Arthur Morris

December 1, 2008

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Master Photographers Tell You How

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Arthur Morris

Nature Photographer
Birds As Art

by Joanna Philbin

Article rating: 8.00

It's hard to believe, but Arthur Morris, arguably the most renowned bird photographer in the country, wasn't always a fan of the feathered species. "When I was a kid, I would have told you that birding was for sissies," he says. Then again, he had other, more pressing responsibilities: for twenty-three years Arthur taught elementary school in Bushwick, one of New York's most crime-ridden neighborhoods. Nor was photography an interest. When he picked up the camera, it was to take "just a few" pictures of his kids.

Arthur discovered his love of shorebirds on a Brooklyn beach in 1977, and his life has never been the same since. Three years after he bought his first lens, one of his shots made the cover of a national magazine. While still teaching, Arthur conducted the annual shorebird survey for Jamaica Bay Wildlife Park in New York City, counting half a million birds. In 1992, he finally left his teaching job to move to Central Florida to pursue his new "hobby" full-time. Since then more than 11,000 of his photographs have appeared in publications such as American Birding, National Geographic, Audubon, Outdoor Photographer, and PHOTOgraphic. Art became a contract photographer for Canon, joining its prestigious Explorers of Light campaign in 1995.

After his phenomenal success, Arthur remains the consummate teacher. He currently leads wildly popular instructional tours through his company, Birds as Art, bringing both novice shooters and wildlife veterans to the most coveted bird-watching spots in the country. Arthur has presented more than 250 slide shows on the technique of bird photography over the past 15 years.

We were lucky enough to catch Arthur before he headed out on yet another tour to learn more about photographing these beautiful, but elusive, creatures.