Knowledge as a resource.

With all the expensive photography equipment and accessories sopping up our well earned money we tend to overlook a major resource. Biological Knowledge. Knowledge in the form of all sorts of great reading material. We have obtained all the necessary equipment, but not to learn how to approach our subjects in a manor as not to disturb them, but still gain that award winning shot. The key as Moose Peterson strongly expresses to his students is basic biology!

Many people say ok, but then ask how we can afford all of this on top of our already over reaching photographic budgets. Well an often over looked area is used books. Not just that rack at the library where books go for a quarter (not a bad place to start either.) Many of the big book sellers like Barnes and Noble or Amazon have used book sections or even popular auction sites such as Half.com (owned and operated by eBay.) They contain books new and old on all sorts of subject matter. You’d be surprised at just how cheap a decent copy of a book can go for even with the shipping charges.

When searching these websites keep two things in mind. The definition of what constitutes the condition of the book and also the seller they are coming from. The condition is really left up to how it can be described by the seller or how the website defines such terms as fair, good or like new. This leads to my second point about the quality of a seller. First check to see  their feedback and see how well he/she are rated from previous customers. Also keep in mind the amount of people successfully sold to. You can usually feel more confident with a high rated seller who as an abundance of successful sales due to the difficulty of reaching such a status. If you happen to find a handful of complaints make sure to see if the seller has responded. If the seller responds its much better to see they care and get both sides of a story to make your own judgments as what to do.

Once you have located a few good books and sellers it’s time to think about shipping costs. A good tip is to find a seller who is selling books of your interest and see if you can get as many well priced books from him/her. This will combine your shipping normally and lead to an even more incredible deal.

This process has helped me recently as I am headed back to Wyoming this winter in mid-January. When I set afoot onto these trips I want to be well prepared. This comes from being well read on the subjects you will be shooting. Whether it be their eating habits and finding the food resource to track them down, or a place that the flock or herd congregates in winter for protection. Finding out exactly why they do these things can also be very helpful to your writing and discussion of the animals. It helps to create a well rounded story to further draw in your readers/viewers.

I personally picked up four good ones I am excited to read:

Guide to Nature in Winter: Northeast and North Central North America
Animal Behavior: an Introduction to Behavioral Mechanisms, Development, and Ecology
National Audubon Society Regional Guide to the Rocky Mountain States
The Birder’s Handbook: a Field Guide to the Natural History of North American Birds

(not all bought from the places linked necessarily)

And a book I took out from my school library. Libraries can often order books for you and are a great resource to support. Plus it’s free.

Winter World by Bernd Heinrich

I am looking for guides that focus on winter activities and animal behavior. Even books that are more general such as a natural history guide to species seen when birding to general behavior of animals can be enormously helpful. The Handbook will help fill gaps in understanding a species past. While the behavioral book will help me better understanding their activities and how they correlate to the seasons.

Just the thought of fresh snow, utter silence, and lack of people….

…I can’t wait!

Starting January 10th I will be blogging our travels. From Grand Teton National Park, to the Elk National Refuge, Dubois, Wyoming, and much much more! Stay tuned!

(P.s. In celebration of our official first snow here in the big apple and beginning of the holiday season I have updated my blog with SNOW!)