First, I’m sorry I’ve been so absent for the past month. Between a bit of a health issue and then a major power outage I’ve been too lax about posting. I’m just not getting out to shoot that much but I’ll try to do better.
I am very fortunate to have a growing number of friends who are very accomplished Nature Photographers. The internet allows us to meet people from all over the world and for a non-traveler such as myself the opportunity is a real boon. Several are linked here and I highly recommend visiting their sites. You will see some truly outstanding work.
I would like to mention one site that was born on 11/11/11. WhyTake.net has been created by my friends Alister Benn and Rafael Rojas, along with their partners Juanli Sun and Anca Minican, all of whom are outstanding nature photographers. The purpose of WhyTake is to provide a social network and create a global database of nature photography images which will serve as a portal to each photographers website. In addition, they will be marketing the site which will afford all participants the opportunity to be seen and possibly contacted for use of their images.
WhyTake is divided into three basic sections. Inspire is a reloading page filled with just that…inspirational images. Connect allows the photographer a chance to meet and get to know others from around the world. Explore is for searching the ever-growing database.
This is truly what Nature Photographers have been looking for in a social network.
Here is the link to my portfolio page and below is one of the images I have placed there. If you click the image you will go to the WhyTake page for it.
Stephen Gingold Nature Photography Blog 
Hi Stephen,
very good article and I really hope that whytake.net is going to be a huge success.
It is definitely something refreshingly different and well designed.
Best regards
Sandra
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Thanks Sandra.
I am sure it will be a success. Aside from being well-designed, they gave us such a great resource to meet others and display our images to the world. I am confident that the marketing they will employ will increase the exposure exponentially. Lucky us. 🙂
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Just makes you want to get over there and see what others can do. It scares the living daylights out of me.
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Thanks for the comment Andrew.
You don’t give yourself enough credit. Not every bird image needs to be on a stick with a smooth blurred background. I’ve very much enjoyed seeing your birds in habitat shots as well as a lot of the insects you’ve posted on FB. Besides…the worst that can happen is no one picks the shot as a favorite. But a lot of fine shots don’t get picked so you really can’t draw that conclusion either. We aren’t competing with anyone so if you have a shot you like and are proud of I’m looking forward to seeing it. 🙂
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Steve, you are very generous in your comments. Whilst it is not competitive it does lead me to aspire to be a better photographer and that is a good thing. Anything that opens our eyes more to the world around us and does so in a way that startles with its beauty is fundamentally to be welcomed. What I do notice is that the best photographers do have themes or specializations, whether it is night photography, landscape, birds, flora, waterscapes, they seem very single-minded in their pursuit of their art / craft. I veer wildly from birds to flora to street to what I regard as ‘documentary’. I enjoy each too much to give up the others. I suspect two things set the best photographers apart. One is simply the eye to see what makes the image special – the question Alister poses is ‘why did you press the button?’ – and the second is post processing at which I lag woefully behind. I am still not half way through Sean’s videos. I exclude technical excellence (other than PP) as I see many images that might not pass that test but still speak volumes to me. I also exclude equipment. So it is for me down to the eye. I don’t care if the focus is imperfect if the message gets across. I shall persevere.
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Hi Stephen
I do hope that you’re doing OK health wise. First I thank you for the heads up on WhyTake.net. I really like the way that they present their photography. Very nice indeed. Second, I looked at your portfolio there. What a nice body of work. Very well done. Your sense of composition, color and care (didn’t mean to alliterate, but if you can use than in your marketing be my guest) really strikes me. Every image is very strong and captures a real feeling about yours subject. Hats off! Happy Thanksgiving.
James
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Hi James
Thanks for the well wishes..I am doing alright and I hope the same is true for you.
WhyTake is a great place, very generously provided by Alister and Rafael and I am sure it will be the place to be seen for Nature Photographers internationally. Thank you for the kind words about my images.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.
Steve
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I finally got a chance to take a look at the site — looks like a great resource indeed. Thanks for passing it along Steve. I like your stuff.
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Thanks pj. I’m glad you found the site interesting.
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I’ve tried it out now Steve and I think I’ll not do it. I don’t sell workshops or market to other photographers. I find it is easy for me to get diverted with things like this when they actually take away from doing the things that get our work out to the people who buy it. I will keep up with your blog!
Sharon
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I’m sorry to hear that Sharon but it is perfectly understandable given your business and time available. I agree…it is easy to have your time eaten up with social media and other pursuits. But I am glad we had the opportunity to meet up and I have also bookmarked your blog so we will still be in contact. Maybe Mary Beth and I will take a ferry ride someday.
Steve
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That would be wonderful, Steve!
Sharon
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Thanks for the pointer, Steve – I went over and registered. I’ll be nice to have a portfolio in another spot.
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Great Tom. It will be nice to see your images there too.
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Forgot to mention that your WhyTake portfolio looks great – and that I hope your feeling better.
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Thanks Tom. Yes, I am feeling pretty well…at least until I see my doctor next week. 🙂
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