Joel Sartore Speaks



As you can tell by this slide, Joel lives in Nebraska.

Yesterday, I was fortunate to hear National Geographic photographer Joel Sartore speak. To truly do his presentation justice, I would need the incredible slide show that he used. You can view much of it on his website: joelsartore.com. I encourage everyone to check it out, or to pick up a copy of his book Rare to see his exquisite photos of endangered animals. What I can do is highlight parts of his presentation, minus all the wit and humor. He is an excellent speaker.

Joel has been a National Geographic photographer for 22 years. He says he's frequently asked how he got started and he says he simply took the kinds of pictures that he likes to take. Then he showed us numerous shots of family, friends, and people on the street. Many of the pictures were of his children. He humorously said that the camera is a great disciplinary tool when it comes to his kids; they always act differently when the camera comes out. Except for his son. We saw pictures of his son crying in a multitude of situations and settings, including my favorite: a shot of his son crying and screaming in an art museum. It reminded me of pictures we have of my brother screaming and crying in his Speed Racer car. Who says you have to smile for the camera?

He also shared pictures of American county fairs that he took in a series he did with Garrison Keillor. I'm sure I wasn't the only one in the room who wanted to whip out a camera and start capturing the world on film like he did. The pictures were wonderful.

From there he moved into wildlife pictures and we saw photos he took on assignment for a story on wolves and another on grizzly bears. Again, they were fantastic and can be seen inside and on the cover of National Geographic. But what most of us would never imagine is that he takes 35-50,000 pictures per assignment! Someone in the audience asked whether he prefers digital or film. Joel didn't answer one way or the other but said that digital is harder for him to archive than film. He has to print out the pictures so that they're available for viewing 20, 50 or 100 years from now since technology is ever-changing. Good point.

He also gave us advice on taking our own good pictures. He says the keys are good, soft lighting and a clean background. He considers a shot from the background forward. Then he crafts the shot and consider the bird's eye view, the worm's level view, and the whole 360-degree angle. No wonder he takes so many shots!

Of course, we were curious about his job as a wildlife photographer, too. Photographing bears, wolves and other animals is undoubtedly dangerous. Had he ever come close to being killed on assignment? Not by an animal attack. But over the years he has:

• been aboard a plane that malfunctioned
• been inside a van being mauled by a polar bear
• been chased by animals
• been bitten profusely by mosquitoes
• picked up parasites in Bolivia that resulted in him having to have chemo
• worried that he contracted the Marburg virus while photographing bats in a wet cave

Still, he continues to photograph the world and tell its story. He hopes to capture wildebeest and crocodiles along the Moro River in Africa. He'd like to visit Madagascar. And he's already accomplished one life goal of seeing Antarctica. That's one trip he says everyone should take in his/her lifetime. Sounds good to me! I've got a camera and a coat. I'm ready. If only National Geographic would send me.