[backpack zipper zips]
Hello, this is Ralph!
MARIA [over the phone]: Hi Ralph, it's Maria from B&H!
I heard you were speaking at OPTIC this year, and I figured I'd introduce you to the audience.
Do you have time for 21 questions?
RALPH: Yes! Absolutely I was actually expecting your call.
I'm just getting ready now to go out here in Charlotte to go see the eagles near my house!
MARIA: Amazing! So, tell us what you do for a living.
[backpack zipper zips]
Well, I'm a photographer, and I'm a travel photographer.
And I work with Lindblad Expeditions and National Geographic on the National Geographic fleet.
MARIA: Amazing! That's awesome.
RALPH: And things are little different right now because, um...
Of course with the world situation we're not traveling at the moment,
so I have lots of time to study the eagles, and I've been doing that for the six weeks.
MARIA: And so, you're gonna take us out to go check out these eagles?
That's right! We're gonna...
Exit my townhouse here in Piper Glen on the golf course and head over to the eagles' nest!
MARIA: Cool, let's do it! RALPH: Alright!
Follow along!
Okay I'm at the golf cart now! I just talked to Ben who's the cart master.
And we're gonna--he lets me borrow the carts to go down to the eagles.
I think I'm the only one to do that here... at the golf course.
MARIA: And how did you get so lucky to have this right in your backyard?
RALPH: Well, we are really lucky...
Believe it or not, when I bought the town house I did not know there was a bald eagles' nest here.
And there's also a beaver pond, so we have beaver that I've been photographing as well.
So I've been coming out and checking out the eagles now for about the last six weeks.
Of course, we could see a little more of the eagles' nest before the leaves came...
But, we got the eagles. I got to photograph the eagles as they were working on the nest, flying in at sunset.
RALPH: All right! So, you ready? We're gonna-- MARIA: Yes!
RALPH: --head down to the eagle's nest. Alright! MARIA: Cool!
RALPH: Follow me if you can!
[slow rock music]
RALPH: Alright now! So I've arrived at the eagle's nest!
I've had to park in a little bit of a different position from where I normally do because...
They're doing a little work on the driving range.
And we also have a good view here, nesting very close, so...
I do have the view, though...
I'm to set my tripod here so I can see this.
The tree, the snag, the eagle's nest is in the big green tree.
There's a snag, and we've got golf carts everywhere this morning!
But it's amazing! These eagles...
Are habituated. When I've been photographing, if I stay in my golf cart,
I'm okay! As soon as I get out of the golf cart, and they see the camera, then they move away.
[inaudible]
It's kind of funny that way...
MARIA: And it sounds like you're having a lot of fun at home!
But, has this quarantine affected your workflow at all?
Well, it has because I'm a travel photographer.
And I'm used to traveling, so I've been home now for two months.
And... which is probably the first time in about ten years that I've been home this long.
But it actually has been great to spend time with my images.
And so, I've actually been able to go back to some of the trips I've been doing,
and pulling some things for the book projects I'm working on.
And, um...
Actually keeping in touch with a lot of people during this time, so it's been interesting that way.
MARIA: Yeah, that's great! And then, so what got you into photography?
RALPH: Utah! The Red Rocks of Utah!
A long time ago, traveled out in my Volkswagen van to Utah.
And saw the Red Rocks of Utah, and I was seeing things I'd never seen before, I had seen in books...
This is in the late 70's.
And I fell into buying a 4x5 Graflex camera.
I figured if I'm gonna be a photographer I'm gonna have a real camera like Ansel Adams.
MARIA: So, that was your first camera?
RALPH: That was my first serious camera! I did have a, uh...
My dad had given me my Konica--or he gave me a Konica rangefinder
when I did a trip earlier than that.
But I was really not interested in photography...
It wasn't like I was a photographer in high school.
I was a an athlete and I studied geology.
So, seeing the landscapes of Utah really did it for me.
MARIA: So I know that you founded the Expedition Photography with Lindblad...
And it seems like the dream job. What exactly does that entail?
Well, I'm the director of Expedition Photography now, and it's now been 20 years...
Um, doing this...
So, originally I was an expedition leader on the ship and talking geology about the places you travel.
And so now, it entails going out and teaching on the ships.
And I've got a whole team, photography team of photographer naturalists.
There's more than 50 of us that work on the ships.
We're up to nine ships traveling the world.
And so it entails going out and being in the moment with people.
Getting people into great situations where they can photograph nature
because that's what it's about: the adventure, and being in the moment
and telling the story of the expeditions, and that's the big thing...
That we do, is we teach people how to tell the story of their trips not just to get that one shot.
