NANPA
February 17th, 2010 Rob SheppardI am in Reno, Nevada, right now at the NANPA Annual Summit. NANPA is the North American Nature Photography Association. And this blog is a plug for this organization. I have been a member for many years now, starting in my capacity as editor of Outdoor Photographer magazine. I have also been on the NANPA Foundation Board which handles non-profit fundraising for certain education projects, including education grants, refuge blind building and Summit programs for college and high school youth.
NANPA is a wonderful organization. You can learn more about it at NANPA.org. If you are interested in nature photography at all, I would suggest you check it out. The organization has been a terrific experience for me personally. I have gained a lot of friends who share the same ideals and interests that I have, friends from across the country. I love going to the Summit if for nothing else, meeting new people and rekindling friendships.
The Summit is much more, too. It brings in a lot of great speakers, some of the top nature photographers in the world. At this summit, folks like Phil Borges, George Lepp, Staffan Widstrand, Joel Sartore, Piotr Nasrecki are all giving keynote speeches. In addition, there are multiple breakout sessions every day on all sorts of topics from video for nature photographers (which I am doing with Ian Shive) to using nature photography to cure nature deficit disorder to making the journey from amateur to pro to the art of butterfly photography and much more. There is also a trade show where you can see and handle all sorts of gear appropriate to nature photography.
NANPA is also worth supporting for the things it does for nature photography, including promoting ethical practices in the field, offering insurance for photographers, sponsoring a major nature photography competition, sponsoring regional nature photography programs and so on.
Check it out and keep it in mind if you want to develop as a nature photographer.
