What is a Conservation Photo Story?

Apr 28

During last month’s meeting of the Tampa Audubon Society I gave a short presentation on conservation photography. Following the meeting, I had several requests for additional information, especially related to the construction of conservation photo stories. Consequently, I wrote the following article for the newsletter of the Tampa Audubon Society, The Avocet.

Conservation photography has been defined as the active use of the photographic process and its products, within the parameters of photojournalism, to advocate for conservation outcomes (1). Conservation storytelling uses powerful imagery to highlight environmental and cultural issues. Noted wildlife photographer Joel Sartore is frequently quoted, “the typical nature photograph shows a butterfly on a pretty flower. The conservation photograph shows the same thing, but with a bulldozer coming at it in the background” (1).

Conservation photography is nature photography with a purpose, to inform and empower people to take action on issues affecting the natural world (2). Photographers are typically drawn to conservation photography to explore and tell the story about issues affecting local communities. Consider the following issues here in Florida that would make for excellent photo stories:

The impact of land development and/or human interaction on the Florida Scrub-Jay
The importance of Florida habitat to migrating birds such as the Red Knot or the Piping Plover
How weather (e.g., hurricanes) and/or land development has impacted the Florida Burrowing Owl
The dangers Brown Pelicans and other birds face from fishing line entanglement at the Skyway Fishing Pier
The impact avian flu has had on birds in Florida
How banding helps scientists understand bird behavior

In addition to these examples that feature birds, there are many conservation stories that could also be told about manatees, the Florida Panther, native plants, insects, the health of Tampa Bay and other sensitive environments, etc.

A banded ruddy turnstone walking on the beach — **Ruddy Turnstone**. Photographing and reporting banded birds assists researchers learn the migration patterns, life span, breeding territory, and feeding areas of different species. Resighting reported to the USGS. Photographed in Jacksonville, Florida with the Nikon Z9 and Nikkor Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S lens mounted to a Wimberly gimbal head on a skimmer ground pod. ISO 400, f/6.3, 1/2500 sec.

To tell a photo story you should include a variety of photos that paint a complete picture. Your photos should grab the viewers’ attention, introduce the subject of your story, show the wider landscape your subject is inhabiting, show relevant details, highlight important actions or behaviors, and offer the viewer a take-away message (3). In other words, you don’t want 15 portraits of the same bird. That would be uninteresting. So how do we tell the story?

Think of your photo story as having three parts and each part needs supporting photos:

Beginning: What is the background and importance of the story?
Middle: What are threats the subject of your story is facing?
End: What are the potential solutions?

If you would like to learn more about conservation photo stories, please check out the links below and consider joining me on a workshop in Cape Coral to photograph Florida Burrowing Owls. In this workshop you’ll learn about the different types of photos that are needed to successfully compose a photo story - all while photographing cute little owls. You don’t want to miss it!

***UPDATE***

The USGS reported back to me on June 22, 2023 with a certificate of appreciation for reporting the banded Ruddy Turnstone in the photo above. This bird hatched in 2017 or earlier, making it at least 6 years old. It was banded along the Georgia and South Carolina border.