The Seneca Army Depot (in Seneca County, New York State) has been held by the US Army from the Second World War to the Gulf War. One of the great impacts of a US Army closed location is that wild animals are mostly out of reach and live quietly with minimal interaction with humans. In this case, the phenomenon was completed with the fact that some of the deers in the Conservation Area have an albino gene which makes their hair completely white.

While this is not unheard of, this is a clear disadvantage in terms of protection against most predators (starting with Man). But the situation led to the development of what is thought to be the world’s largest herd of white deers.

Pictures by Kevin Colton

It would be fun to have a photo trip there. But I understand that this is not possible for now.

The leopard seal is really a big predator (check its size on the photos) and it’s perfectly adapted to its environment (much more than a man in a diving suit). But this one, not only let National Geographic photographer Paul Nicklen shoot great pictures, but tried to help him by feeding him live penguins.

Melissa Brandt just wanted to take a photo of her husband and herself. But, as it happens sometimes, an intruder came into the frame. Except that this time it is a ground squirrel from Banff National Park who came checking the photo camera.

It has been revealed by a scientific study that ecotourists (and certainly wildlife photographers like you and me are falling in this category) are actually much more disturbing to wildlife than initially supposed. As written by New Scientist, “The sound of even a quiet conversation caused the birds [hoatzins in the Amazonian forest] to begin clucking and defecating – a common defense response – at longer approach distances than for quiet approaches.”

So, if you want to make a good photo, if you want to limit your impact on Nature when shooting photos, forget about speaking, concentrate on the image and think about not frightening your models. Shouldn’t that be the a natural way to approach wildlife photography?

photo credit: Veronique Debord

Nature photography and wildlife photography are two specialities that can be classified as difficult. Here, nothing beats advice from great photographers. This is why I noticed those two great articles, though they are very different:

1. Mark Godfrey explains on Nature.org how are made some superb nature images. The pictures are permanent in their classic vibrance and shiny light.
2. Nearly at the other end of the spectrum, and bizarrely complementary, I read Erwan Balança offering us a different view, a call for a more subtle wildlife photography. Probably a harder goal to reach but trying to reach out for the senses of the spectator: La photo animalière, une spécialité exigeante (in French).

Here are three photos I shot last Sunday during a visit to the Lake Der-Chantecoq.

Great Crested Grebe, backlit	Great Crested Grebe in the sunrise	Duck, flying, backlit
Click on the thumbnails to enlarge them

If you want to only watch the photographs, you can merely ask for a large format print on RedBubble (or a simple card).

But I think that the story of these three photos is a good example of what I (sometimes) succeed in doing in photography. Let me tell you this story.
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There, you will find quite a collection of amazing images of snow flakes and water cristals taken with microscopes.