Howie Garber has aimed his lens at everything from kangaroos and polar bears to caiman and macaws. On multiple occasions in Alaska, he has felt compelled to wave a flare when a brown bear became a little too curious about the creature pushing the button on the camera.
The emergency room physician has secured jobs in exotic locales just so he could shoot the local wildlife. Once, he hired on as a doctor on a cruise ship to get to the Antarctic.
"I have never made enough money to pay for my passion, but it sure has been a fun life," said Garber, a Boston native who moved to Salt Lake City in 1972 to ski and chase a woman.
The woman was engaged before he even arrived, but Garber stayed and developed an interest in photography while attending medical school at the University of Utah. It wasn't until his first trip off the North American continent in 1990, the year that he would turn 40, that Garber realized he wanted to spend serious time behind a camera.
"I was the emergency room director at a hospital in Bozeman [Montana] and I lost the job because I wasn't board certified," said Garber, who has been practicing emergency medicine since 1983. "I decided to get as far away from hospitals as I could."
Nepal was about the right distance, apparently.
"There was something about being exposed to an exotic and beautiful Third World country that made me want to take more and better pictures," he said. "I was a terrible photographer."
Garber ended up shooting 40 rolls of film during his month-long trek in Nepal. With "wanderlust surging through my veins," Garber followed that trip with a visit to Argentina, where he stumbled into his passion for wildlife photography. After shooting more than 50,000 images on seven continents and winning a number of awards for his work, Garber is still looking to capture pure beauty throughout the world.
But he's learned to always expect the unexpected when dealing with wildlife and never counts on coming home with at least one decent shot.
After spending a month in Alaska trying to get stock photos of wolves, including a pack that reportedly fished for salmon, he returned home without one wolf photo worth publishing.
Wild times
Garber has many exhilarating stories about his photo expeditions.
"The scariest thing ever is to sit in a blind in bear country," he said. "You are out there in the open and you know they know you are there."
During one trip to Alaska, he and a partner watched a bear destroy their inflatable kayak like it was toy. On his last trip to that state, Garber stayed in one of the camps frequented by bear conservationist Timothy Treadwell, who was killed along with his girlfriend by a bear. Garber said nine bears came within 35 feet of him in the camp.
"You get to a point where you have the ability to recognize when the animals are content to go about doing their thing, and when they get stressed and it is time to leave them alone," he said.
One summer morning in the Albion Basin of Little Cottonwood Canyon, Garber found himself in a delicate situation. He had spent eight previous mornings shooting moose in the area and was pleased with how the animals were accepting him, but something was different on this day.
"I was walking below the Supreme Lift near a little swamp and I noticed a big bull about 200 feet away. I noticed right away that something was wrong; something just didn't feel right," he said. "He was walking right toward me."
Garber started to slowly retreat and then noticed a cow and a calf moose behind him. He hastened his retreat in a new direction and was relieved to see the bull slow down when it entered a swampy area.
"He was sinking to his knees and having a tough time," Garber said. "When I got about 30 feet away I held my tripod over my head. I think he thought 'oh, it's just that goofy photographer who has been hanging around for three weeks.' All the other encounters had been totally mellow until that moment."
Once, during a blinding snowstorm near Flaming Gorge Reservoir, he set off in search of bighorn sheep. He came back cold, dejected and empty handed, but was surprised to see his vehicle surrounded by the creatures.
On a trip to Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado, Garber's main camera body and best lens were stolen. He was frustrated, but decided to make the most of his time there. The result was an award-winning picture of two mountain goats.
Amateur photographer Howie Garber (wanderlustimages.com) offers these tips on improving your technique:
Use a tripod » It allow you to study composition and always helps when focusing. Learn to use F stops. If using zoom lenses, you must use middle F stops to achieve adequate sharpness.
Don't learn in the wild » Work with habituated subjects in national Parks, national wildlife refuges and zoos. It's hard to hone your techniques when working with skittish subjects.
Study other photographers » I like Joe McDonald, who has produced superb books on wildlife photography.
Read the manual » Chances are that your camera is very sophisticated. There is no getting around reading the instruction manual at least once and then ignoring 90 percent of it.
Lighting » Learn how your camera's light meter works and how you can manipulate lighting and exposure.
Histograms » Learn how to use the histogram in your camera to check exposure. Basically, it's a graph that let's you know of a photo is under- or over-exposed. If you check immediately, you can correct the exposure.
Digital feedback » Shoot the same image with different F stops and shutter speeds. Look at the images on a computer and go back the next day and shoot the same subject. I have shot my favorite subjects over and over.
Be patient » Wildlife photography takes a big investment of time, energy and money for good equipment. Lots of waiting time may be spent in a cramped blind. Most mammals are active dawn and dusk, so you may be starting out or heading home in the dark.
Research your subject » Knowledge of animals habits can prevent you from coming home with nothing.
Garber will show up to 30 prints during the Art and Soup Celebration, a fundraiser for Community Nursing Service on March 11-12 at the Sheraton City Centre, 150 W. 500 South, Salt Lake City. Visit www.cnsvna.org for more information. Garber's work will also be on display March 20 through April 20 at the Utah Arts Festival Gallery, 230 S. 500 West, Suite 120, Salt Lake City.
