Lensmen :: Photo Of The Day and Natural History Commentary

Ron Niebrugge is a Alaska-based full-time professional stock and assignment photographer who shoots top notch travel and wildlife images. He maintains a cool blog (www.my-photo-blog.com) with material he has been creating lately, and I find all of it interesting and a good read. I check out his blog every few weeks just to get travel ideas. His photos of San Diego are better than most San Diego-based photographers and pop up really high in Google to boot. Ron’s stock photography can be searched at his website www.wildnatureimages.com. Be sure to check out his deep coverage of Alaskan subjects, particularly Kenai Fjords National Park which is pretty much his backyard.

Last night I returned from an extended trip in AK and the first email that caught my eye when I started in my office this morning was of the passing of Jim Watt.

Jim was, and is, hugely respected in the marine photography community. Being primarily an underwater and marine life photographer, his name may not be familiar to many “terrestrial photographers” but I would wager that his stunning photography has been seen by a large majority, if not virtually everyone, that stops by here. Jim’s photographs of whales and sharks are unsurpassed and appear in commercial and editorial use daily. He was instrumental in the production efforts of some important natural history films, serving as a peerless resource for field knowledge, especially concerning Hawaiian marine life. And most importantly, Jim was genuinely liked as a friendly, humble and adventurous person by divers and photographers the world over. I have had nothing but admiration for Jim and his wonderful photographs, which have served as inspiration for my own photo efforts over the years, and will miss seeing further new images from Jim.

Jim’s career is briefly profiled on one of his websites:

http://wattstock.com/photographers.html

and a fitting tribute to Jim can be seen here:

http://www.scubadiving.com/NYCU_aloha_james_watt

The photography and dive communities have really lost a treasure in Jim Watt.

Kawika Chetron was a highly skilled and adventurous photographer. I say “was” as he disappeared in March while diving the rugged “lost coast” of California near Euraka, miles from land and from anyone else. Following Kawika’s disappearance, a friend of mine directed me to his website and I was amazed by his photos. The marine community has lost a fine photographer and, from the comments I have read about him, a wonderful person. I wonder what incredible images he would have amassed during his diving career, exploring the challenging and rich coast of California. Take a look at Kawika Chetron’s “favorite 15 photos” and I think you will agree he was a gifted lensman.

EJ Peiker is a superb photographer. He is co-founder and senior technical editor of NatureScapes.net, one of the web’s premier nature photography websites, where he posts expert commentary on an amazing variety of photography topics, from technique to post processing, travel and location advice to computer support. I’ve sought his advice on a number of matters and have been surprised at how quickly and generously he has answered my questions. Peiker is quite well-travelled and excels at all manner of terrestrial photography; I am constantly impressed with the wildlife and landscape images he presents. Check out his website, you won’t be disappointed.

Wow. Chris Burkard of San Luis Obispo is one artistic, incredible photographer. He recently was awarded the inaugural Follow the Light Foundation grant in memory of Larry “Flame” Moore. While the award is intended to encourage emerging, talented and aspiring surf photographers, Chris Burkard has a ton of talent already as his photography demonstrates – refering to him as “emerging” is something of a backward compliment. As of this writing, his website (BurkardPhoto.com) is not yet operational. However, Surfline has a great profile of him along with 23 remarkable examples of his imagery. Surfing Mag online also has a selection of his images, some different ones, in their profile of him. Please check both galleries out, you won’t be sorry, in fact you’ll wonder when his web site will be launched so you can see more of his work.

Paul Sutherland’s photography is inspiring. If you find my images enjoyable, you’ll really be impressed by Paul’s work. He maintains two websites, SutherlandImages.com and SutherlandStock.com. Both are worth checking out. Also, see his list of recent clients, it is a testiment to the quality of his photography.

Why do I mention Paul? Well, I got out of the water this morning, cold and somewhat disappointed at the lack of sun and tiny waves, and was pleased to find my email box topped off with a pair of emails, one from Paul stating that he was referring a client to me, and another from his client. Paul reminded of the fact that, while naturally competitive with subject matter they have in their files, photographers tend to go out of their way to help their peers make a sale when the subject is not one they have shot before. Thanks Paul, I will return the gesture when I can!

While shooting the 2006 Mavericks Surf Contest I had the pleasure of meeting Tom Cozad, the man behind NewportSurfShots.com. I first saw him in September 2005 when I returned to the Wedge, a break I enjoyed as a teenager and in my early 20’s, to shoot some September swell that was happening. Tom was running up and down the beach, at the edge of the waterline, photographing the bodyboarders from the lowest angle he could get rather than from the angle atop the sand bluff where everyone else was at. He had his NewportSurfShots.com t-shirt on so that we all could dial in his website that night and check out his snaps. Smart. A few months later I noticed that he got some fine shots of a huge January swell that hit Todos Santos big time, these are seriously impressive images, you should check out his site and see for yourself. Not only is Tom a skilled surf photographer both in and out of the water, he is also a nice guy who just happened to grow up just on the other side of Newport Harbor from me, so we compared notes on the peninusula and high school friends we knew. If you are looking for photo coverage of Newport surf, Tom Cozad’s NewportSurfShots.com is the first site to check.