At one point or another, most photographers will embark on a personal project. These projects are ways to more deeply explore a personal passion using photography, whether that be documenting how a single location changes throughout a year, looking for variations on a theme, or recording the health and vitality of a species or habitat. Personal projects can be global or local, big or small, and most assuredly will provide a satisfying and challenging addition to your photography arsenal.
At NANPA’s Nature Photography Summit, February 21 – 23, in Las Vegas, you can take a deep dive into all aspects of personal projects. That’s one more reason to register and get yourself (and your gear) to Vegas this month. Sign up before preregistration closes at midnight, Eastern Time, on Monday, February 4th and take advantage of NANPA’s 25th birthday discount! Use promo code “Happy25” for $75 off a member, non-member, or student full Summit registration.
Lifelong friendships have been made at NANPA Summits! Executive Director, Susan Day and 2019 Summit Program Chair, Kathy Adams Clark at a reception in Albuquerque at the 2009 Summit. Photo by Richard Day.
NANPA Summits are much more than listening to speakers, viewing world-class, jaw-droppingly-awesome photography, and drooling over your next equipment purchase or photo workshop destination. Lifelong friendships and connections have been made from talking to others during lunch, in the halls, or even waiting in restroom lines (I speak first-hand on the last one!)
The countdown to the 2019 Nature Photography Summit and Trade Show in Las Vegas, February 21-23 is on at NANPA HQ! Online registrations for the full summit, one-day passes, Super Sessions, Portfolio Reviews and other tickets close February 4; but no worries if you miss that deadline, because you can still register onsite in Las Vegas.
NANPA turns 25 this year and plans are underway for birthday specials all year long!
Still debating whether you should come to NANPA’s Nature Photography Summit and Trade Show, February 21-23 in Las Vegas? Here are five compelling reasons to pull out your credit card and start making reservations. And, hey, there’s still time to get pre-conference pricing . . . but only ‘till midnight, Sunday, January 20th.
Portfolio reviews are an essential part of growing as a photographer. Sign up for one at NANPA’s 2019 Nature Photography Summit and Trade Show.
A portfolio review is when a professional photographer, photo editor or agent examines and critiques your carefully-curated portfolio of top images. Reviews are often available at photo conferences, including NANPA’s 2019 Nature Photography Summit and Trade Show, where you can sign up for a portfolio review with one of more than 20 top-notch photography professionals. But, why would you want to do this?
Danae Wolfe shows how you can do “Macro on a Budget” in an upcoming NANPA webinar.
Have you made your resolutions for 2019? What will you be doing to grow as a photographer and improve the quality of your work?
We all can find ourselves in a rut. Maybe you’re shooting the same subjects, in the same way, at the same places. Maybe your inspiration or creativity feels tapped out. Maybe you’ve hit a plateau and your photography isn’t improving like it used to.
January is a purely arbitrary time to reassess your photography, but it’s something we should all do every so often. So, why not a set of New Year’s resolutions?
Is there a photographer on your gift list this holiday season? Perhaps people are still asking you what you want?
Holiday gift guides for photographers are a dime a dozen, and most highlight the same things, whether sublime or ridiculous. How many times do you need to see a travel mug that looks like your 70-200 lens? Cutesy t-shirts with bad puns about photography? Have you seen enough instant cameras, clip-on smart phone lenses and mini portable printers to last you a lifetime?
If you’re looking for your standard photography stuff, you can check out the guides from your favorite camera store. But there are many more options. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention a few NANPA-related gifts, so we’ll start with those. Then I’ll follow with a few weird items that might make you laugh, but are things you can probably live without. Finally, I’ll conclude with a few items that you just might want to buy.
Nature Photography Summit: Great opportunities for photographers you won’t find anywhere else.
NANPA: the sublime
How about a year of NANPA membership? A great way to introduce a photographer friend to the benefits of our association. Or, perhaps some nice person could extend your membership for another year! There are a lot of great member benefits that make joining well worth your while.
A generous friend or relative could spot you a registration to the 2019 Nature Photography Summit, February 21-23, in Las Vegas, NV. Great speakers, timely workshops, options for Super Sessions and location shoots as well as opportunities to make connections with fellow nature photographers, photo editors, vendors and potential clients.
NANPA Regional Events are led by NANPA members with special knowledge of and expertise in the area.
