In my quest of becoming a green photographer, I have been surfing the Internet for ideas, suggestions, actual items already on the market, etc. I do think that we should all do whatever we can to become more energy efficient and at the same time, reduce the amount of waste or pollutant we, individually, add to the problem. The politicians will debate the planet's future, without doing anything concrete to fix the problems, until it is too late. Sometimes, I think it is already too late. 
None-the-less, just look around you; there is a lot that we can do as photographers. From buying solar battery chargers, to charging your batteries in your car, with an adapter of course, while you drive to work. Print your proofs on 4” x 6” paper instead of 8” x 10”. Just print the final image on the size you actually need for framing or selling. Use the Internet to display and show your pictures to clients, instead of actual prints. At best, take photos that show the effects of pollution, global warming, wild life instinction, and show them to the world.
The September/October 2007 issue of American PHOTO is dedicated on how to become a greener photographer. This is a "must get" issue and it actually prompted me to suscribe to their on-line magazine. I don't get paid to advertise their magazine. I just think it was a very appropriate issue. We need more of that king of writing. They offer a free e-book copy for evaluation. I do recommend that you log on their site. Another great source I found is the OK1000 Pentax Blog administered by Michael Gaudet in New York City.
None-the-less, just look around you; there is a lot that we can do as photographers. From buying solar battery chargers, to charging your batteries in your car, with an adapter of course, while you drive to work. Print your proofs on 4” x 6” paper instead of 8” x 10”. Just print the final image on the size you actually need for framing or selling. Use the Internet to display and show your pictures to clients, instead of actual prints. At best, take photos that show the effects of pollution, global warming, wild life instinction, and show them to the world.The September/October 2007 issue of American PHOTO is dedicated on how to become a greener photographer. This is a "must get" issue and it actually prompted me to suscribe to their on-line magazine. I don't get paid to advertise their magazine. I just think it was a very appropriate issue. We need more of that king of writing. They offer a free e-book copy for evaluation. I do recommend that you log on their site. Another great source I found is the OK1000 Pentax Blog administered by Michael Gaudet in New York City.
Read his take on Green Photography.
National Geographic is always a good resource for what we can do for our mother earth.
This blog would be a good place to post what you are doing to become a green photographer. Give all of us some ideas. We need to save this planet for our grand children. Go ahead, we are all awaiting your comments and suggestions.
5 comments:
Hate to tell you this, but solar battery chargers and printing 4x6 isn't going to make a dime's worth of difference in whatever environmental problem you're worried about. Really think about it: if such activities consumed a large amount of resources, would you be able to afford to do them on a whim? No one even bothers checking how much electricity their camera battery charger consumes because it amounts to pennies. And photo paper is just that, paper, a degradable, low resource good. We blow our noses in the stuff because it's so cheap to make and dispose of.
It's like Al Gore asking everyone to buy a CF lightbult to stop global warming. Even with the most optimistic scenario and most generous number assumptions, even if the whole world discarded their old lightbulbs for new CF bulbs, you wouldn't alter the CO2 output curve by 6 months. China and India will eat up any CO2 savings from such "drastic" measures in a matter of weeks.
You think global warming is real, man made, and a danger? You better embrace nuclear. Hug it like your best friend. Because there isn't another power source that's going to power our world without CO2.
As for me, I'll start taking environmentalists seriously when they stop acting like a religion ("do your part and pay your penance") and start acting like engineers out to really address a problem.
One could start by considering a Pentax DSLR to buy, when upgrading. The Japanese Eco-Leaf label was awarded to the company, as an acknowledgement of Pro-active thinking.
I don’t really care to turn it into a political debate, with people digging ditches. If a large group of consumers incorporated Eco-awareness in their thinking, acted on it and implemented it in their buying habits, you might also see a lot more focus on it from companies.
I like Siemens, as they have an Eco profile, and I can accept paying a little more, taking it into consideration.
If millions of people just did a little more, in their everyday lives; in the western countries, one would start to see an impact.
You cannot start in the undeveloped countries, they don’t have the resources to focus on it. But we consumers in the western countries, use a lot of waste per capita that can harm environment.
I don’t really see any particular party line, needing to take patent on thinking of the environment. I believe George Bush’s ranch is extremely Eco friendly, with solar energy etc.
It is just a personal choice, not particularly political.
I'm sorry, I am still laughing at the comment left by (surprise!) anonymous.
No one ever bothers to check how much electricity their charger consumes because it amounts to pennies? Well thanks for the breakdown, but I think that was way off the point. If used in conjunction with other electricity saving ideas, it can add up to a very tangible difference. But then again, this is from someone who argues that we blow our noses on photo paper because its cheap to make. No one said to use 4x6 because it's expensive to make 8x10. It's the resources we use to make it, and the repercussions resulting from it's manufacture.
There's always going to be that one person who has to argue about even the most ridiculous subject, just to make themselves feel less insignificant. Trying to sound like they are so intelligent that they laugh in the face of something as silly as environmental awareness and energy conservation. These people sit around and bash everyone's ideas, but don't come up with anything usable on their own.
If there were less people like that, and more people who were making a conscious effort to change their habits, there WOULD be a noticeable difference in the deterioration of our natural resources. I could sit here and argue back each point to 'anonymous' but it wouldn't make a difference, and I have a life anyway.
I think your post and your whole idea of green photography is awesome. We don't have to continue being the spoiled, overly wasteful society we have become. Anything that can appeal to people to make them change is wonderful and worth it.
As for 'anonymous', go read the definition of environmentalist and religion before you throw those words into your barely coherent rant. And don't write opinions as if they were fact. It makes you look stupid.
Thank you for your blog. I have been lurking in various forums and I notice your blog and I am so glad to have found you and visit your blog. I love your green idea and the picture with your blog post. I am sure I will visit you and perhaps buy your K100D book. I have one link on M42 adapter referring to your free page for k10Dbook. Hope you visit my blogs sometime. Unlike you, I am all amateur in my Pentax but I have tons of fun with my limited gear and limitless passions.
I am a green photographer. I cannot find anyone doing what I am doing and I would love an opportunity to discuss green photography and how far it could go. Check out my work and eco photography at www.Reflectedinnocence.com
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