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For me, nature photography grew out of my concern with the level of environmental destruction I saw going on around me during the 1960’s and 70’s. Few people cared then about what was being lost as long as it resulted in economic advancement. As an environmental activist I became involved in many campaigns to raise awareness about the likely consequences of unrestrained development, and over the years I’ve seen some positive signs. On the whole however, the impact of human development has continued at an increasing rate.

Once we could tackle and occasionally solve environmental problems locally. Now we are faced with environmental problems on a global scale that carry consequences far more serious than anything we’ve seen in the past. Global warming is something that needs to be dealt with at both an individual level and by governments.

I fear that with all of the threats global warming brings to the human population the interests of wildlife and the natural environment will be ignored. One of Australia’s most respected scientists, and Australian of the year Tim Flannery, predicts that up to six out of every ten species will be driven to extinction by climate change.

I’ve spent the past 30 years working professionally as a wildlife photographer, partly as senior photographer for the Queensland Museum and partly in a freelance capacity. Over that time I’ve been fortunate enough to spend a great deal of time getting to know Australia’s natural treasures. Many have already been lost because of human activity and many others are under threat. The solution to global warming is both political and technological but the thing we need most of all is clear thinking. Our national leaders need to put aside ideology and rigid thought patterns and put in place the global alliances that will be necessary to deal with the causes of global warming.

Copyright on all of the photographs is owned by myself, Bruce Cowell. Students are welcome to use the photographs in projects and assignments but commercial users please contact me for copyright release at bruce@brucecowellphotographer.com.au or BrcCow@aol.com

Nature Photography - Birds

Of all the orders of nature the one that inspires most people the world over is birds. From a nature photographers point of view they offer great variety but their mobility makes them extremely challenging to photograph. They require a great deal of patience and a certain amount of luck. The most important thing is to get to know each species, it's habitat and how it behaves. Most animals have a profound link with their home territory. If we can gain some understanding of this relationship we stand a much better chance of obtaining good photographs.

All but one (NB029) of the photographs on this page were taken in the birds natural environment without human interference.

Photo-Gallery