Before science, there were imaginative stories about the formation of land and life. I find inspiration in the creativity of legends from around the world and have worked to illustrate some of my favorites. This story is part of my Legends of the Land series.
In the heat of the midday sun, the rivers of east Africa look inviting. Cool water splashes past lush shrubs. The rivers even look like they’re full of stepping stones.
One of the biggest challenges a visual artist faces is capturing people’s attention — and then keeping it. Compelling art captivates people. It inspires them to look around and appreciate every inch. Most pictures, however, are lucky to get more than a few seconds of anyone’s time.
It was just over a year ago that I caught the sequence of a bald eagle and young red fox struggling over a rabbit in midair. Since then, the image has run in newspapers from Moscow to Sydney, on network television and been honored by the National Audubon Society.
It was quite a ride — and not just for the fox. Given the new attention the work is receiving, I thought I would share some thoughts on the past year as well as a few images from that encounter that I haven’t previously shared.
You often hear of artists talking about their careers in terms of personal growth. Over the nearly 20 years I’ve been photographing nature, my vision has certainly grown.
In the beginning, I was satisfied with images that made nature look as pretty as possible. Today, I try to make images that are pretty but also communicate how I felt when I pressed the shutter button. And in Pinnacles National Park, California, last month, that meant I had to find a way to photograph the wind.
There have always been stories about the origin of the land and the life that calls it home. Before there was science, those stories came from imagination and spirituality. In this series, I have created contemporary nature photography to illustrate them. Read more about my Legends of the Land series.
Iceland is a great place to be a troll. There are trolls all over the country, but you never see them — at least not in the flesh. Trolls must forever remain in the dark. Sunlight turns their skin to stone.
So they spend their days in mountain caves or under sea arches, venturing out only in the black of night. And in the rugged landscape of Iceland, there are plenty of places for trolls to hide from the sun.
There have always been stories about the origin of the land and the life that calls it home. Before there was science, those stories came from imagination and spirituality. In this series, I have created contemporary nature photography to illustrate them. Read more about my Legends of the Land series.
It used to be that once the sun went down, the sky was completely black. But that ended one night when the biggest dog ever decided to steal a snack from some farmers.
There have always been stories about the origin of the land and the life that calls it home. Before there was science, those stories came from imagination and spirituality. In this series, I have created contemporary nature photography to illustrate them. Read more about my Legends of the Land series.
Niagara Falls is one of the most majestic waterfalls in the world, but where it stands today used to be an ordinary river. The waterfall is a tribute to the courage of a young woman and the spirit who helped protect her and her community.
There have always been stories about the origin of the land and the life that calls it home. Before there was science, those stories came from imagination and spirituality. In this series, I have created contemporary nature photography to illustrate them. Read more about my Legends of the Land series.
The transition from boy to man isn’t easy for any teenager, but it was especially difficult for a boy named Opichi. He made that transition many years ago and we still celebrate it to this day — every year when winter transitions into spring.
There have always been stories about the origin of the land and the life that calls it home. Before there was science, those stories came from imagination and spirituality. In this series, I have created contemporary nature photography to illustrate them. Read more about my Legends of the Land series.
Today, crows are as black as night, but they used to be as white as snow. But appearances can be deceiving anyway.
While its color has changed over the years, its voice hasn’t. The crow has always been a loudmouth. And that’s what got it into trouble.
There have always been stories about the origin of the land and the life that calls it home. Before there was science, those stories came from imagination and spirituality. In this series, I have created contemporary nature photography to illustrate them. Read more about my Legends of the Land series.
You don’t usually see the moon during the day, but that is not because he isn’t working hard. Once the moon almost lost his life because he tried to do more than he was able. He couldn’t tell anyone “no.”
There have always been stories about the origin of the land and the life that calls it home. Before there was science, those stories came from imagination and spirituality. In this series, I have created contemporary nature photography to illustrate them. Read more about my Legends of the Land series.
There was a time when marriage wasn’t just for people — trees and shrubs got married too. But they don’t anymore and it’s because of a tree that was too quick to judge a beautiful potential bride.
There have always been stories about the origin of the land and the life that calls it home. Before there was science, those stories came from imagination and spirituality. In this series, I have created contemporary nature photography to illustrate them. Read more about my Legends of the Land series.
It was the middle of the night, but the forest was brightly lit as if it were day. A lightning strike had triggered a massive wildfire.
There had been other lightning strikes and other fires, but everyone from the smallest creatures to the biggest trees knew this one was different. Nothing was slowing it down. Not only did it continue to grow, but it grew at a faster and faster rate.
All the animals began to flee. Birds flew away. Deer and other many other animals ran, barely able to beat the heat. But the mice, with their tiny legs, fell farther and farther behind.
There have always been stories about the origin of the land and the life that calls it home. Before there was science, those stories came from imagination and spirituality. In this series, I have created contemporary nature photography to illustrate them. Read more about my Legends of the Land series.
Ewauna was the very definition of adventurous. A child of the mountains, she spent all her free time climbing as high as she could, seeing as far as she could see. So there was no doubt that she would attend the first gathering of four tribes, which was going to be held along the coast, something she had only seen from far, far away. As a chief’s daughter, she had to go, not that it mattered; she would have invited herself anyway.
Arriving at the potlatch, however, she was immediately disappointed. She was forbidden to see the very thing she traveled so far to see: the ocean.
There have always been stories about the origin of the land and the life that calls it home. Before there was science, those stories came from imagination and spirituality. In this series, I have created contemporary nature photography to illustrate those early Legends of the Land. Read more about the series here.
The spirits of the Earth and Sky used to be closer to us than they are today. While they lived deep below ground or way beyond the clouds, they would visit us from time to time. We could see them, walk with them, talk to them.
They are powerful gods, but we usually had no reason to fear them. They were friendly and often used their power to help us. But they were still sometimes controlled by their emotions. One of those emotions — jealousy — led to a particularly dark time.
Typically when I share a project with you, it’s nearing completion. Or at least I’m sure it will be completed. This time, I’m bringing you into a project early, although in some ways, this isn’t exactly the early stages.
I’ve been working on Legends of the Land for going on 10 years now. It was to have been my very first photography book. Today, I’m not even sure it will be my fifth.
It’s not that I’m not fond of this project. In fact, I find it even more interesting and inspiring than I did 10 years ago. The issue is that it has required far more time and resources than any other project I’ve ever attempted. Keep in mind I spent three years watching a bald eagle nest.
The idea is this:
Think of penguins and you typically think of long lines of the flightless birds gathering on ice. New Zealand, however, is home to several types of penguins that march across bright scenery reminiscent of central California beaches, even if the temperature is closer to the Antarctic.
One of these types is the incredibly rare yellow-eyed penguin — one of the rarest penguins in the world. Considered by some scientists to be the oldest species of penguin in existence today, there are only about 4,000 left. And they’re all in New Zealand, where the natives call them Hoiho.
It has never been easier for a nature photographer to create an image that they imagined in their head. No Photoshop required.
There hasn't been a waterfall per se at Dry Falls in central Washington for at least 10,000 years. But when there was a falls there, it would have been spectacular: 400 feet high, 3½ miles wide and ten times as powerful as all the world's current rivers combined.
The black-capped chickadee is no ivory-billed woodpecker. Dozens visit my office window every day to feast on the free suet.
But just because they're common, doesn't mean they are not interesting. And a recent snow storm that, at times, had my yard buried under nearly 10 inches of snow allowed me to create some images that help tell their remarkable winter story.
