For our third ever photo contest, we at EcoWatch broke the competition into two parts: one Judges' Choice, selected by a talented team of activists, photographers, adventurers and influencers, and one EcoWatchers' Choice, selected by readers like you!
The winner of the "Best of Summer" Judges' Choice award is ... Raymond Paul Freitas, for his Late Summer View of the Milky Way over Bodega Head, California.
Late Summer view of the Milky Way over Bodega Head, California.
"I love Milky Way images," Freitas said of the piece, "so I am always searching for stunning locations to photograph. I thought this coastal setting would be a perfect backdrop."
Freitas' photo was chosen by an accomplished team of judges: activists and filmmakers Gary and Sam Bencheghib, wildlife photographer Anthony Bucci, award-winning photographer and expedition leader Amos Nachoum and zoologist, activist and social media Influencer Margarita Samsonova.
Samsonova called the winning picture "stunning."
"I know how hard it is to shoot stars and edit pictures like that. The colors and clarity here are amazing. Winner shot!" she said.
Bucci, meanwhile, praised Freitas' technique.
"The photographer didn't over edit this image while post processing it. I like the crop used in the post processing," he said. "The colours and overall composition of this image keeps pulling me back to view it. I think overall the photographer spent some time to properly setup his camera and chose a decent foreground to break up the Milky Way."
Freitas is retired and lives in Santa Rosa, California. His favorite summer activities are landscape photography, pickleball and hiking.
And now the photograph voted for by you, our readers. The winner of the "Best of Summer" EcoWatchers' Choice award is … Michael Pizzi, for this majestic photograph of Yosemite Valley.
"This was my very first time at Yosemite Valley, and it did not disappoint! The rock formations completely blew me away, the sunsets filled up the entire sky, and the wildlife seemed indifferent to my presence," Pizzi told EcoWatch of the moment he took the photo. He has since been back to the iconic national park several times.
But even before that first visit, Pizzi had long been drawn to the valley by the writings of John Muir and the photographs of Ansel Adams. He hopes to inspire other nature lovers in the same way.
"My goal here, and in every photo, is to bring the beauty of a location to people who have not yet had the privilege of experiencing it themselves," Pizzi said. "Hopefully viewers are motivated to make the trip to Yosemite, and join the fight to protect these places for future generations."
Pizzi lives in Los Angeles, where he runs Vibes and Horizons LLC, a scuba-diving travel agency, underwater photography sales platform and environmental blog. His favorite summer activities are scuba diving and exploring the ocean.
"On the weekends, you can usually find me out in The Channel Islands and occasionally down in Baja Mexico," he said. "Feel free to shoot me a message to go diving!"
Eye-Catching Designs Made from Recycled Plastic Bottles
The company sells a range of eco-friendly items like leggings, rash guards, and board shorts that are made using recycled post-consumer plastic bottles. There are currently 16 causes represented by distinct marine-life patterns, from whale shark research and invasive lionfish removal to sockeye salmon monitoring and abalone restoration.
One such organization is Get Inspired, a nonprofit that specializes in ocean restoration and environmental education. Get Inspired founder, marine biologist Nancy Caruso, says supporting on-the-ground efforts is one thing that sets Waterlust apart, like their apparel line that supports Get Inspired abalone restoration programs.
"All of us [conservation partners] are doing something," Caruso said. "We're not putting up exhibits and talking about it — although that is important — we're in the field."
Waterlust not only helps its conservation partners financially so they can continue their important work. It also helps them get the word out about what they're doing, whether that's through social media spotlights, photo and video projects, or the informative note card that comes with each piece of apparel.
"They're doing their part for sure, pushing the information out across all of their channels, and I think that's what makes them so interesting," Caruso said.
And then there are the clothes, which speak for themselves.
Advocate Apparel to Start Conversations About Conservation
Waterlust's concept of "advocate apparel" encourages people to see getting dressed every day as an opportunity to not only express their individuality and style, but also to advance the conversation around marine science. By infusing science into clothing, people can visually represent species and ecosystems in need of advocacy — something that, more often than not, leads to a teaching moment.
