Are We Photographers Despoiling Mother Nature?

Delicate Arch #3, Utah, USA, 2013 (Getting that iconic shot!)

I meant to talk about this months ago, but Life got in the way.

We are trampling the flowers

Yes, we nature/landscape photographers have grown significantly in numbers over the years. These days, it’s not uncommon to go to some iconic site–say, the Maroon Bells, Delicate Arch, Mesa Arch, the Tetons, Yellowstone, Yosemite Valley, ad nauseum–and have to fight your way in with your elbows and teeth through a sea of like-minded photog-humans, with their tripods, to be able to set up your own massive Manfrotto. 

Not only does everyone apparently want to “collect” all those classic and famous landscape images (already done by Adams, Weston, Rowell, et al), social media (e.g., Instagram) has become a powerful wow-look-at-that-image-gotta-go-there! kind o’ generator. Previously unknown areas are now getting a whole lot of traffic as people take notice of “trending” images. You see handsome people doing crazy things in beautiful places and you, too, want to go there to “get The Pic”. 

In addition… more and more nature photographers seem to feel a bit too entitled–so much so that some will hop over fencing or barriers (“Closed for revegetation, thank you.“) to “get the shot”. In the process, the mountain greenery, or the cryptobiotic soil in desert environments, suffer the consequences.

The pitter patter of many boots is cumulative and eventually can cause great harm.

Gotta plant my tripod in the same spot Ansel did, dontcha know!

So, what’s the solution?

Meet Erik Stensland

Back in June, I attended a Zoom meeting of Boulder, Colorado photographers (Flatirons Photo Club) in which Erik Stensland, of Estes Park, was the guest speaker.  Erik is a very accomplished landscape and nature photographer, and author, with three gallery locations–Estes Park and Grand Lake in Colorado, and Abiquiu, in New Mexico–all loaded with enormous and gorgeous photographs. You can view his extensive body of work at that previous link.

However, what is most relevant for this today’s blog discussion is that Erik is also one of the founders of an organization called Nature First: The Alliance for Responsible Nature Photography.

What is Nature First?

Their mission statement seems like a good place to start:

“Some of the Earth’s greatest landscapes and treasured natural areas are threatened by increased visitation and general lack of care. We aim to preserve these places by building an alliance of responsible photographers and cultivate a community of advocates and partners to help spread the word.”      —Nature First website

From there, Nature First espouses seven major principles:

1. Prioritize the well-being of nature over photography.

2. Educate yourself about the places you photograph.

3. Reflect on the possible impact of your actions.

4. Use discretion if sharing locations.

5. Know and follow rules and regulations.

6. Always follow Leave No Trace principles and strive to leave places better than you found them.

7. Actively promote and educate others about these principles.

When you give them your email and join, you are not obligated to do much other than follow the above seven principles and encourage others to do so as well.

This is now a global initiative and is quickly spreading throughout the world–it isn’t just a USA thing. Their website already has Home Page translations in Chinese, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, German, Italian, Dutch, Romanian, and even Sverige (the latter would be Swedish). Yep, me thinks this is an idea whose time has definitely come.

So, what’s a sympathetic photographer to do then? What can we ALL do to help out?

Well, here is my personal plan o’ action:

1. Abide by the Seven Principles myself!
2. Gently educate other photographers I encounter about the impact of their actions.
3. Join Nature First–it is free (Erik says “no spam”) and I’m supporting a deserving movement.
4. Spread the word!

Simple enough!

It’s more than just us photographers… it’s a failure to educate

With more and more human beans turning to Nature for fun, recreation, exercise, COVID-19 escape, and general spiritual cleansing, I have personally noticed this same destructive environmental trend not only in photography, but across the board–the hiking trails are ever more crowded, there are conga lines up the popular Colorado 14ers (Longs Peak, argh!), hordes queue up behind hordes for the classic climbs at the popular rock climbing crags (Bastille Crack, argh!), armies of mountain bikers are flying up and down desert and forest trails everywhere (Slickrock Trail, Moab, argh!), easy-to-run rivers are becoming paved with the rubber and plastic of baloney boats, inner tubes, and kayakers, and the once empty back country ski sites in the high mountains are becoming as busy as the blue runs at Eldora…

And so on.

For many of these folks, the above experiences may be their first halting steps into wild lands, into the natural world. (Just one example: rock climbers from the city climbing gym who head to an outdoor “real rock” crag for the first time. And many are not always well-versed in the ways of the wild world and how to minimize their impact on the plants, animals, trails, and other users.)

I love this enthusiasm for Nature. I do, I do. I think it’s a good thing–a great thing, in fact. I really believe it is critical for us narcissistic, hubris-impaired human beans to maintain our connection with the outdoors… that we learn to live in equilibrium with the natural processes… that we learn to love the plants, bugs, beasts, rocks, and trees. It’s in our best interests and it’s good for the soul.

But… to mangle an old movie line: “What we’ve got here, is a failure to educate.“

The Nature First movement in photography is definitely a step in the right direction. A way to educate these new masses. So, join the movement and help out!

And, if you are out and about in the outdoor world with any other activities, support and encourage the same Leave No Trace message in that community as well.  

We only have one Earth.

Mesa Arch Sunrise, Utah, USA, 2013