Beyond The Lens Newsletter, June 1 , 2025
Both Eyes Wide Open
Both Eyes Wide Open
I recently recorded a podcast with the remarkable Sue Flood, who has ventured to Antarctica more than ninety times. Yes, I said ninety. Her book Emperor: The Perfect Penguin is, in my view, the definitive guide to photographing these birds. All that talk about ice, wind, and waddles reminded me how much I love photographing Antarctica and penguins, even though I’ve managed a humbler nine visits.
Because penguins almost always gather in sprawling colonies, they also reminded me of a field technique I rely on whenever I’m photographing wildlife in large groups.
I keep both eyes open.
My dominant eye stays locked to the viewfinder, tracking a single bird or a tight cluster through the telephoto’s extremely narrow angle of view. Meanwhile, my other eye scans the periphery, beyond the frame, ready to spot something more compelling the lens might miss. That “free” eye gives me real-time situational awareness the telephoto view simply can’t provide.
Admittedly, it feels awkward at first; the brain can focus on only one view at a time, and the double vision is disorienting. Stick with it. Concentrate on what’s in the viewfinder while letting the off-camera eye notice flashes of movement or changes in light elsewhere. With practice, the dissonance fades, and you’ll pivot a split-second sooner when the real action erupts, an invaluable edge when you’re surrounded by a restless penguin huddle.
New Podcast Episode: Sue Flood
Episode 90 - Lessons from Dave Attenborough, Blue Planet, The Perfect Penguin, and a Life of Polar Photography Travel
Sue Flood is an award-winning photographer and filmmaker, zoologist, adventure travel leader and public speaker. Her work takes her all over the world but she has a special passion for the wildlife and icy beauty of the Polar regions and is one of the very few women professional photographers who returns again and again to Earth’s harshest and most demanding environments.
Her first visit to the Poles happened during her 11 years in the BBC’s prestigious Natural History Unit, working on such global hits as The Blue Planet and Planet Earth, with Sir David Attenborough; on National Geographic and Discovery Channel co-productions and on the Disneynature movie Earth. It had been Sue’s dream to work with David Attenborough since childhood and he inspired her to study Zoology at Durham University, so it was literally a dream come true!
Since then, Sue’s travels as a photographer have taken her to hundreds of destinations on all seven continents and found her living with reindeer herders in Siberia, swimming with humpback whales in the South Pacific, working aboard Russian ice-breakers; camping in an emperor penguin colony in the Weddell Sea and seeking out spirit bears in British Columbia.
Latest Episodes of Beyond The Lens:
Featured Workshop: Katmai Bear Photography
Alaska Coastal Brown Bears, Up Close and Personal
Katmai Bears with Muench Workshop — September 3 – 12, 2025
This is true wilderness. There are no hotels. We stay on a ship anchored in Geographic Harbor and take zodiacs to shore to spend time with many bears as they fish for salmon. It’s a true trip of a lifetime and I am the trip leader, teaching and guiding the whole way.
Katmai Bears with Muench Workshop — September 3 – 12, 2025
Please drop me an email if you have any questions about this trip.
My Instagram
I’ve found myself using Instagram stories to share experiences and visual vignettes during my travels and I’ll be doing a lot more of the same in 2025. If this interests you, you can follow me here.
Kase Filters
People often ask what filter system I use. The answer is Kase Filters.
And you can get 10% off any product on the Kase Filters Amazon Page when you use coupon code BERNABE10 at check out.
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Here’s to Truth, Adventure, and Passion…
Breathtaking beauty 💎💕📸💕💎