.

Miriam Stein catches up with John Martin of The Pro Tour of Nature Photography.

John Martin from the Images for Conservation Fund was on the job again this year. John is one of the best sales guys I’ve ever met and I mean that in nothing but a positive manner. He’s as enthusiastic as anyone you’ll ever meet about the possibilities to photograph wildlife and nature in the wilds of Texas and he does it in a soft and gentle southern way with a big smile and lots of laughter. I just have to find the time to head south and take him up on the offer to comes see his prized ranches that have amazing wildlife photography opportunities.

Gregory Schern of Gura Gear shows one of the Gura Gear camera packs.

Gura Gear was sharing some space with the folks from NatureScapes. Gregory Schern from Gura Gear seems to be a terrific guy. He and I had some great conversations about how to try and snare better sponsorship for NANPA. I’m hopeful to continue that conversation over the next few months. He had a deep collection of his new bags in a couple of different colors.

Barry Walton at his booth showing off his new ultra portable projection screen.

Barry Walton was showing his invention of a portable, easy to break down and transport, multimedia screen. I plan to buy one of these devices for the ability to have something to project on in the field. Take a look, it’s quite portable and is made of a material with considerably better attributes for a quality image compared to something like a wall or bed sheet. Yes, I’ve used both walls and bedsheets for teaching the ins and outs of Aperture and Lightroom.

Miriam Stien and Tom Curley of Panasonic.

Panasonic sent down long-time professional and industry rep Thomas Curley to investigate the possibilities. We had a nice dinner with Tom one evening where I was able to share some of my thoughts on the Lumix line of cameras I’ve been shooting for the past four years. Tom was with Fuji for many, many years and was recently hired by Panasonic to lead a new department dedicated to professionals.

John Gunter discusses the Cape Churchill Trip by Frontiers North Adventure

Frontier’s North Adventures had their beautiful booth on full display. John Gunter was on the job showing NANPA members the tremendous opportunities FNA offers for those wanting the ultimate experience in polar bear viewing at the Llegendary Cape Churchill. John and I spent about an hour one afternoon showing photos, answering questions and announcing free key lime pie that was being handed out right next to our presentation area. Man, polar bears and key lime pie were an appealing combination for attracting people to the show.

I finally got a chance to meet our friends from Nik Software including Laurie Shupp. Laurie was there showing the amazing Nik Software that I’ve been working with for several years now. My favorite option in the Nik software is their U-Point Technology. It’s a phenomenal tool for making subtle to radical changes in your images. I’m more interested in the subtle options which allows me creative control normally provided by Photoshop. Not being a fan of Photoshop, Nik, along with Aperture and Pixelmator, give me all the tools I need to fine-tune my pictures. When I say fine-tune, I’m talking about tweaking color balance, reducing highlights, increasing detail in shadows, sharpening and other traditional methods of finalizing an image for publication.  She had all the options such as Viveza, Nik Sharpener, HDR PRO and several others. The Nik plugins for Aperture are my favorite way to work with Nik. Oh, I almost forgot Snapseed. Fabulous piece of software for the iPad.

The portfolio & editorial review program was back by popular demand. This program allows a photographer to have a 30 minute critique session for a portfolio of images with a NANPA professional photographer, editor or agent. This has always been a popular part of the NANPA experience. Some of the reviewers included John Nuhn, Photo Editor of National Wildlife Magazine, Rob Shepard who was an editor for many years at Outdoor Photographer, Miriam Stein, freelance photo editor for National Geographic books and children’s publications and Stacy Frank from Minden Pictures. All these folks and many others are professionals in the field of photography and provided an exceptional service to NANPA members.

Visit NANPA.or and see the beniftis for yourself. Make a commitment to become a better photographer and conservationist in one fell swoop. Just click on this image to be taken to the NANPA web site.

I’m full of hope for NANPA. The positive things they could accomplish are literally infinite. The time is right for this organization to use its numbers and influence to help attract the tens of thousands, possibly millions, of new photographers who have embraced the love of digital photography. Gone are the days of a few individuals roaming the planet, documenting the natural world, then returning with their pictures to share with others via magazines books and maybe a calendar or two.

Today, the readers and viewers of the past are now the photographers themselves. It may be a challenge to see how our natural world  can handle more and more individuals wanting to experience what we professionals have been seeing for decades. But it’s a challenge we have to embrace and work with. The value of creating a world of nature enthusiasts is just too great to ignore.

If you haven’t thought about joining NANPA in the past, give it some thought now. If we could build the numbers of this organization it could truly do some wonderful things. I’m hopeful their step towards the direction of embracing conservation issues is one that will continue to flourish. If not I may rethink my enthusiasm. But if enough of us join to encourage them to follow this path as well as join them in their quest to teach and mentor, it could be a great thing for everybody involved. I had a great time and you could do the same at the next conference.

Take a look at the NANPA organization for yourself and make a commitment to become a better photographer and conservationist all in one fell swoop.

International Polar Bear Day. Join Polar Bears International in their Thermostat Challenge by clicking on this photo.

This subject is hard to believe but unfortunately it’s true. People who hide from this subject or worse yet, refute the science, are doing so at their own risk. Polar bears are just the tip of the iceberg, no pun intended unfortunately.