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Finding Passion (In Nature Photography)

What does it take to create images that go beyond what everyone else has?

Outdoor Photographer readers are passionate about nature and photography. A large number of them are also passionate about protecting the environment. So you might rightfully wonder what the heck a column about digital photography today is doing talking about passion and nature photography.

I see a great deal of nature photography in submissions to OP, at my workshops and classes, in contest entries, in all the latest books and so on. Advances in camera technology along with the availability of a lot of courses and how-to articles and books have made it possible for nearly anyone to capture quality images of the outdoors.

But what I don’t always see is the passion for nature expressed in those photographs. Now before I get a lot of letters, and maybe rocks and other debris thrown at me, let me explain. Putting passion into photography has long been a personal concern of mine, and too often, an unsuccessful endeavor, so this has given me a lot of opportunities to think about not seeing passion in images.

I grew up in Minnesota. If you’ve ever listened to Garrison Keillor and A Prairie Home Companion, you know that passion simply isn’t part of most Minnesotans’ vocabulary. It’s a tough environment up there, and gosh almighty (now that’s passion!), you can’t be doing frivolous things like getting overly passionate about things, don’t ya know.

Don’t get me wrong. I love Minnesota, and I have great friends and relatives there. But you won’t find them clapping to the beat at a contemporary worship service! In fact, a good friend of mine is a Lutheran pastor and he actually can’t get the rhythm right if he tries to clap.

I worked in Minneapolis for many years doing film and video productions for large companies, and everything was very carefully measured and communicated. No sense in stirring up folks.

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