User:Billbassphoto

Sharing the importance of wildlife, nature, & conservation for a sustainable world.
www.BillBassPhoto.com

I have been a photographer since high school when I started out with a film-based Olympus OM-3 camera learning to shoot with just a 50mm lens on black-and white film. My high-school years were spent overseas in Singapore (SouthEast Asia), where I traveled throughout Asia photographing unique places, cultures, and environments. Camera technology has changed a lot since those early years, but learning to photograph using those older methods instilled in me patience to get the shots I really want, and those that can convey the right message to my audience.

Today my photography revolves around wildlife, nature, and conservation, helping to share the natural world with others so that we might work towards a more sustainable future. My photography draws me to areas that are interesting and still relatively natural places. Some even in close proximity to urban areas that most don't know still exist. But even in more rural and remote areas I see evidence of the 'human impact' on our environment. As a Geographer, I am involved in efforts to analyze land use/land cover change, environmental quality, and ecosystems. Photography allows me to get outdoors and experience ecosystems first hand, witnessing their value, challenges, and issues for myself. From trash and plastic in waterways, to development in areas once natural and peaceful, they are all reminders that a sustainable future is not a straight line of continued ever steady growth and development.

In my spare time I lend my expertise as a geographer and photographer to Bayou Land Conservancy as both a Board Member and member of their Ambassador Program. Land trust and conservation organizations like these are instrumental in helping to build a sustainable future by preserving our natural areas for current and future generations to enjoy. When people ask me what they can do, the answer is simple: Just get involved and lend your time, and if you are so inclined and have the financial means, please donate to organizations that are on the front lines of preserving the only planet we have to live on, Planet Earth.