COURTROOM ARTIST
Photography is a wonderful stress-reliever: very much my meditation and yoga com-
bined into one. It contrasts a lot with what I do 60 hours a week. As a lawyer, you try to
be as efficient as possible for your client; in photography, you’re often incredibly inef-
ficient with your time in order to get a shot. It can’t be about the photo. If it’s about the
photo, you get nothing. It’s about the experience.
I’ve always enjoyed hiking, backpacking and nature. Photography was a natural extension of documenting and sharing the wonders I experienced. I’m fortunate to live in the
United States—and in Florida—with countless beautiful subjects for photography. I have
also been to Tanzania several times, Canada, Japan and Rwanda; my bucket list includes
Antarctica, the Falklands and, of course, the Galapagos Islands.
I have often planned to do a photo book, but I always hope the next photograph will be
my best—and the one I would want to put on the cover. I joke that I’m really just working
on a slideshow for my funeral.
David G. Bates
GUNSTER
MERGERS &
ACQUISITIONS
WEST PALM BEACH
Where the Wild Things Are
David Bates combats career stress with wildlife photography
AS TOLD TO ANDREW BRANDT
Creative works by lawyers
KINGFISHER
I got up at 4 in the morning, drove two hours and set up a hunting
blind before sunrise, so that when a bird came to a perch in the
lake to feed, I would be there. At 8: 30, I took the first photos. The
kingfisher came out of the water and she had fish, and that was a
miracle. I’ve done that trip four times now, so that’s a 20-hour photo.
EGRET
After an all-day negotiation on a stock-purchase agreement,
I was fortunate to observe—along with a great egret—
the sunset over Green Cay Wetlands in Delray Beach.
