March 16, 2010
Not left to chance.
Making sure you get that amazing wildlife shot by renting the wildlife is apparently a widespread, if somewhat under the radar, practice.
In a recent example (which I thought I'd posted, but can't find), the initial winner of the 2009 Veolia Environment Wildlife Photographer of the Year award was later disqualified and banned when it was found that the wolf in the photo was a tame captive called Ossian. Meanwhile, doing things the hard way...
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On the other hand, Greg du Toit was lucky he didn't end up like Timothy Treadwell and Amie Huguenard in Werner Herzog's Grizzly Man movie. His belief that the lions couldn't tell he was human prey because they could only see his head sticking up out of the watering hole is a touching testament... But of what? Bravery? Foolishness? Hard work, or just a lack of live models? Me, I'd have borrowed an old stuffed and toothless mount from a place like Foster's Bighorn Pub in Rio Vista, California.
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"Phony wildlife photography in magazines, books, calendars, and posters is giving people a warped view of nature. " is the lead in to the article... written by a guy who was doing exactly that... am I missing something here?