They say a picture is worth a thousand words. However, nature photographer Lisa Willnow says that in her case, words have frequently sparked interest in a topic, leading to her packing a bag in search of the next big adventure. Willnow is one of eight local photographers showing their work in the “Impressions of Light” exhibit at the Emerson Center through Jan. 6.
She readily admits that photography has given her an excellent excuse to travel around the world; often just reading about a place has been the impetus for her wanting to “go get a picture of it.”
In one instance, she was inspired to take a trip to the Panama Canal after reading about its remarkable construction.
“I thought, I’d like to see that. So, I went and saw it. I rode on it and went through it. It’s one thing to read about it, but another thing to see it,” says Willnow, fondly recalling the water locks rising and lowering.
“I especially like Central America, for the birds. I just finally got a picture of the elusive quetzal, which I found in Panama after bus rides and hikes through the cloud forest. It took a while, but I found one.”
On a trip to the Galapagos Islands, Willnow says she’s not likely to ever forget seeing its wild tortoises, commenting that she found them as remarkable as the hippos she saw in South Africa or the snowy egrets and spoonbills right here in Florida.
“My favorite photograph is of a howler monkey holding a newborn infant,” says Willnow. “The baby didn’t have any hair yet, so its little pink body and coiled tail showed up clearly against the mother’s dark fur. I only had a couple of seconds, because we were floating down a crocodile-infested river, but I was able to get one shot. Even though I don’t feel it is quite good enough to put in a show, it is my favorite.”
To date, Willnow has traveled to all 50 states, including twice to Alaska, first by land and later by water.
“I wanted to see the glaciers; I was reading about how they’re breaking off and melting. I thought that I needed to see that from the waterside, so I took a cruise so I could see what I wanted to see,” she explains.
Willnow says a trip to the Supai Village, tribal lands of the Havasupai Tribe in Arizona’s Havasu Canyon, ranks among her favorite destinations.
“You had to hike 9 miles down through the canyon, and then you get to this little Indian village. Then you hike down a couple more miles to see Havasu Falls,” she recalls, remarking on the water’s gorgeous, light blue color.
Willnow lived for a time in Tucson, Ariz., where she concentrated on some of nature’s tiniest birds, the hummingbird.
“Hummingbirds are very challenging, and there are lots of hummingbirds out there. There’s so much good about Tucson, but there’s no water,” she recalls. She adds that despite loving hikes in the mountains, “it wasn’t for me. I just couldn’t get acclimated.”
Although she has traveled to Europe several times, a visit to Camargue in the southern part of France is still on her list of places to go; a salt marsh area famous for numerous migratory birds, pink flamingos and its special breed of white horses.
Despite the pandemic having curtailed travel, she cautions people to not wait until “someday” to take a trip.
“Someday is, by definition, in the future, which means it’s never going to happen. I know people who have never gone anywhere. What a small, small life.”
Willnow says she has been lucky enough to be able to combine her love of hiking and the great outdoors, with the quiet nature of photography and the challenge of catching birds in flight.
“I like taking pictures. I like looking for something, finding it. I like the quiet patience of waiting for it to do something. But, when I get back, it’s funny. Sometimes I won’t even take the pictures off my camera for a week or two,” Willnow explains, adding that it’s more about the journey than the photos.
“Sitting at the computer and looking through them, that’s not the part I like. It’s the getting out, going to a foreign country and taking the pictures and finding things worth taking a picture of. I travel very light and go where the wind takes me.”
Willnow feels that to really grasp the enormity and beauty of a place, you need to see it in person.
“There’s so much more to it than the picture, too. You’re walking along and, all of the sudden, here’s this big moose coming in, 3 feet away from you. There’s so much that happens on a trip other than the picture.”
A self-taught photographer, she advises that the best way to hone camera skills is to experiment.
“You can get great photos from almost any camera. It’s an innate ability; having an eye for it.
You can learn about composition and perspective, but some people just have a better eye than other people,” she explains.
“When people see an oil painting or a watercolor in an art show, they say, ‘Oh my God, that’s gorgeous, I could never do that.’ When they see a photograph, they think, ‘Oh my God, that’s gorgeous. I wonder if I could do that?’ It’s a different thinking process because anyone can take pictures,” says Willnow.
“Maybe they can take it, and maybe they can’t. But you always have that, ‘I bet I could.’”
Case in point, she says, is a photograph of a colorful bush in a Japanese-style park that she took in Portland, Ore.
“It was so pretty, and the leaves were pink and mauve and orangey. I crawled under it to take a picture up. It was just a little bush, but from underneath with the sun shining through those leaves, it was so beautiful,” she says. She recalls with a chuckle that she had been “busted” by a park employee who chastised her for straying from the path.
Born in Michigan, Willnow now happily calls Vero Beach her home base. In Florida, Willnow explains, there is always an interesting flock of birds to photograph, whether at the bird rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park, or closer to home, along the Indian River Lagoon.
Her photographs have been featured in shows across the country. Most of her sales are through her website, and at stores in Florida and Arizona as greeting cards, which she explains is an excellent way for her to “fund” her adventures.
For information about the exhibit, visit artattheemerson.com.
Photos by Kaila Jones
