Page 12 - Cape-Camera-Jan-Feb-2022

January/February 2022 Cape Camera

means that practices such as baiting of subjects with a living crea- No man-made objects
ture and removal of birds from nests, for the purpose of obtaining
a photograph, are highly unethical. Under no circumstances may Nature images are not allowed to contain people or things cre-
a living creature be placed in a situation where it will be killed, in- ated by people unless the objects are a necessary part of the na-
jured or stressed for the purpose of obtaining a photograph. This ture story. The basic requirement is that any evidence of human
rule applies regardless of whether or not the creature being killed, activity in an image MUST be “a necessary part of the Nature
injured or stressed is visible in the captured image. story”. A simple way of looking at this is to ask the question: If
the human element was not present, would there be an image
Nature or Wildlife that told a nature story? If the answer is “No”, then the human
element is a necessary part of the nature story – without the
We often hear the words Nature and Wildlife used to describe human element there would be no story to capture.
natural history photography – they are not one and the same – In other words a waterhole is manmade and if it was not there
all wildlife images are nature but not all nature is wildlife! then there would be nowhere for the animals to drink – so it is a
To be called wildlife, zoological specimens must be “living free necessary part of the nature story.
and unrestrained in a natural or adopted habitat of their own Examples of things that have been created by people or modi-
choosing”. The subject must not be under any form of restraint fied by people and are not allowed in nature images include but
or restriction by humans. Animals in large nature reserves (such are not limited to: roads, paths, vehicle tracks, signs, vehicles etc.
as Kruger National Park in South Africa) are suitable wildlife that are not a necessary part of the nature story.
subjects. However, animals in zoos, on game farms or in any
situation where their movement or food supply is controlled by Can Dance images be entered into the Sports
humans, are not suitable wildlife subjects. For some wildlife, the category?
adopted habitat may be an environment that has been modi-
fied by humans but the wildlife must be in that location of its
own free will.
Zoological subjects (any form of fauna) must not be removed
from their natural habitat for the purpose of wildlife photogra-
phy, nor should they be under any form of control or restraint
by humans. This includes reptiles, amphibians and insects.

The answer is NO – not in PSSA Salons.
While our definition appears to allow Dance to be entered in
the Sports section as Dance is “an active pastime and does in-
volve physical exertion”, the Board has decided that it will not
be allowed in the sport section in salons. There are obviously
many arguments against this ruling but please be aware that
you should enter your dance images in the Open category in
any PSSA Salons.
The leopard (above) was photographed in a large enclosure in a
private reserve and is reliant on man for its food and is therefore Be honest and comply with the spirit of these rules.
not a wildlife subject. It can however be entered in nature. The *) This article first appeared in the PSSA E-IMAGE November
piece of meat which has obviously been prepared by man does 2021. All images by Jill Sneesby with the exception of The Dance
not enhance the photograph and therefore one wouldn’t enter of the Beauty by Nicol du Toit.
that image.

11 Cape Town Photographic Society