Ethics and the Nature Photographer

Experience has taught most of us to expect a certain amount of frustration in attempts to photograph birds, plants, or pretty much anything else in the natural world. Birds don’t sit still or come out into the open, and inevitably a breeze will kick up just as we’re about to get the perfect picture of a wildflower. The question becomes, what lengths are we willing to go to, in the efforts to snag that perfect photo? And where do we draw the lines on what’s considered acceptable?

“How we make our images and how we label them defines us as photographers,” cautions Jennifer Leigh Warner, chair of the ethics committee for the North America Nature Photography Association (NANPA). As more people become interested in reconnecting with nature, and as technology expands what is possible in photography, the importance of ethics in photography also increases.

Ms. Warner will discuss “Ethics and the Nature Photographer” at the June HLBWS meeting. Topics to be covered include the importance of social responsibility and maintenance of public trust in the ethical considerations made during the creation of nature-related imagery.

Ms. Warner is an award-winning wildlife, landscape and conservation photographer who lives in Central Texas. Her work has been featured in art festivals, galleries, and museums throughout the United States, and in numerous publications, such as National Geographic Online and Wild Planet Photo Magazine. Ms. Warner also is a certified Texas Master Naturalist.

Doors open at 9:30 a.m. for social time and light refreshments and the business meeting starts at 10:00 a.m. This in-person only event will be held in the AgriLife Extension Service auditorium, 607 N. Vandeveer, in Burnet.