Where the Wild Things Are
David Bates combats career stress with wildlife photography
Published in 2017 Florida Super Lawyers magazine
By Andrew Brandt on June 8, 2017
Photography is a wonderful stress-reliever: very much my meditation and yoga combined 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 inefficient 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.
Search attorney feature articles
Featured lawyers

Helpful links
Other featured articles
Jeh Johnson keeps giving back to his country
After cancer, Scott Lundberg became Iron Man
Six attorneys on the ups and downs of going solo
Find top lawyers with confidence
The Super Lawyers patented selection process is peer influenced and research driven, selecting the top 5% of attorneys to the Super Lawyers lists each year. We know lawyers and make it easy to connect with them.
Find a lawyer near you