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Mother Borneo Orangutan carrying baby on her shoulders, Tanjung National Park, Kalimantan, Indonesia. Image copyright 2010: Paul Mckenzie |
Amazing Orangutan Adventure; Like Bugs?
Regular readers should be familiar with the name Paul Mckenzie. Even before I met Paul on Midway I knew that he was a skilled, gifted, and hard working young photographer. Paul currently lives in Asia–Hong Kong, I think–with his wife Paveena. (Though they worked in the same office building, they met on a dive boat in the Galapagos.) Paul is having a go at being a full time professional nature photographer and travels the world extensively. He fell in love with East Africa after his first visit there in 1997 and returns often. Recently he made his second trip to a remote area in Indonesia reached only by somewhat arduous travel by boat. In his usual style, Paul produced an incredible collection of images in just four days. In very difficult conditions. One of the things that I most respect and admire about Paul (aside from his killer images) is that he is quite competent with lenses of all focal lengths. He is even good underwater.
To see more great images and to read the complete story of the trip–hordes of mosquitoes and all, check out Paul’s blog here. After you are impressed there, be sure to check out Paul and Paveena’s galleries on their Wild Encounters web site here.
I am looking forward to seeing Paul again on Midway this April, and then again on the October 2012 South Georgia/Falklands Expedition; so far 24 BIRDS AS ART folks will be joining me on that one. If you missed the announcement and would like to learn more, click here.
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Borneo Orangutan sheltering from the rain with makeshift leaf hat, Tanjung National Park, Kalimantan, Indonesia. Image copyright 2010: Paul Mckenzie |
When I saw this my only thought was, “You gotta be kidding me.”
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Adult and juvenile Borneo Orangutan in rainforest trees, Tanjung National Park, Kalimantan, Indonesia. Image copyright 2010: Paul Mckenzie |
The painterly qualities of this image are superb.
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Juvenile Borneo Orangutan portrait, Tanjung National Park, Kalimantan, Indonesia. Image copyright 2010: Paul Mckenzie |
The range of human-like expressions on the faces of the orangutans that Paul captured on his recent trip leave little doubt as to our family tree.
That’s why I agree with you 🙂
“as soon as we put a lens on a camera body … we are subjecting the viewer to our personal vision, not to reality”
That’s precisely my point. “Nothing is less objective than an objective (lens)” (this sounds much better in italian as “lens” translates just the same as “objective”, but you get the point).
Hey Paul, Thanks for stopping by. It is no shock to me to learn that someone who has worked ferociously long and hard at his regular job would find success as a nature photographer. Folks often look at the how-to aspects of various successful folks, investment bankers, basket weavers, or photographers. It is rare however that folks look into a person’s heart and soul to find the secrets of their success…. I have long maintained that most highly successful folks would have wound up being successful in whatever field they chose.
And BTW, I would say that having great images is about 20% of the package….
Hey Fabrizio, You raise many excellent points. My choice is usually to do whatever I can to create a beautiful image (and that includes post capture work on the laptop). I always let folks (and editors) know what I have done and I always strive to be true to the natural history of the scene.
Your d-o-f question is a good one. The answer depends again on how you use that word “manipulation.” Do realize that as soon as we put a lens on a camera body, choose a focal length, as shutter speed, our perspective and light angle, we are subjecting the viewer to our personal vision, not to reality 🙂
Hi Deborah, Thanks to getting back to me, and yes, I did misconstrue your comment a bit (and probably took it a bit personally….) The latter is something that I strive not to do 🙂 I much prefer that folks use the words “image optimization” for the basic RAW conversion, Levels, Curves, dust spotting, and minor image clean-up. Today, the words “image manipulation” carry a huge negative connotation with them.
When you wrote “he relies on his photographic skills and not on image manipulation” it seemed that you were using those words in their most negative sense but now I see what you were trying to say, I think 🙂
In any case, a short post coming soon will share Paul’s digital philosophy. It is in fact a lot like mine though I am surely a bit more aggressive when it comes to removing distracting elements and repairing wing-tips. That post will be coming soon along with Paul’s comments on the gear that he used on the Indonesia trip.
And yes, Paul is a sweetie.
See you in Quito in July!
“Nature is not perfect and so a good image does not have to depict it as such.”
First, I think each of us has the right of having his/her own approach to the subject. So we needn’t necessarily get to a shared point of view.
But photos are a mix of a objective vision on reality and a subjective expression. Not by chance I think Art gave the “Birds as _art_” name to his work (apart from the playing with his nickname). I appreciate to see a wonderful bird, that’s wonderful as nature made it, _together with_ the sensibility of the photographer that picked the angle of view, colors, dof, whatsoever. That’s the “art” part.
Of course, there’s a limit to manipulation and everybody of us will put the limit he/she likes to a different point.
PS Shouldn’t be considered a “manipulation” tool? After all, dof doesn’t exist in nature, or – to be more precise – there’s the dof of our eyes, which is very different from the one of the lens.
Artie, I think you misconstrued some of my comments! There are many extremely talented photographers out there and hard work, dedication and maybe some luck enables one to be noticed whereas others continue to struggle. However, in this case, I feel his pictures, to my eyes, convey a ‘connect’ with the subject and the quality of his work, regardless of his subjects, show a sensitive and artistic quality which is extremely appealing.
‘Please let us know exactly what you mean by “image manipulation.” Are you saying that Paul publishes his images as they come out of the camera?’
Nature can be shown as is, the image ‘manipulation’ being basic RAW conversion, levels, some cropping and cleaning. I (this is my personal opinion only) prefer not to see major alterations to convey an artistic rendition of a natural subject unless this is clearly stated. I’m sure you, along with me, know of at least one person who does this. Nature is not perfect and so a good image does not have to depict it as such.
Yes, there are a lot of talented amateurs, just look at some of the images on BPN. However, these images are refreshing, a different eye on some commonly shot subjects and that’s why I’m glad you’re helping promote him. And, as you yourself having met him know what a nice, humble individual Paul is.
Hope you’re digging out! – two foot snowdrifts here have made my commute impossible!
Thank you all for your kind and generous comments. Just for the record, I should point out that I am still some way from being a full time professional photographer. I worked for 20 years+ in the finance industry in Asia (where I am still based) and put in some seriously long hours during this time, more often than not in high pressure conditions. For instance, I would undertake marketing trips to the US and EU on back-to-back 4 week trips, visiting 20-30 cities each time. Every day I would make 8-9, one hour presentations to seasoned investment professionals. In the evening I would hop on a plane to another city repeating the same process. For 4 weeks. I would do this 4x a year. And that does not include Asia and other parts of the world. It was also only a small portion of what I was expected to do. The long and short of it is this: I feel like I’ve paid my dues. I also saved and invested wisely. And after taking most of last year off, I managed to negotiate a deal with my employer early this year whereby I work on average for half of each month, fortunately under much less stressful conditions. The rest of the time I am free to travel, take photos and hang out with my family. I would love to be a full time professional photographer and am trying harder on the marketing side of things. But as everyone working in this field will know, having a bunch of strong images is probably less than 50% of the process and there are many, many highly talented nature photographers out there. My attitude though has always been that any income I make from my photography is a bonus because first and foremost what I love most of all is travelling to wild places, being in environments rich with wildlife, attempting to take beautiful images and hopefully improving with each year. If I can realise these, then I’m more than a happy camper.
I have been following Paul’s work for a while now and am always blown away by his images.
Absolutely Awesome; perhaps an overused word but a solid fit here!
I had the pleasure of meeting Paul in Midway a year prior to your visit there with him. Given the magnificent quality of his work, I am waiting to see him acknowledged as a world-renowned wildlife photographer – he relies on his photographic skills and not on image manipulation to depict his appreciation of wildlife. He has the luxury of doing what many of us have fantasized, namely giving up a day job to pursue a passion. However, unlike many would-be photographers he deserves to be recognized for his talent and sensitivity. I’m hope the photographic community will take notice of his skills and reward it accordingly.
Hi Deborah,
re:
I had the pleasure of meeting Paul in Midway a year prior to your visit there with him. Given the magnificent quality of his work, I am waiting to see him acknowledged as a world-renowned wildlife photographer.
I agree 100%; that is why I have been promoting him recently and again here. However, such recognition comes slowly–often after decades of work, and sometimes it never comes even to those who deserve it. There are no handbooks on how to get acknowledged….
He relies on his photographic skills and not on image manipulation to depict his appreciation of wildlife.
Please let us know exactly what you mean by “image manipulation.” Are you saying that Paul publishes his images as they come out of the camera?
He has the luxury of doing what many of us have fantasized, namely giving up a day job to pursue a passion.
Me too. But doing so requires a ton of courage. Actually, anyone who likes photography is free to quit their days jobs and try their hand at being a pro….
However, unlike many would-be photographers he deserves to be recognized for his talent and sensitivity.
I am confused by your comments above. Are you saying that there are lots of would-be photographers who do not have any talent? (Heck, there are lots of full time pros who would fit well into that category….) Are you further saying that there are many would be photographers who are insensitive??? Insensitive to what?
I’m hope the photographic community will take notice of his skills and reward it accordingly.
Again, I am dong my best to promote someone whose work I admire. Success in the business of nature photography is hard to put a handle on. I know of dozens of hobbyists who are far more talented than dozens of full time pros. (Please do not ask me to name any in the latter category.) I even know lots of immensely talented folks who tried to make money from photography and failed totally. When it comes to making a living the quality of your images is well down on the list of requirements….