Posted by Elaine on May 27, 2004 at 20:41:42:
In Reply to: I'd second Elaine's request.,..... posted by ChrisM on May 27, 2004 at 17:10:14:
I wasn't making any claims at all. If you have the impression that I am, then you have misunderstood.
Responsible photographers, like responsible hunters, try and minimize their impact to the environment. That is all that they can realistically do. There are photography boards out there where all of these related topics are discussed in great detail. There are some great books. "Galen Rowell's Vision - The Art of Adventure Photography" by Galen Rowell is one of them. "Outdoor Photographer", a monthly magazine, is another good source of information on things to think about when you are deciding for yourself what responsible nature photography is all about.
To me, what was most disturbing about the "angel shark" riding video was that it was being used on a web site run by a scuba store to promote their diving activities. Common sense tells you that riding an angel shark is probably not a "minimal impact" activity. Perhaps if the guy riding the shark would have been bitten, this would have been more obvious. Beginning divers do not generally have role models. Diving instructors are all beginning divers generally have to "imitate". I know some very responsible scuba instructors who pride themselves on trying to at least convey some basics on a) safe behaviors and b) responsible marine life interaction. They may show students that a creature lives in the shells that they see. They may point out interesting marine life. Many, many kuddos to those dive insturctors. I've never met an instructor who goes out and grabs an angle shark and rides it in front of students before.