Have a bighearted benefactor? Maybe they could send you off to photograph birds in Florida, fall foliage on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula or starry night skies in Arches National Park at one of NANPA’s Regional Events.
If you haven’t hit your charitable contributions goal for the year, consider donating to the NANPA Foundation. Your money goes towards high school and college scholarships and grants that “allow photographers at all levels of experience to explore special nature-related photographic projects in their communities.”
The Photorito, a lens wrap that looks like a burrito.
The Ridiculous
Among the weird items for photographers, PHOTOLEMUR’s gift guide has a couple of my favorites: The Photorito Lens Wrap and the Go Pro Fetch. The former is a padded lens wrap that looks like a tortilla and makes your wrapped lens look like a burrito. And who doesn’t need that? The latter is a dog harness for a Go Pro, allowing your pooch to record a dog’s eye view of the world. Just in case you were curious how Fido experiences life.
Salt and pepper shakers in the form of 35 mm film canisters might be cute but does anyone really need a set that includes toilet paper, paper towel and tissue dispensers mimicking film canisters? Or a toilet paper dispenser shaped like a Polaroid instant film camera? Someone must, because you can buy each of them.
Another item of questionable utility is the Moman Cell Phone Clip, a bottle cap tripod for a smart phone. While one might appreciate the ability to use an everyday object to stabilize your iPhone or Android, the opportunity to not only knock them over but also get them wet does not appeal to an occasional klutz me.
Paper towel dispensers, a GoPro harness for Fido, and a water bottle tripod head are among the holiday gifts available this year.
The useful
I’ll leave you with one cool, yet more sensible, gift idea. Take a look at LenzBuddy lens caps (shown at the top of this article), which are customizable front and rear caps for a variety of lenses. If you’ve ever opened you bag and couldn’t distinguish between one lens and another, these might be just the ticket. You can even customize with your business name and logo! Better than a lens burrito!
PhotoPills and Photographer’s Ephemeris are photography planning tools that I simply must have on my phone. They’re $10 or less (there’s even a free desktop version of Ephemeris) so, if you haven’t tried them, you’re missing out.
Whatever you give or receive this holiday season, we hope the past year has been full of great nature photography and that the year ahead will be even better. Next year, I’m hoping for a camera bag shaped like a taco.
Photographer, naturalist and teacher Kathy Adams Clark will receive NANPA’s Mission Award at the 2019 Nature Photography Summit and Trade Show, February 21-23 in Las Vegas, NV. The NANPA Mission Award (formerly NANPA Recognition Award) goes to someone who epitomizes NANPA’s principles. The selection criteria include promoting nature photography, giving back to the photo community, raising public awareness of “nature’s beauty and wonders,” and both adhering to and promoting NANPAs values and mission statement.
Based in the Houston metropolitan area, Kathy has been a professional nature photographer since 1995. Her photos have appeared in hundreds of paces including magazines, books, calendars and in the weekly “Nature” column in the Houston Chronicle, written by her husband, Gary Clark.
She teaches photography classes, leads workshops, and volunteers as a public speaker, always bringing messages about nature into her presentations. She helped write the NANPA Mission Statement, previously served as NANPA’s president (2007-8), on the board of directors, and on both the awards as well as the summit committees. Recently we had a chance to ask her a few questions
Photographer, educator, writer and mentor George D. Lepp will receive NANPA’s Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2019 Nature Photography Summit and Trade Show, February 21-23 in Las Vegas, NV.
To nature photographers and his long-time fans, Lepp needs no introduction. As the awards committee noted, he is “one of North America’s best-known contemporary outdoor and nature photographers. His passions for natural beauty, technical precision, cutting-edge technology, and environmental responsibility are revealed in his beautiful and compelling photographic images. He is also widely recognized for his unique dedication to sharing his photographic and biological knowledge with other photographers through his seminars and writing. In both realms, George Lepp is a leader in the rapidly advancing field of digital imaging.”
At one point or another, most photographers will embark on a personal project. These projects are ways to more deeply explore a personal passion using photography, whether that be documenting how a single location changes throughout a year, looking for variations on a theme, or recording the health and vitality of a species or habitat. Personal projects can be global or local, big or small, and most assuredly will provide a satisfying and challenging addition to your photography arsenal.
