Acknowledgments

We wish to thank hunters and fishermen who have contributed untold millions of dollars through license fees, donations, and special taxes on sporting equipment to preserve and restore wetlands in the United States and Canada. Without this massive influx of money, much of our wildlife heritage would have been lost forever. Today we enjoy a huge network of national wildlife refuges and waterfowl production areas that have been successfully preserved for wildlife, us, and future generations. Everyone, and especially nature photographers, owe a huge debt of gratitude to these conservationists.

The shallow pond that attracts this graceful American avocet was purchased with money from hunting and fishing license sales. Although this marshland was originally protected for the benefit of waterfowl and fish, all water-loving non-game species benefit tremendously. Nikon D300, Nikon 200–400mm f/4 lens at 340mm, f/9 at 1/400 second, ISO 200, and manual exposure.

Hundreds of helpful folks have aided us in our pursuit of wildlife images over many decades. Early in my career, David Blanton, the founder of Voyagers International, asked me to guide a photo tour to Kenya when I was 33. This fantastic opportunity lit a fuse that became a life-long burning interest in traveling to the world’s finest wildlife hot spots. Little did I realize in the beginning that I would co-lead, along with my wife Barbara, more than three dozen photo tours to Kenya, along with numerous trips to the Galapagos Islands, the Falkland Islands, Antarctica, Midway Atoll, Alaska, Canada, and other fascinating destinations. (For the record, Barbara is the main tour leader now because she is simply brilliant in that role. I mainly offer photo instruction and set the schedule. I let her assume most of the leadership duties because there is no point in messing with perfection.)

Eventually, International Expeditions bought Voyagers and we have worked with this fine company for many years. To the splendid folks at International Expeditions, thanks so

These superb Kenyan guides help us enormously while leading photo safaris to Kenya’s best game parks. Pictured left to right: Henry, Joseph, Patrick, David, and Peter. Other wonderful guides we like include Stanley, Edwin, Zachary, Joshua, Felix, and Bernie. Special thanks goes to David who is our lead guide and a tremendous game driver, spotter, and dear friend. Canon EOS-5D Mark II, 24–105 f/4 lens at 40mm, f/8 at 1/200 second, ISO 320, and manual exposure.

much for your advice and help in making our photo tours incredibly successful for our clients. On our popular Kenya wildlife safaris, we work with Steve Turner of Origins Safaris and his incredible native driver-guides. Thanks so much to all of you, especially David and his son, Stanley, who have skillfully guided us to the best photo spots for 20 years.

The incredible folks who join our photo tours deserve a huge round of applause. All have been outstanding individuals to travel with. Your patience and good humor as we solve small travel problems (lost luggage and flat tires) and make the photo tour the finest it can be are heartwarming.

We feel truly blessed to have the best clients in the world. Many have traveled with us to every destination we offer. Together, we have toured the world and you have been a big part of our success in offering the finest photo tours possible.

Thanks to Alan Charnley who participated in the first photo workshop I ever taught in Lapeer, Michigan, where I was born. Alan became my dentist, but he frequently joined me in the field to photograph. He is a terrific companion and an excellent sounding board. We threw ideas at each other and together developed new techniques for shooting better nature images. Alan always kept me humble. He excels at everything. Not only is he an outstanding dentist, but he is a superb nature photographer. His nature images and knowledge of the camera are far better than most pros. Therefore, I never thought too highly of myself, just because I earned a living at nature photography. Thanks to Alan, I always knew there were plenty of fantastic amateur nature photographers who are every bit as skillful as the pros. Alan continually develops new tools and strategies. A few years ago, he helped Barbara and me build our own floating blind that lets us stalk wildlife in the water. It’s one of our favorite ways of shooting images and we look forward to using our fourth-generation “Charnley” blind every year.

Bill Forbes came to the rescue when Barbara decided she had to photograph Gambel’s quail. He invited us to his home to photograph the numerous quail that drink from the pond in his desert yard. Thanks a lot, Bill. It was tons of fun and encouraged us to develop water lures at our Idaho mountain home.

Hummingbirds are fascinating to us. Great appreciation is extended to Cindy and Hans Koch for letting us turn their spectacular Bull River Guest Ranch into the world’s most productive hummingbird photo workshop.

We’ve enjoyed our ten years there more than we can ever tell you and have such wonderful memories. And many thanks to Gina and Greg Koch, the ranch managers, for putting up with us for all of these years. They are wonderful friends and terrific hosts.

Thanks to the staff at Focal Press who continue to tolerate this writer/photographer who disappears for months at a time to all corners of the world. They put a lot of trust in me to actually get everything done without hearing from me for long periods of time.

Finally, Al Hart and Woodice Fuller deserve praise for editing the manuscript. They found most of my typos and helped me write tighter and more accurately. The feedback they provided helped make the book easier to read and more instructional than it would have been without them.