Fundamentals of Photography - Joel Sartore

A friend gave me a wonderful gift of credits toward any Great Courses video series of my wishes. Choosing the course was hard until I saw the name, Joel Sartore.

Joel Sartore is one of those photographers who you have never heard of. Yet you remember distinct, unrelated photos that made you stop in your tracks at different times of your life. You know his work, but probably don't know his name. Perhaps his most famous recent photo series is The Photo Arc Project in which he is traveling the world (and recruiting other global journalists) to document baby photos of newborns of endangered species.  His hope is that since we have chosen for a few generations that we don't care enough about dying species, perhaps people will care more if we see beautiful photos of baby animals which may be part of the final generation of the species.

Honestly, I am not very far into this course. Yet I love his approach of not focusing on equipment which will become outdated, but on developing an eye and taste for photography. This approach can make your photos timeless. I also love his anecdotal stories of his life in which he learned the hard way that their are many times in life when we need to put the camera down and simply enjoy life. I am excited to learn more from this master!