MARIA: So, clearly teaching is a huge part of your life.
And that kind of brings us to this year's B&H virtual OPTIC.
Why do you love to teach so much? What is it about it that drives you in your career?
RALPH: Well I kind of fell into teaching back when I was living in Santa Fe.
The Santa Fe workshops are there so I was traveling on the ships.
And my teaching started when we started the photo exhibitions on the ship.
And what I love is how people's...
Eyes light up and how the bells go off when they finally understand that they
are seeing the world the way their camera sees the world,
not just the way their eyes see the world.
MARIA: And a lot of people are adapting now with doing more virtual teaching.
Have you been getting into any of that: virtual teaching or even virtual learning?
Well, the virtual--I'll answer the first one, the learning part.
I'm a recent convert to the Olympus system.
I switched just last year, so that I can have a lighter camera bag.
And also some of the Olympus technology is great for wildlife photography.
And so, I've been actually listening to a lot of the Olympus tutorials online.
But, I've been getting a lot of requests for online presentations.
You know, Zoom is the thing that where you can get presentation to fifty or a hundred people.
So I've got--in addition to OPTIC, which we'll be doing virtually--
a couple of travel companies that--in addition to Lindblad,
that charter with Lindblad--have asked me to give talks to their to their members.
So that's fun.
MARIA: That's great! And so you mentioned that you just switched over. What's your go-to camera and lens?
Yes! I just switched to the Olympus system last year.
So my go-to camera is the M1X.
And if I had to choose one lens, if I'm just doing kind of a walkabout,
and I need a versatile lens, it's the 12 to 100 zoom.
Which in Micro Four Thirds is a 24 to 200.
And the Olympus--actually at my stage in my career,
switching to a new camera has revitalized me. Now, I am also learning a new system
And you can see my camera here.
The M1X, I've got the 300mm on it here for photographing eagles, with 1.4X extender.
So this is 840mm, which for me is a game-changer.
If I was here with, you know, a full-frame camera, it would be this huge bazooka.
but now I have a camera that I can actually hand hold and photograph wildlife, so that's the game changer.
MARIA: Aside from landscape and wildlife photography are there other styles you like to play around with?
Well, for... Not in my normal work.
I do portraits because I'm always looking for people.
especially in nature doing what they love to do:
hiking, and so a lot of the brochure photography I'm just looking for those moments.
Not so much setups...
You know not being a studio photographer if I had total control I'd struggle.
But when I'm out and about, if I see a shot--I know it when I see it,
And so I do enjoy shooting people and when I was teaching a lot of--for 10 years, a decade
I taught National Geographic workshops in places like San Miguel de Allende or Santa Fe New Mexico.
And I loved street photography.
That's also fun because it's a great way to interact and get to know cultures is with your camera,
You're like a warrior with a camera. You're going into these scenes and...
I'm actually an introvert but it makes me an extrovert in situation that I have my camera and there's a street scene.
MARIA: Mhm, and you share a of your photos on Instagram.
Why do you think it's so important for the public to learn about nature and wildlife
and having these outlets like Instagram and social media to share that?
Well I did come kicking and screaming to the whole social media thing.
Being of my generation, what I love about and why I've embraced it now,
especially for nature, is that when people see beautiful images,
and images of beautiful places,
and compelling images, images with impact of wildlife,
they're curious, and they might study about a place.
Or they'll go travel to that place.
And when people learn about places, when they learn about animals,
and they learn how fragile things are, then they care.
So I do think there's a wave of people, armchair travelers, who can't get there but...
get there vicariously by looking at images online.
MARIA: And so, I know this is gonna be hard to answer,
but what's your favorite part of what you do?
My favorite part of what I do is actually kind of like what we're doing now:
is getting up and getting out and being in nature.
being with wildlife, observing wildlife and being in the moment.
Life itself is all about being in the moment,
And the more you're in the present moment, I think the more life has meaning.
And if I can record those moments, and capture those moments, and share them with people,
that's really what drives me.
MARIA: Mhm!
And so what are a couple tips you could give the people watching right now,
who want to learn about wildlife photography?
RALPH: Tips for wildlife photography?
It's probably one of the most difficult things to get into
because you've got to have lenses that are longer and all that aside.
But aside from the technical, it's about learning your subject.
So if you want to be a wildlife photographer, are you into birds or you into the big mammals?
So you need to do some research and learn about the animals.
Where they are, what time of year that you need to go see them...
Of course there's so many photographers leading people to the places.
All these photo workshops that take people to the location or photo expeditions.
Learning about the animals, and also then learning your camera so it's an extension of yourself.
So that you're ready in the moment when things happen.
