HOW TO FIND GOOD PLACES TO PHOTOGRAPH NATURE

by John Gerlach

Choosing a suitable place to shoot nature is not always easy. Some of the most beautiful places in this country are often overrun by crowds. Now is a good time to start looking for those special places, when tourists are gone.

I am a professional nature photographer primarily because I have both a physical and mental need to spend as much time as possible in wild places away from the crush of humanity found in urban settings. The congestion, chaos, noise, and visual pollution actually make me ill. For my own health, I have to spend nearly all of my time in uncrowded places that are dominated by an abundance of wild plants and animals.

Even as a nature photographer, I have tended to avoid crowded natural areas that attract large masses of tourists like national parks. Occasionally I make mistakes though. For example, I just drove to Yosemite Valley on Memorial Day weekend by accident. I was aware it was a Saturday but didn't realize it was the Memorial Day weekend. Yosemite Valley was the worst traffic jam I had experienced in years. It took 2 hours to drive the loop and 1 hour to find a parking spot so I could purchase a book at the bookstore. Barbara had to drive me out of the valley because I was a nervous wreck. Hopefully, I won't repeat that mistake again.

Yosemite Valley is a great place to photograph, but not during the summer and especially not on weekends. Avoiding the crowds of tourists is still a high priority item for me so I would like to share some tips with you that I have learned over the years.

National Parks are wonderful places to take photographs but plan your trip with care. Some parks like Smoky Mountains, Yosemite, and the Grand Canyon are crushed with humans during the summer vacation months from mid-May to early September. Generally, you are required to stay at overpriced campsites that have little or no facilities like showers and all sites have been reserved months ahead of time anyway. During this summer vacation period, I tend to spend my time photographing in state or national forests or on Bureau of Land Management lands because few tourists visit these areas. If you must photograph in a popular national park during the peak tourist season, just hiking 1/2 mile from the main road will get you away from 99% of the tourists. Another solution for the summer crowded period is to visit less know parks like Great Basin National Park, Voyagers National Park, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, or Isle Royal National Park. Compared to the big name parks, these parks receive very few visitors, yet the photography opportunities are splendid.

When I do photograph in popular national parks, I try to spend my time there during the off season from early September to early May. Many of the parks like Yosemite that feature large mountain scenes are actually best during fall and winter when you get a variety of weather conditions to work with. Shooting at sunrise in Yosemite Valley after a foot of new snow has fallen imparts a special magic touch to your Yosemite photographs. You simply haven't photographed Bryce Canyon or Arches National Parks unless you have been there after a fresh snowfall. The combination of fresh white snow on red rocks makes for stunning photographs.

If your interest is photographing birds and mammals, the best tip I can give you is to spend your time photographing in the national wildlife refuge system. These lands are set aside because they are of great benefit to wildlife. Although there are exceptions, most national wildlife refuges protect valuable wetlands which draw large numbers of waterfowl and other water loving birds like grebes, herons, egrets, sandpipers, and American avocets. These lands were purchased largely by the sale of duck stamps to waterfowl hunters over many decades. Most wildlife refuges do not charge user fees although that is changing. Recently, Seney National Wildlife Refuge in northern Michigan began charging user fees and some others have done likewise like Ding Darling in south Florida. Barbara and I are glad to see this happen because we know it takes money to make good things happen. We both buy federal duck stamps at the post office every year to contribute to this worthwhile program. Also, the federal duck stamp can be used as a yearly pass to all refuges that charge user fees.

Because visitor pressure is light, refuges have a lot fewer rules than national parks. You have a lot more freedom about where you can go. On most refuges, you are free to hike or canoe around the refuge. Wildlife photography is encouraged, although some parts of certain refuges are closed to all entry because it may be a particularly sensitive area where any human intrusion could be detrimental to the wildlife. Refuge islands where terns, gulls, white pelicans, and other birds gather to breed in large colonies is one good example where entry is restricted during the nesting period. Any area where endangered species breed will be closed to all entry for obvious reasons.

The most useful reference book I own is called, GUIDE TO THE NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGES by Laura and William Riley. It's published by Anchor Press/Doubleday. The books contains descriptions of more than 300 national wildlife refuge sites and contains more than 600 pages. This book only cost me about $15 which was the best $15 I ever spent. Every photographer who enjoys photographing birds and mammals should own this book. In North Dakota alone, this book provides detailed descriptions of eight national wildlife refuges and provides addresses so you can write for even more information. Get this book!

Over the years, I have photographed more than 100 species of birds and mammals at national wildlife refuges and spend at least 3 months every year photographing in these refuges. Few tourists ever visit these places and I have never found one to be even remotely crowded. Most of the time, Barbara and I have the whole place to ourselves. Occasionally, I will see one other serious nature photographer working the area and perhaps a couple of bird watchers on the weekend.

Having lots of human visitors in some areas isn't all bad for the nature photographer though. We spent last January and February photographing on Sanibel Island and along the Gulf of Mexico where a lot of birds winter. Fort Myers was terribly crowded for me, but I suffered through it because the photo opportunities were so good and a wonderful chinese restaurant was conveniently located just across the street from the RV Park that we were staying in. Many species of birds love these beaches and so do people who continually walk the beach looking for seashells. After awhile, the birds just accept people as part of the landscape and pay little attention to them. We photographed more than 40 species of birds on these beaches during our stay without using a blind. Nearly all the birds were easy to approach closely enough so we could get good size images of them on film with our 500mm telephotos. Indeed, the biggest problem we had was the birds would keep walking up to us so we kept having to back up because we were too close. One great-blue heron would stand about 6 feet away from me and peer into my camera bag, apparently looking for something to eat.

Some south Florida birds are so accustomed to people that they have become a bit of a comical pest to fishermen. Bait buckets must be covered or herons will quickly empty it for you. It's common to see fisherman standing along the ocean with four or five brown pelicans standing right beside them. When they do catch a fish, the pelicans put on quite a show as they beg the fisherman for the fish he just caught--and they usually get it.