Tired of hauling around those " big honkin ass lenses" ? Are you sick of elbowing your way through crowds of fellow birders that have more money, better equipment, and are just plain better looking than you are, just to get your "shot" of a Smew that just got lost in North America ? Why not try an alternative - Dead Wildlife Photography.

I've been photographing dead wildlife for decades now and find it fascinating. Due to the current dumbing down of society that is going on I should specifly that I'm talking about photographing animals found in situ where they croaked, or got washed up on the beach ect. I'm not advocating shooting animals and then taking their picture, or people that take pictures of themselves next to a large fish they claimed they caught, or whatever. Others will do as they will.

Dead animal photography has lots of advantages. First, dead animals dont move very much so you can take your time - set up that tripod ,crank that aperture down to f16 and get some real depth of field. I guess on a real windy day feathers and fur might move somewhat - that could create some interesting 'blur effects' for you artistic types. For you poor people who cant afford great equipment that Real birders have, you can relax because dead animals can be photographed to good effect with cheap cameras with short little lenses.

I find many animals quite beautiful and interesting in death. Many years ago I was walking down a beach on Chuckanut Bay just south of Bellingham and I found a deceased Common Loon that had been surf-rolled in coarse sand - it made for some interesting photos. Death delivered double that day because a few yards away I found a dead mummified Rubber Boa, which is a very interesting little native snake which apparently got run over by a train. I have an interesting picture of it in rictus - mildly creepy but also sort of cool. In years of idle herping it was only the second one I've ever seen (luckily the other specimen was alive - hey I'm not on a total death trip here !)

My latest dead critter find of interest was this september. While driving from Snohomish down the River Road into Everett. Right at the city limits I passed what I at first take I thought was a road-killed dog, but there was something wierd about it so I turned around and found it to be a huge Beaver. The interesting thing about it was that it was dry. I realized that after seeing many Beavers over the years I'd never seen a dry one. I dumbly wondered for years why there was such a big deal about beaver trapping when their fur always looked so funky. Dry Beaver fur is beautifull. Of course I did'nt have my camera in the truck. When I passed the spot a few hours later the Beaver was gone. Dead animals don't move but sometimes get "dissapeared".

My last note on the subject is that dead wildlife photography is a great way to appreciate life - makes me thankfull to still be "Atop the Lawn" as we say here in Everett.


Jeff Gibson
Everett Wa