Love of Photography Anonymous

Ever since I opened a National Geographic magazine to a five-page article on the Congo basin, I've cherished a secret desire to be a National Geographic photographer. I've always been fascinated by ecological biology, and I would love to learn about the symbiotic relationship between ants and acacia trees or the tool-making techniques of chimpanzees while taking amazing photographs. A great deal of the allure that National Geographic photography holds for me stems from the fact that it combines sheer beauty and exoticism with ecology, history, and travelling--some of my favorite things. Traveling around the globe, taking stunning pictures, learning about social history and animal behavior and experiencing different cultures is my idea of the perfect pursuit.

Unfortunately, to be a photographer one must actually be adept with a camera. Apart from taking the average stand-in-front-of-this-waterfall-and-smile picture, I have no experience in the field of photography. Given the time and resources to perfect my skills, however, I would love to have the opportunity to capture images of Scottish castles at dawn and rare Nepalese honey hunters, all the while learning about the subject I was photographing and experiencing the...