FLIP NICKLIN
P h o t o g r a p h y b y F l i p N i c k l i n
P r o v i d e d b y M i n d e n P i c t u r e s
T e x t b y S t e p h e n F r i n k
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FALL 2011
Above: Bow riding on a
sailboat in southeast Alaska
in 1998 as a Dall’s porpoise
splashes by
Right: Nicklin in Maui, 2006
Far right: Very assertive
escort male humpback whale
in Maui, 2006
Cetacean
Photographer
Extraordinaire
or more than 32 years Flip Nicklin’s primary job has been to photograph
whales, usually for National Geographic magazine. He has a new coffee-table
book, Among Giants, and the North American Nature Photography Association
(NANPA) is bestowing one of its highest honors, Outstanding Photographer of the
Year, upon him in early 2012. That Flip Nicklin was genetically predisposed to the
visual arts should surprise no one; he is the son of famed filmmaker Chuck Nicklin.
Before Flip started finning his way down his own surge channel, his father had been
shooting stills and motion pictures of whales for 16 years, including a 1972 National Geographic
story about right whales with Bill Curtsinger, written by Rodger Payne. This was National Geographic’s
very first story featuring whales in the wild. In Flip’s words:
IMAGING
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S H O O T E R
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