NATURE PHOTOGRAPHY GONE ROGUE
After visiting Death Valley National Park a couple of years ago for the first time in decades, I found my familiar space of solitude shattered forever.
At one time, it was an environment where I could reliably go and find solace. Maybe a couple of photographers would climb the sand dunes at dawn to be alone in nature, listening to the wind as the sun rose.
There were no parking lots next to the sand dunes back then. Now there’s a big one full of SUVs and Sprinter vans before the sun rises.
The U.S. National Parks today hardly have a primo landscape around without tons of people present at the best hours of the day taking selfies for Instagram. Then they all leave to have breakfast. If only they were using better cameras.
I will not be posting about the sites that remain untouched. I quit the travel nature photo business long ago for some of the same reasons. I realized I was becoming a part of the problem.
Here’s a similar story, even more heartbreaking: