My fall image was used on the cover of this trifold brochure for the Sierra Nevada Conservancy. It is much easier to be accepted and trusted in an organization when the decision makers see real examples of your ability rather than just ideas of what you “could” do for them.

Stack the deck by having several great images to offer during your first introduction. One way to reduce your anxiety is to prepare before you contact the organization. But approaching an organization for the first time can be intimidating if you have never worked with editors before. Once you have chosen a cause, it’s time to talk with the people in charge. Are you already involved in an organization, but the quality of their current photos makes you groan? Offer to help this organization by donating your images or editing skills. The key is to remember this is a wdonation of your skill, so find a cause that you are not only willing to support long term, but one that will also offer engaging photographic material to keep you interested in shooting. These groups can be anything from the local animal shelter to your church or school, the homeless shelter, or a stream conservation group. The first step in becoming involved locally is to find out what organizations in your area are working on issues you care about. This image of a winter storm over Lake Tahoe was donated to the National Wildlife Federation to help raise money for their “Gulf Oil Spill Restoration Fund.” While the iLCP helps to organize the RAVEs, their goal is to make the resulting images available to the appropriate organizations in order to bring visual awareness to their cause. These RAVEs are a way to quickly create bodies of work that can be used by local grassroots and nonprofit organizations to promote immediate, positive changes. The iLCP organizes photo shoots around the world that bring together groups of photographers in “Rapid Assessment Visual Expeditions” or “RAVEs” to photograph specific locations or cultures under threat. The International League of Conservation Photographers (iLCP) was established in 2003 by Cristina Mittermeier in an effort to better connect photographers with each other and with environmental and cultural issues. This version was created as a magnet and distributed throughout the California Legislature before an important conservation vote. This image has been used by the Sierra Nevada Conservancy several times to promote their conservation efforts throughout the Sierras.

Austin shutterbug club