Meet Bettina Ishimaru | Nature Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Bettina Ishimaru and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Bettina, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
An extreme passion for a specific art form and the desire to express myself and create.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I want to go beyond just documenting birds and make their individual beauty stand out with a photograph. I shoot thousands of bird photographs on any given day and truthfully only about ten or so make it to even be uploaded from a raw form to my editing platform. Birds do not stand still and their movement is lightening fast. Unlike people or sports there is no scheduling a shooting session or a game. The hunting part is the real challenge. Data bases like Ebird and social media updates are really helpful but there is never any guarantee. Plus the usual photography challenges of weather and lighting also come into play. There is a very physical part to it because the birds don’t come to convenient places. Driving long distances and Walking and hiking miles is commonplace and many times you come up empty handed if you a looking for a particular bird. It is best most times to go with the flow and shoot what you see and discover and enjoy the exercise. Of course many birder travel hundreds if not thousands of miles but I focus on my local states and my newest Snow Birding location Phoenix.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
It is really funny because I got to know the Phoenix Valley by birding for 1 week. Our ARBNB was in Mesa which was close to Lost Dutchman State Park which was as great as Sedona but less crowded and spectacular scenery. We found a fabulous restaurant called Zona Cantina-Cocina where the food was a spectacular Asian/Mexican fusion. In Scottsdale I saw adorable Burrowing owls and then had affordable and fantastic pizza. After visiting the centrally located Desert Botanical Gardens we had wonderful evening had the upscale EVO where the attentive service and old style Italian food was truly incredible. We stayed a few days in Old town Scottsdale where I spent most of my time shopping for Native American sterling silver jewelry. I was fortunate to have great morning coffee at many of the local coffee shops which were very convenient located.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I want to give a shout out to all the birds residents and migrants alike who live among us in our cities and rural areas.

Website: bestbirdsofPNW.com

Instagram: bestbirdsofpnw

Image Credits
All photos are the exclusive work of Bettina Ishimaru and Best Birds of PNW. No reproduction without credit.