Of course, when the time comes—and the market is calling—David is expert at photographing creatures in the wild. But not too wild. "I prefer to photograph, say, a mountain lion in a protected area where the animal isn't chased and stressed. And I used to do photo tours in Yellowstone and see some photographers throwing out cheese slices to coyotes and foxes to get them to come closer to be photographed. A fed animal is a dead animal, and I won't do that." And so David does a lot of his controlled-environment photography at the Triple D Game Farm in Kalispell, Montana.

For his workshops, David takes people to great locations, but he's still interested in teaching them to find subjects close by. "A couple of feet from the car we can find something," he says. "Exertion and photography do not go hand in hand. And good nutrition and good photography have nothing in common, either. Many a donut sealed a wonderful shot."

David maintains that every nature photographer can find interesting subjects close to home. "There are nature preserves everywhere," he says, "and every local nature preserve, nature center and local conservation group needs good images. Their members take pictures that are probably heartfelt but not very good. If you're serious about your photography, talk to people at the nature preserves and nature groups. Offer to take pictures for them—for their mailings, publicity, maybe their websites. It can get you published, and most important, it gets you access. You're no longer behind the fence or with the other visitors. And if your pictures are good, you'll get greater access. The nature preserve people will tell you more and more—here's where the heron refuge is, the tern nesting spot; the turtles are over there.

"Everyone wants to get published in National Geographic or Outdoor or Nikon World, but there's so much competition for those pages. But every place has a local magazine or newspaper, whether it's the lower Hudson Valley or the Catskills. The big nature photographers aren't making submissions to those magazines, but you can.

"And if you just want to get seen, go to the marsh, take the pictures and go to your local bank. Ask them if you can put up a few framed images, and then there you are, the local hero, and then people are calling you up. That's how it can work if your pictures are good.

"I talk a lot about this in workshops, about getting affirmation and positive feedback and how important those things are.

"What's also important is having fun. We do photography because we enjoy it, and we should never lose that."