Hi Readers!!

Hope everyone is coping well with the workload and trying to stay positive. As the end of the semester draws closer and preparations for the finals have kicked up, this will be my final blog for Wildlife Photography Ethics. When I first heard that one of the assessment for this module is to write a blog, I was a bit puzzled as I have never been graded in such a way before. However, this blog writing proved to be very insightful as it gave me the opportunity to explore a controversial topic.

At the beginning, I wanted to see how the photographic community in Singapore views wildlife photography ethics. So, I made a survey (2nd blog) and sent it to one of the biggest birding telegram group with over 600 members in it. Most of the surveyees were supportive of some of the ethics I listed out. However, there were a few that felt strongly against ethics and even went as far as to labelling the supporters as “Captain Planet”. Clearly, there are a few people who feel that ethics should not be brought into the photographic community.

However as we’ve seen over the past few weeks, certain practices such as feeding wildlife, can have an effect on our environment and biodiversity. Since these ethics can influence our natural environment, I feel that such groups that share sightings of wildlife should have a discussion about this and not avoid it just to prevent an argument within the group. I hope through the 10 weeks, I have provided an insight to some of the ethics and practices and would also like to thank Dr. Coleman and the BES class for your comments and insight!!

Benjamin Seah

The Last Wildlife Photography Tip

Spending more time doing the actual hobby is the best way to improve your wildlife photography skills. Through the time spent, you will learn how to identify their call, where to find them, the best time to find them, what they eat, where and when do the trees fruit, when is their migratory season and so much more. Sure that there are groups and social media that share sightings nowadays, but these sightings are usually crowded with people and hence photographing opportunities are limited. Knowing where to find the wildlife means that you will usually be the first or only person to shoot it. Spending more time out also means that you get more opportunities to take the perfect shot. Sounds cheesy, but its the truth!!