I recently had the pleasure of interviewing one of the founders, Matt Payne, of the Nature First organization for our podcast We Talk Photo and after that interview I felt compelled to write a short blog post about the organization to help spread the word about their mission and what you could do to be involved. Nature First is an alliance for responsible nature photography and was created to help preserve and protect the natural beauty we love to photograph.

The mission statement of Nature First is succinct and directed more towards those of us who enjoy the great outdoors for our photographic pursuits.  Their mission is…”Nature First promotes the protection and preservation of thetall moss covered rock canyon above stream columbia river gorge world’s natural and wild places through inspiring, educating and uniting everyone making photographs and videos in nature; empowering them to be ambassadors of the natural world”.   On one hand this mission is simple, but yet it is so complex to achieve and requires that each and every one of us who goes outside acts in a responsible manner, AND, this is the call to action for everyone, to “be ambassadors of the natural world”.   Being an ambassador means that our own behavior follows their principles and that we work to educate others on the proper use of our outdoor spaces.   Educate our friends, family, folks on social media and folks we may come across while we’re out photographing.

The sheer numbers of people heading to the National Parks or scenic places has been exploding over the past few years (thanks in large part to social media) and unfortunately we are “loving our nature to death”.  Scenic places where there were no footpaths now have many….unbroken fields of wildflowers now are criss-crossed with paths from folks looking for the perfect shot….paths that used to be 2′ wide are now 8′ wide due to the vast numbers of folks.  Trash, trampled foliage, and just general disrespect for nature is causing such harm to our scenic places that if this keeps up, the next generation or two might not be able to have the enjoyable experiences we have today.

I know that many of you reading this practice good behavior out in nature, though I do challenge you to think about any times that you might have “bent” some rules and walked off trail or went beyond a fence or sign, in order to get your shot.  If we are all being honest, there is probably something each and every one of us has done that may have not been in the best interest of the environment as we sought the perfect image.   By signing up for Nature First (its free) we as photographers pledge to practice responsible behavior to capture and share our images and prioritize nature over our photographic pursuits for the good of future generations.

Nature First is a grass-roots effort started by photographers and has now spread throughout the US as well as internationally. There are even regional groups that you can belong to if you are passionate about your local area. Many of the top names in nature photography either help the initial design or have since signed on to this effort to increase the momentum .

NATURE FIRST PRINCIPLES OVERVIEW

Nature First is built on seven core principles that help communicate how each of us can enjoy nature photography responsibly. The Seven Principles of Nature First Photography were developed to help educate and guide both professional and recreational photographers in sustainable, minimal impact practices that will help preserve nature’s beautiful locations. #naturefirst

THE NATURE FIRST PRINCIPLES

  1. Prioritize the well-being of nature over photography.

  2. Educate yourself about the places you photograph.

  3. Reflect on the possible impact of your actions.

  4. Use discretion if sharing locations.

  5. Know and follow rules and regulations.

  6. Always follow Leave No Trace principles and strive to leave places better than you found them.

  7. Actively promote and educate others about these principles

Looking at these principles, they are fairly simple things to follow and allow for adaptation for each person.  Some of the key take-aways that really resonate with me are…

  • Prioritizing the well-being of nature of photography – Essentially not doing things that will damage nature
  • Educating yourself about the places you photograph – The more you know, the more responsibly you may behave as well as having more information to judge your potential impact to the ecosystem
  • Use discretion if sharing locations – There are many horror stories of a photographer who “found” an epic location and posted an image then the hoards descended on that area to get that same image and subsequently destroyed that area.
  • Promote and educate others – This is a key principle for growing this movement beyond a small core of photographers and in to the masses of folks who venture outside.

For a more in-depth description of the principles, click HERE

 

trees, forest, fog, mist, yachats, lush, green

If we want to protect and preserve the natural spaces for our photography and for the next generations, we have to do more than is being done today.  Nature is a fragile system and so much has already been lost or irreversibly changed and if we don’t start doing better and more as a generation, there just won’t be much left for our kids and our kids kids.    I highly encourage you to visit the Nature First website and learn about what they are doing and then sign up and practice these principles when you head outdoors.

 

Nature First Home Page: https://www.naturefirstphotography.org/en/home

Nature First Sign Up Page: https://www.naturefirstphotography.org/en/join