I’m happy to announce that this week, I’ll be presenting photography the Association of Natural Resources Extension Professionals national conference! I’m looking forward to sharing this important natural resource communication tool with my colleagues.
I also feel so grateful for where I am in my photography journey. Not only do I get to create and use photography and videography every day in role as a natural resource educator and outreach specialist, now I’m getting to help others do the same!
Here’s my abstract, if you’re curious what I’ll be talking about:
Images are incredibly important forms of communication in our work as Natural Resource Extension professionals. We use images to draw people to our programs, document our work, demonstrate environmental problems, educate, and to impact behaviors.
However, most of us aren’t taught photography skills, and can struggle to get images that communicate the messages we’re trying to share. It’s often said that people that create nice images, “just have the ‘eye’ for photography,” or that “they must have a nice camera,” implying that it’s just the machine that’s responsible for a nice image. But what if I told you it’s not all about the photography equipment, or inherently “having an eye for it,” that matters, but instead it’s a way of thinking? And what if you could learn how to think so you can create impactful images too?
In this presentation, I will provide examples of imagery I create as an outreach specialist and conservation photographer to get you started thinking like a photographer. I’ll reveal a few simple tricks you can learn to use your phone for photos, my tool of choice for my Extension communication images. Importantly, I’ll demonstrate how planning how you’d like to use the image can greatly improve the photos you take. Plus, I’ll touch on some photography basics to help you create visually appealing photos.
This talk is directed towards anyone taking their own images for communications. However, the information could also be applied to guide someone in selecting impactful images from a web search.
