Amateur_Photographer_-_04_October_2019

10 28 September 2019I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI subscribe 0330 333 1113

THE

VEWS

EXPRESSED

IN THIS COLUMN ARE NOT NECESSARILY THOSE OF AMATEUR

PHOTOGRAPHER

MAGA Z

NE
OR
TMED

AL

MTED

We’reurgedtotakefewerflights,

whichraisessomebigquestions

for keen travel photographers

View point

Geof f Harris

Whatcanwedo

tominimiseour

environmental

impact?

A

sI writethis,theinspirational

youngclimate-change

protestorGretaThunbergis

in themiddleof a longsea

voyageto theUSAratherthanjumpingon

a plane.Whateveryourthoughtsonthe

politicsof climatechangeandthetactics

of campaigners,eventhemostardent

globalwarmingdenierhasto admitthat

somethingis goingonwithallthese

floodsandheatwaves.

SincemanyAPreaderswillbekeen

travelorlandscapephotographerswho

regularlyhoponplanes,shouldwebe

doingmoretoreducetheenvironmental

impactof ourpassion?WhileI don’tfeel

guiltyaboutalreadymakingseveraltrips

toAsiathisyear,it doesmake me think.

Butwhataremyoptions?

SlowboattoChina

Iamevenmoretime-poorthanI am

cash-poor,sotakinga slowboattoChina

isn’tthatpracticalgiventhedemandsof

helpingtoruna weeklymagazine.While

lotsof flightsoverthecourseof a yearare

notexactlygreatfortheplanet,youcan

offsetit toanextent.A goodstartingpoint

whenbookinga flightis tocheckouthow

fuelefficienttheairlineis, soI’llbeusing

thegreentravelsite,atmosfair.de,a lot

more.There’salsolotsof information

onlineaboutthoseairlineswhichuse

biofuel,andlogicsuggestsflyingin

businessclassis lessgreenthaneconomy,

asfewerpeoplearebeingmovedbythe

same amount of fuel (that’s one thing to

feelbetteraboutwhenyouare

sandwichedbetweentwosumowrestlers

ona long-haulflighttoTokyo).

Flyingaside,whatmorecanconcerned

photographersdowhengoingabroad?

Maybetrytogetbywithyourexisting

travelclothesratherthanindulgingin

a newoutfit. Theglobaltextileindustry

producesmorecarbonemissionsthan

airlines,accountingforarounda whopping

8%of globalemissions.It’sa start.

Onceyouarrive,it’snowa lot

easiertofindenvironmentallyfriendly

accommodation,evenin thedeveloping

world.I stayedin a wonderfuleco-lodge

in Cambodia,whichwasmuchmore

interestingthansomeblandtouristhotel

(I gotsomegoodpicturestheretoo).If

allthissoundslikemiddleclasshand-

wringing,I’dpointyoutoa recentstory

fromthehighlyphotogenicGreenland,

whereanentirecommunityhadtobe

movedbecauseof meltingglaciers,not

tomentionthestrickenwildlife.It’snot

justme.Asaward-winningtravel

photographerTimothyBirdobserves,

‘apartfrommyconscience,I amfedup

withairportsandamseriouslythinkingof

travellingoverlandmorebytrainandbus,

gettingbackinto“slowtravel”.’

SothoughI regularlytravelfor

photography,itsimpactis aninconvenient

truthI feelI cannolongerignore.Maybe

wecouldstartto heedtheadage,‘thebest

photographsareoftenonyourdoorstep?’

Doyouhavesomethingyou’dliketogetoffyourchest?Sendusyourthoughtsinaround

500 wordstotheaddressonpage 12 andwina year’sdigitalsubscriptiontoAP,worth£79.

Geoff Harris is Deputy Editor of Amateur Photographer.

© 2016 TIM CL AY TON/CORBIS VIA GETT Y IMAGES

© OZGUR DONMA Z/GETT Y IMAGES

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SonyCyber-shotRX100VII

A pockettravelcamerawiththelatest

AFtechnology– AndyWestlaketests it

StickingwithSLRs

AilsaMcWhinnietalkstofiveproswho

remaindevotedtotheirDSLR

Ninetiesheroes

JohnWaderememberssomegreat,and

still usable, autofocus fi lm SLRs

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JamesAbbottexplainshow

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