A lone hiker on the prairie, Eastern Montana near Ekalaka. Shot on assignment for the Montana Wilderness Association.
Giving away your photographs for likes? Better rethink your business strategy.
Podcast and blast tony bynum and hal herring talk about photography, conservation tony shares his secrets to great images and describes how he captured the "caveman" shot
Interviews - Photographing wildlife in Glacier, birds in Montana, and Yellowstone Tours
The World Photography Organisation works across up to 180 countries, its aim is to raise the level of conversation around photography by celebrating the best imagery and photographers on the planet.
Fall in Glacier National Park - Stacy Dolderer stands on the edge of a lake in beautiful Glacier National Park. © Tony Bynum
“From a business standpoint, the most important aspect of assignments, or paid shoots, particularly in far-flung, remote places where there are few if any resources, is to be a problem solver. I always plan for things to go wrong. I have multiple backup plans and options. I try to think through everything that could go wrong and be prepared to act when and if they do. Up-front planning and experience are probably more important than photographic skills. That said, today you have to be expert at both”
I encourage you to read more about the World Photography Organization and visit the website, it is full of fantastic interviews, contests and valuble information.
This single thing will improve your photography the first time out . . .
The #ourwild campaign is about real people telling their public lands stories. This #ourwild video, produced by The Wilderness Society, is part of my public land story. I'm a father. I'm a hunter. I'm a photographer, friend and advocate for keeping the public domain in public hands. I am firmly against selling, or trading the public domain to the states. I'm not a preservationist, I'm a conservationist, which means I believe in using the natural resources, not locking them up. I also believe some places should be off limits to extraction. I'm for sensible, reasoned, and smart use of our public resources.
As a hunter and photographer, I support hunter education in the form of learning the history of conservation in America, in addition to how to be safe with a gun. For example, in order to bow hunt in Montana, during the early elk season, you have to have a special permit and pay an extra fee for it. In order to receive that permit you must go through an approved educational course that includes the history of conservation, the history of bowhunting, and the people who were instrumental in creating of the modern bow.
Conservation and resources management are more important than ever. Resources are limited and as we've seen our appetite, or demand for them is limitless. I believe that all children should be taught the history of conservation.
Here is a list of Authors, and titles worth reading.
Aldo Leopold - A Sand County Almanac
Rachel Carson - Silent Spring
Marc Reisner - Cadillac Desert
Henry David Thoreau - Walden
Wendell Berry - The Unsettling of America
James Lovelock - Gaia
Edward Abbey - Desert Solitaire
Vine Deloria - Spirit and Reason
Please help by making your story known. You can also take action here, on the #ourwild page. Leave a comment or share this post and together we can insure that our children have #ourwild. #keepitpublic
Tony Bynum
Photography Inspiration comes from all kinds of places. Even from people you may not know. Sometime in early April 2016 I received a letter in the mail. I checked the address, it was from a person I did not know. What makes that worth a blog post? This was a handwritten letter from a "friend" I'd never met.
Joe's thank handwritten thank you note.
The envelope contained several postcard photos. On the back of one was a handwritten note. It read,
"Tony,
Thank you for being such an inspiration!
Seeing your work has inspired me to use my voice & platform as an artist, to be an advocate for Hunting and Conservation.
Thank You!
Cheers,
Joe Mannino"
There was also an invitation to attend Joe's, Master of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition in Greenville, North Carolina.
I'm often asked about what I did to "make-it" in the photography world. Most of the time I reference something very simple, like, "I just do what motivates me."
Thank you Joe Mannino,
Sincerely,
Tony
2014 is history. It's been a great outdoor photography year - I'm blessed. What makes a great outdoor photography year? To start, both myself and my family all are happy and healthy. Beyond that, the rest was about the experience of the adventure and living life to it's fullest. In brief, here are a few exerts from the past year's adventures, followed by a few photographs and at the end of the blog, a list of 10 things I learned this year.
200,000 individual moments of time were turned into digital data from adventures across the globe; I witnessed extraordinary wildlife action in extraordinary places.
Wore out a couple of Nikon cameras; broke more than $5000 worth of gear - some completely and beyond repair;
I used the third string lens to complete a commercial shoot; trashed a half dozen pair of pants and blew the crotch completely out of one;
left some of my own clothes with people on other continents who would appreciate them more than I would;
sent a 50 inch canvas print of a man and his wife to him weeks after she suddenly passed away - I'm grateful I was there to capture the moments before her passing;
I tossed in the trash three pairs of boots because they were done being useful; logged more than 50,000 air miles and I have no idea how many on my pickup;
pulled thorns out of my legs and ass on two continents;
swam naked across an Alaskan glacial river in the dark with just a headlamp while the gear and guns were left behind;
slept overnight, outside, in a wet down sleeping bag - twice; stood in front of a young man holding an AR-15 . . . for 20 minutes - we did not speak the same language - that was interesting;
I get to live in a place where for at least half the year I can keep ice-cream outside without it melting; watched our kids play violin, and sing during and after school programs; shoveled snow; stacked fire wood;
witnessed the sun come up more than 250 times; and, I'm busy, I can't remember a moment when I did not have something enjoyable and fun to do.
I love my life! Here are more outdoor photographs from 2014:
Sunrise in Sonora Mexico
Hunters on a cliff warming by a fire while looking for game overlooking a large open mountain valley in the Rocky Mountains, United States.
Young Bushmen boys walking in warm light, Namibia, Africa
A young cowboy ropes his first calf in Montana
Cowboys wrestling a large white calf on the ground in Montana
Hunting guide in Alaska, USA
Beaver airplane lands on a beach in remote Alaska, USA
Hunting in Alaska, looking out into the open wilderness
Truck crossing the Namib Desert, Namibia, Africa
Hunters in Sonora Mexico, walking across an aroyo, near the Sea of Cortez.
Cowboy on horse back, roping a running calf on the grasslands of Montana, USA
Hunter in Africa, with guides watching though binoculars
Hunting desert sheep in Sonora Mexico
Hunters on a ridge backlit by sun, backpacks hiking
Safari vehicle winching up rock face in Africa
Hunting lodge, Sonora, Mexico
Snow blowing along Highway 2, Blackfeet Indian Reservation
Hunters looking for animals - Sonora Mexico
Woman shooting rifle on shooting sticks
Bull elk back lit, steam bugling
Bull moose feeding on willow trees
Moose cow and bull near mountains
Herd of elk grazing in a meadow mountain background with rainbow
Bull moose in lake
Large bull elk chasing cow elk during the rut
Bighorn ram in meadow with mountain backdrop
Bull elk with huge rack, antlers in grass meadow with fir forest background
Bull elk in aspen trees bugling
Herd of elk with bull near river
Bull bison in meadow against a mountain background
Black bear sow and cub in fall grass and trees
After all of that, I'd like to share a few things I learned -
1. Stay focused on the goals.
2. Pay attention to details - every singe one!
3. Clean your sensor - often!
4. Have two but preferably three back up plans.
5. Things will go wrong - again.
6. There's time for work, and there's time for play - don't confuse them and don't get too distracted by either one.
8. Most of all, it's a lot better to be happy than it is to be right . . .
9. Success is a team effort, you can't make it alone. . .
10. If you're not making mistakes, you're doing something else very wrong!
If you've gotten this far, thank you. What photographs or adventures do you remember from 2014 and do you have any advise of your own for 2015?
Here's to a happy new year 2015!
Tony Bynum