MARIA: And so you mentioned expeditions. What's the craziest expedition you've ever been on?
The craziest expedition I've ever been on was actually the first trip I took after I left my job as a geologist.
I had worked as a geologist for a few years to get out of debt from graduate school,
and I was invited on a month-long Grand Canyon River trip in the winter.
And we were matching historical photographs from a century ago,
so we had to put on the river when they did and that was in January!
So imagine getting on a cold white water river in January, but we were very lucky with the weather.
I mean for mornings below freezing, and that was pretty crazy to spend a month going down a river.
Of course, this was during film so I didn't have the battery issues that we have today.
But that was a challenging trip and it was crazy at times
because we were running a wild river in the bottom of the Grand Canyon.
MARIA: That is crazy! And what was the most difficult location to get to?
Well we do it in a great way, but the most difficult place to get to is Antarctica.
And I say that for one reason:
even though you're going down there on the ship, you have to cross the Drake Passage.
And sometimes the Drake Passage is called Drake Lake
where it's just flat calm.
Other times it's--well it's the stormiest ocean on the planet.
At other times you've got 30-foot seas and you wonder why you work on a ship.
Once you're down there its pristine, it's beautiful, and it's worth it.
MARIA: And, is there anywhere you haven't been yet that you really want to go to?
Oh I get this question a lot: "where haven't I been that I want to get to?"
And that's a tough one. I haven't spent much time in Asia,
So I'm gonna say I would love to see pandas in the wild in China.
That's one dream and also the tigers in India.
I haven't spent that much time in that part of the world.
MARIA: So, what's your favorite animal to photograph?
That's an easy one! Polar bears.
[inaudible]
There is nothing like--and this is where video is probably better than stills,
but you can still capture amazing moments--
but there's nothing like being out there
searching for a white, creamy spot in a white landscape,
and seeing a polar bear, and seeing how it moves,
and seeing how it moves across the ice, and seeing how it is in its natural environment.
It's the polar bear, without a doubt.
MARIA: Now, polar bears are more of a cold climate, so are you a summer or winter person?
Tough questions!...
Winter, because I do believe that you can make some of the most amazing images in bad weather.
And if you want to separate yourself--especially now with all the photography that's out there--
get out in bad weather, get out there in the winter.
And I do go to the tropics, but I'm not good at 95 degrees and 100% humidity.
That's really tiring and difficult to photograph in those situations.
The dark rainforest when it's hot and there's bugs. Winter, definitely.
MARIA: And if you weren't a photographer what would you be?
If I hadn't discovered photography back when I was a fledgling geologist,
I would have been a geologist.
And I probably would have studied the rocks where I studied in the Grand Canyon for my masters.
And I probably would have gotten my PhD
and worked at a college in the southwest or worked at the US Geological Survey,
which has a beautiful field station in Flagstaff.
But I'd definitely be living in the southwest, in the canyon country and looking at all those beautiful rock layers
that make up the Grand Canyon and arches and [inaudible].
MARIA: And a lot of the people that we ask questions,
they tell us about some of the best advice that has helped them throughout their career.
What's some of the best advice you've ever received?
That's also an interesting question!
The best advice I ever received was when I met a photographer.
I was in Capitol Reef National Park, and I was actually struggling with my four by five...
You know, I was new to it, and there was a photographer out there with a four by five.
And I asked him, I said "what did it take for you to be a photographer?"
And he said "persistence."
He goes "First, you have to discover your passion. What is it that you like to photograph?
"Is it people? Is it portraits? Is it weddings? Is it wildlife?
"And then, you have to be persistent,"
he said "You have to give yourself 10 years."
And he said "do whatever it takes to keep shooting."
MARIA: And if there were to be a movie about your life who would play you?
Ah, that's an easy one: Harrison Ford! Indiana Jones.
He's adventurous, he's witty and he's got a signature hat.
[Maria laughs]
MARIA: And, last question, who should we interview next?
RALPH: Who should we interview next?
Well, I'm gonna nominate--and I don't know if you know yet--Rich Reed.
He's our iPhone guru with National Geographic.
He does so much with his iPhone.
And he's also going to be speaking at OPTIC, so that might be the next guy to talk to!
I can set you up with him!
MARIA: Awesome. That would be great!
Okay, so I'm gonna let you go!
Go photograph those eagles.
And thank you so much for having a chat with me!
You bet, Maria!
Appreciate your calling!
And yeah it's gonna be a little challenging here this morning.
I'm gonna see if the eagles fly.
If not, I'm gonna come back later.
Have a great day!
MARIA: Awesome, thanks, you too! Bye!
[guitar music]