Paul Goldstein- Wildlife Photography

Last night was one of my sporadic attempts at personal development/culture/education. I went to a talk given by the wildlife photographer Paul Goldstein.
All the photographs were absolutely stunning, even the ones he had deliberately included to demonstrate what made a dull photograph, but I particularly liked the photos that demonstrated where he had used a very slow shutter speed to emphasize the speed and movement of the subjects

Despite the stunning pictures though the talk itself was verging on the dull. Mr Goldstein was very dismissive of photos that just record a moment, they should be unusual or tell a story but this I think was the problem with his talk. He was a good speaker and said he wouldn't go into too much technical detail but he went into very little detail at all. I would have liked the stories behind the photographs or some feel for the difficulties of the places in which they were taken. One story he did tell us was of two Belgian photographers who accidentally dropped their camera and tripod out of the safari vehicle. Before they could retrieve it, it was seized on by lions. This gave Mr Goldstein his opportunity to take a photograph that has subsequently been sold round the world 71 times:

So amazing photos, but because we have been spoilt by all the David Attenborough documentaries on tv, I very soon glazed over. It became very much like watching someone's interminable holiday snaps. Maybe I would have got more out of it if I was a photographer who had already been on safari, and was comparing my efforts to Paul Goldstein's. Unfortunately I was part of the half of the hall which didn't put their hand up when asked if they had seen a cheetah in the wild, and it is likely I will stay in that half.
That being the case, I wanted to experience it vicariously through Mr Goldstein. I wanted to feel how hot and bored I might become waiting for the lions, I wanted to know about his corner of the Mara and how long he has been going there and about the people who work there all year round. Not getting this and sitting in a warm room, my eyes started to close and my head started to nod before I would jerk back to attention and hope that no-one had noticed. One woman had brought her two boys aged about 10 and 8 and by the end of the evening the younger boy was sound asleep in his mother's arms. I envied him.