Category: Critters

Critters by Joe Wilcox
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Flickr a Day 255: ‘Polyphemus Moth’

The nature shots from the photostream of Stan Lupo are so fantastic, I wrongly wondered if he reposts images from National Geographic. Choosing one is a nearly impossible task. Being his work is so exceptional, today’s selection is a bit unfair. But the insect is one of my all-time favorites, and our Day Taker emphasizes the importance of shooting with what you got, not what you want. Vitals: f/2.4, ISO 50, 1/151 sec, 4.1mm.

Stan used iPhone 5 to capture this Polyphemus moth, hence the self-title, on July 11, 2015. “A first for me”, he says, “and I only had my iPhone with me. The best camera is the one you have with you”. True that. 

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Photo by Joe Wilcox
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Flickr a Day 252: ‘Happy Hour’

The animal parade continues, and choosing wasn’t easy. Ingrid Taylar presents a National Geographic-like menagerie of beasts and birds that captures character and detail. Self-titled “Happy Hour”, which she shot on May 31, 2013, takes the Day for being interesting. How often do you see something like that? Ingrid used Olympus OM-D E-M5 and Panasonic Lumix 100-300mm lens, because “my workhorse, the Olympus E-3 is in the shop”, she says. Vitals are not available.

From San Francisco, Calif., but living in Seattle, Wash., Ingrid is what I call a “lifer”. She joined Flickr in August 2004, about six months after the service was founded. Her blog, “The Wild Beat” is a real treat,

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Photo by Joe Wilcox
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Flickr a Day 220: Chat

For some people, photography is a way of life. For shooter Erik Hagström, it is a way of living—of expressing himself in ways his body otherwise limits. There is a cool, somber ambiance to his art I could see, before learning his story, that captures more than just images in around the French Alps, but essence.

About himself, Erik explains: “After two cerebral accidents vascular in 2007, making me lose most of the control of my members, reconquered gradually, not being able more to play of musical instruments, or use pencils to draw and paint, I turned to the photograph”.

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Photo by Joe Wilcox
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Flickr a Day 213: ‘Cecil’

There are few events to take the Internet’s attention hostage like this week’s outrage over the death of a 13 year-old Zimbabwean lion. Vince O’Sullivan photographed the proud animal one year ago today—Aug. 1, 2014. He updated the caption to add context better coming from him than me.

“This is, of course, ‘Cecil’—the lion famously shot and wounded by crossbow fired by American dentist Walter Palmer in July 2015 and then shot, killed, skinned, and beheaded for trophies two days later”, Vince explains. “Living in a nature reserve, Cecil was completely inured to people in vehicles that didn’t interfere with him or his prey. So approaching him closely was never difficult, a daily occurrence for him and something he paid no attention to”. 

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Critters by Joe Wilcox
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When the Crowd Roars

The Internet backlash against dentist Walter Palmer for killing Cecil the lion is one of the best examples of mob journalism ever. The narrative spreading across the InterWebs is some ways well-meaning but in many more is destructive. Meanwhile, the force of collective-will tempts too many journalists to join the mob opinion, when they should stand aside and offer objective and responsible reporting.

Before writing another word, I must praise National Geographic for the best reporting about this event. The magazine offers broader perspective and, more importantly, puts big game hunting into larger context, while taking an objective tone. The raging mob’s perspective is myopic, and news sites supporting it fail the public good.

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