I understand business. They sell glass for hunting rifles. I am not against hunting to feed yourself or for protection but trophy hunting is neither of those. It's legalized thrill killing and that is it's only purpose. In many of these areas the animals are bred and raised for this purpose only. They are put into a small fenced in areas where they cannot escape. You can imagine the rest. If you can't just google 'trophy hunting". For Nikon to sponsor any of this, is over the line.
It all seems a bit 'riding the coattails', doesn't it. A 'leading wildlife photographer' comes out in support a few days after the story was in the papers, despite a Google search suggesting he's not all that well known. Seems like an easy way to free publicity.
At least Stefano, who originally raised the issue at the beginning of the month, was actually a reasonably well-known photographer.
These boycotts never sit quite right to me -- if you're really against trophy hunting, surely it would make more sense to campaign with your respective government to get it banned rather than boycotting one particularly company who, even if they stopped, would simply be replaced by another. My cynicism leads me to wonder if these photographers received a nice big cheque from a rival manufacturer for switching allegiance.
For what it's worth, most optics companies make rifle scopes and a lot of them sponsor big game/trophy hunting, so if you're going to boycott Nikon you should also boycott:
@abirkill --- You may very well be correct in your observations. I do a lot of posting about this subject. People who know me know where I stand on this issue. I hesitate to share these things but it's making the internet rounds. Will if effect Nikon? Will it effect photographers? I don't know.
Alexis Birkill, you should add VERY amateur photographer to your credentials. How dare you criticize these photographers for standing up against this horrible thrill kill industry? If you were half the photographer Christopher Rimmer is I’d be interested in what you have to say. You sit clicking around on the internet and if sufficient is not dumped straight into your lap, you criticize those who are actually out there doing what you can only dream of doing yourself. There’s nothing worse than an ignored photographer and you prove this adage true. Go out and do something positive or be quiet!
Thanks for sharing this Dorrena, unfortunately there will always be people in this world like Alexis Birkill who believe a cynical self-promotional strategy lies under every rock. Viva.org asked Christopher Rimmer’s Australian representing gallery for a quote last week regarding the reasons for his break with Nikon. It was well known in Australian photography circles that Rimmer had ended his association with Nikon 12 months ago and as a direct result of Nikon highly conspicuous support for the trophy hunting industry, so where’s the band wagon?
I suspect vindictive comments by Alexis Birkill say more about him than they say about these two very well respected photographers. A brief look through his port-folio suggests that envy may be a significant component also.
Help stamp out this obscene industry and shoot wildlife with cameras only!
Jake, you are at liberty to seek technical advice on photography from anyone you deem fit, however mediocre their portfolio. Should you be seeking advice on grammar and punctuation, I may be in a position to assist you also.
@pippab Pippa, are you going to grace us with any of your photography on this site or did you start an account just to prove your prowess at being an anonymous ass.
I don’t take photographs; I am a senior curator at a gallery that specialises in fine art photography. We have two well-known and highly respected photographers here, both whom I admire very much, having their integrity questioned by a two bit nobody.
Both photographers have expressed their revulsion at Nikon’s and indeed, any corporation's, support of trophy hunting but instead of receiving positive encouragement from this nobody, they are publically taken down without so much as a shred of evidence.
It would appear to me that envy is a significant component of the equation here. As I said previously, there is nothing worse than an ignored photographer. Perhaps Mr Birkill feels that it is he who should have been asked to provide a quote on this matter - if Mr Birkill’s portfolio didn’t primarily consist of hackneyed and clichéd compositions perhaps he would have been.
Why not support these guys instead of knocking them?
……………AND if you want my professional opinion Jake, it should be you giving Mr.Birkill the benefit of your advice rather than the other way around.
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At least Stefano, who originally raised the issue at the beginning of the month, was actually a reasonably well-known photographer.
These boycotts never sit quite right to me -- if you're really against trophy hunting, surely it would make more sense to campaign with your respective government to get it banned rather than boycotting one particularly company who, even if they stopped, would simply be replaced by another. My cynicism leads me to wonder if these photographers received a nice big cheque from a rival manufacturer for switching allegiance.
For what it's worth, most optics companies make rifle scopes and a lot of them sponsor big game/trophy hunting, so if you're going to boycott Nikon you should also boycott:
Zeiss: http://www.opticstalk.com/win-a-10000-tophy-whitetail-hunt_topic33072.html
Pentax: http://www.huntingnet.com/email/aug_06/
Leica: http://www.safariclassics.net/zimbabwe.html
And that was just a 2 minute search on Google. I guess now's the time to buy Canon shares.
I suspect vindictive comments by Alexis Birkill say more about him than they say about these two very well respected photographers. A brief look through his port-folio suggests that envy may be a significant component also.
Help stamp out this obscene industry and shoot wildlife with cameras only!
as for me, I think that you are a great asset to this site with your awesome photography and your willingness to answer peoples technical questions
Both photographers have expressed their revulsion at Nikon’s and indeed, any corporation's, support of trophy hunting but instead of receiving positive encouragement from this nobody, they are publically taken down without so much as a shred of evidence.
It would appear to me that envy is a significant component of the equation here. As I said previously, there is nothing worse than an ignored photographer. Perhaps Mr Birkill feels that it is he who should have been asked to provide a quote on this matter - if Mr Birkill’s portfolio didn’t primarily consist of hackneyed and clichéd compositions perhaps he would have been.
Why not support these guys instead of knocking them?
……………AND if you want my professional opinion Jake, it should be you giving Mr.Birkill the benefit of your advice rather than the other way around.