This is an interesting link from the UK Guardian newspaper. The massification of nature photography, made possible by the gear, that brings the possibility of doing this sort of photography to the masses, risks destroying rare wildlife.
I sometimes wonder if the attraction of this type of photography is the big impressive lenses, or a modern adult variant on trainspotting. I have also noted that when a photographer is really interested in documenting the natural world, it shows in their pictures.
I missed this one; but will read it. Just seeing the illustrations is pretty scary. I am not sure whether tourists with their selfies are quite as bad, but they diminish the pleasure of living in many places. The Mt Fuji example is a case in point; but I find it impossible to escape getting tourists in my photos, even by trying to wait until they have finished. I have observed that such people are quite unaware of other people and the disturbance they cause.
Yes, the pictures were pretty frightening. I was in Val Venosta near passo Resia. The coachloads of tourists taking selfies of the partially submerged bell tower are harmless at the end of the day. Bird spotters turning up in huge numbers to chase a rare bird, or photographers more interested in getting the picture, rather than disturbing the subject are worse.
I try to dig out minor monuments, with less crowds, and I try to time my visits to less busy times. But people now take a shot and stand there in the way, whilst they post the shot they have just made to social media.
I am amazed how little time people spend visiting monuments and actually looking at what thre is to see. Last week I was photographing an amazing Romanic church with some important frescoes. People wandered in spent literally thirty seconds looking around, and then wandered out again. It happened at another place with some 8th century frescoes.
I think the fast paced editing on present day movies and tv documentaries bears some of the blame. On the rare occasions when I see tv, I find it very irritating.
The third picture in the article is just appalling: people standing less than 10 ft away from a bird and training enormous telephoto lenses on it. I cannot fathom the mindset of such people.
It's hard for me to fathom how anyone standing in a crowd of photographers, all pointing their lenses in the same direction at the same time, can expect to capture something original.
