Inspired by Moose

Last May 17, I attended a talk in Adorama Camera in New York. It was a workshop entitled "It's the Person Behind the Camera that Counts!" The speaker was Moose Peterson, a wildlife photographer. The talk he gave was very inspiring and his pictures were magnificent. His pictures, to quote Moose, pull at your heart strings. Some of the pictures, sad to say were those of endangered species and, sadder still, some were of those that are already extinct. And he said also that, there were times when he was commissioned to take pictures of certain species so as to document the "critters" before it is gone from the face of the planet.


That was really sad.


But he also showed pictures of bears, gulls, and a lot more animals that can make you go "ahh..." There were pictures that can elicit a yawn from the audience because the fox in the pictures can be seen in various poses of stretching, yawning, and just being laid back. When Moose showed a picture of grizzly bears dosing off and he said that they are the biggest couch potatoes there are, I suddenly, if only temporarily, felt free of guilt from my own couch potato trips.


His pictures left a very powerful impression in me.


After the talk, I felt as if I wanted to burst into the streets and take pictures of everything I saw!



But the thing that impressed and inspired me the most, as if his pictures were not already impressive and inspiring enough, was when he said that he doesn't rely on image editing, he doesn't crop after-the-fact, and he doesn't even look at the LCD screen for every shot he takes - these were the things that impressed me most, these were the things that really made an indelible mark on me.


I am on my second year of DSLR photography - I had my film SLR from another lifetime ago, so I don't consider that anymore - and I am hoping that, with time and practice, I'll be half as talented as Moose is. I may not go into wildlife photography because I am not much of an outdoor person, but I am hoping that I'll get to be where he is right now photographically speaking.


With time and a lot of practice...


And I'll take his mantra to heart - K.I.S.S. - keep it simple stupid!


Moose's web page can be found here. One of his books can be bought here, and the latest, which will be released in September, 2010 can be pre-ordered here.