Posting guidelines

As long as we seem to be having a discussion on posting guidelines, I’d like to point out something that I’ve noticed on the site under the section marked Posting Guidelines:
4 - The NPN Photo Critique Galleries
                Avian Gallery - All images with birds as the main subject. Images of birds baited with seed, other non-live bait or recordings must be disclosed as such. Photos of captive birds taken at commercial game farms or photos taken using live bait are prohibited. Photos taken of captive birds at zoos and wildlife rehabilitation centers may be posted in the POP Gallery - please disclose the name of the facility where the photo was taken, as well as any other information that would be of value to those interested in wildlife conservation and education.
5 - Photo Posting Guidelines
                5.  If the image is from a game park, zoo or any other controlled (non-wild) situation, you must post the photo in the Man & Fauna Gallery!
These statements are contradictory and probably need to be reviewed since they give confusing directions.  There is a difference between may and must.   And I think there is a difference between the Pop Gallery and the Man and Fauna Gallery.
I’m not sure if Preston or Jim or the moderators of the above galleries would be the responsible parties to come to an appropriate decision regarding the wording of the statements.  We certainly need to be careful that our members don’t require background checks after posting their images.
 
 

The "may" in the Avian instructions indicate that if the poster wants to post it, they have the option (they may) post it in the POP photo gallery.  We had that discussion a few years back as we were getting captive BIRD images in the Avian gallery but wanted to provide a venue to have members post them for critique. 

You left out a part of the puzzle that I think helps with some level of clarity:
 

• Wildlife Gallery - Wildlife other than birds. Photos of captive wildlife taken at commercial game farms or photos taken using bait of any kind (including the use of recorded sound) are prohibited. Images that include domesticated animals in a rural scene should be posted in the Man & Nature Gallery. Photos taken of captive wildlife at zoos and wildlife rehabilitation centers may be posted in the Man & Fauna Gallery - please disclose the name of the facility where the photo was taken, as well as any other information that would be of value to those interested in wildlife conservation and education.

My take is that if Sentence 5 in section 5 is removed entirely, there should not be confusion as it is consistent in the guidelines for the Avian and Wildlife galleries in Section 4.

No background checks necessary.
 

Images of birds baited with seed, other non-live bait or recordings must be disclosed as such.

I had forgotten about this.  This would include bird feeders, right?  Some of you do disclose this, and Dennis Plank, I think, recently even posted a couple of photos of his setup, but I'm pretty sure some of you don't.  I think some of you may also think that we all know what it means if you say a photo was taken at a certain place, like a workshop or a ranch, that it was set up with bird feeders, but we don't.  I'd really like to see all images posted from setups of any kind specifically disclose that clearly.

"Images of birds baited with seed, other non-live bait or recordings must be disclosed as such."

If a perch is adjacent feeder to a feeder, but there is no seed or fluid on the perch itself, does that meet the definition of this statement?  I know that hummingbird photographers will put nectar in the flowers to attract the hummingbirds to their photographic set ups.  I would consider that baiting.  But I have read in some bird photography books that feeders are not considered baiting.  What is the NPN philosophy on the use of feeders to attract birds if perches are adjacent to the food source but not specifically in touch with any food?

I do understand the feeders bring the birds to the general vicinity of the perch.  But that doesn't necessarily guarantee that the bird will land on the perch in a specific location.  One cannot dictate the location of where a bird will stop and how it will behave.  Birds need to find a perch before they will land on it regardless of where the food is located.  I change my perches out frequently and it is rare that a bird will find the new perch within 24 to 48 hours, regardless of how close the food is to the perch.

Those of us who use feeders or ponds or water features have been doing so on the site for a long time and I don't believe I've seen any criticism from the moderators.  There have been many excellent avian photographers on the site who have used these attractants to narrow the focus so that the birds come to us.  I have no problem stating as such.  The birds are still wild and it's I don't have a remote control to bring them to the food or water.  I certainly don't have any control as to what species decides to show up.  

Any thoughts?


 

Feeding birds and baiting birds are two different things to me.  Having hummingbird feeders up to feed them is not baiting.  The intent of the guidelines is to provide disclosure of the environment and techniques used.  Using live bait is a completely different subject and those images are prohibited.  We've see far to many Snowy Owls, or Hawk Owls coming right at the camera with a 70-200mm lens, full frame that were baited with live mice.  That was the genesis of the change in rules a few years back that prohibitied those kinds of images.  We're looking for responsible wildlife photography.  Trying to list every scenario is not possible.

David, I think if you are using food to attract the birds then according to the guidelines you should disclose that as I do whenever I am shooting at an area with feeders or using food to attract the birds. 

Hi All,

Thank you for your comments on the posting guidelines.

If you have suggestions as to how they can provide greater clarity, write up some text and then send it to Jim for review.

Thanks,
--P