"When people wear Waterlust gear, it's just a matter of time before somebody asks them about the bright, funky designs," said Waterlust's CEO, Patrick Rynne. "That moment is incredibly special, because it creates an intimate opportunity for the wearer to share what they've learned with another."
The idea for the company came to Rynne when he was a Ph.D. student in marine science.
"I was surrounded by incredible people that were discovering fascinating things but noticed that often their work wasn't reaching the general public in creative and engaging ways," he said. "That seemed like a missed opportunity with big implications."
Waterlust initially focused on conventional media, like film and photography, to promote ocean science, but the team quickly realized engagement on social media didn't translate to action or even knowledge sharing offscreen.
Rynne also saw the "in one ear, out the other" issue in the classroom — if students didn't repeatedly engage with the topics they learned, they'd quickly forget them.
"We decided that if we truly wanted to achieve our goal of bringing science into people's lives and have it stick, it would need to be through a process that is frequently repeated, fun, and functional," Rynne said. "That's when we thought about clothing."
Support Marine Research and Sustainability in Style
To date, Waterlust has sold tens of thousands of pieces of apparel in over 100 countries, and the interactions its products have sparked have had clear implications for furthering science communication.
For Caruso alone, it's led to opportunities to share her abalone restoration methods with communities far and wide.
"It moves my small little world of what I'm doing here in Orange County, California, across the entire globe," she said. "That's one of the beautiful things about our partnership."
Check out all of the different eco-conscious apparel options available from Waterlust to help promote ocean conservation.
Melissa Smith is an avid writer, scuba diver, backpacker, and all-around outdoor enthusiast. She graduated from the University of Florida with degrees in journalism and sustainable studies. Before joining EcoWatch, Melissa worked as the managing editor of Scuba Diving magazine and the communications manager of The Ocean Agency, a non-profit that's featured in the Emmy award-winning documentary Chasing Coral.
A small herd of cows relax on a beach during a peaceful sunrise in Andhra Pradesh, India
Rishi Chebrolu
Moraine Lake in Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada
Ramkarthik Ramadoss
We are still accepting submissions for the grand prize of a $250 Patagonia eGift card to be selected by our panel of judges. Submit your photo to [email protected] with the subject line "ECOWATCH SUMMER PHOTO CONTEST" by September 11 for a chance to win and to have your photo appear on EcoWatch.com. To be considered, submit your photo with the following information:
- Name
- Phone Number
- Photo Submission (.jpeg file format recommended)
- Caption
- Facebook and Instagram profiles (if available)
Our judges will choose the winning photo and the winner will be announced September 23. The EcoWatchers' Choice award winner will also be announced September 23.
Contest Judges
Gary and Sam Bencheghib
Brothers Gary and Sam Bencheghib are environmental activists and filmmakers. They founded Make a Change World, a media outlet that uncovers uplifting and inspirational stories on a mission to do good. They are passionate about creating social change through videos and giving a voice to the underrepresented. Together they have launched a series of expeditions from kayaking the world's dirtiest river on plastic bottles to stand-up paddling down New York's most toxic waterways. In the past three years, their work has been seen by more than 600 million people. This summer, while Gary bamboo bikes the Indonesian archipelago, Sam is set to become the first person to run across the American continent with recycled plastic shoes.
Anthony Bucci
Anthony Bucci is a wildlife photographer who grew up in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He has donated numerous prints and other products to various wildlife societies across Canada, silent auctions and other fundraisers to raise funds for wildlife conservation and well-being. Anthony is currently on the raptor pick-up list for O.W.L Orphaned Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Delta BC, Canada. He feels it's important to give back to the wildlife conservation efforts and helping where Anthony can is a task he takes seriously. To Anthony, his wildlife photography is more than just taking pictures. Thinking about conservation and the well-being of all wildlife is always on his mind.
Amos Nachoum
Amos has led great expeditions for individual adventurers and institutions like Apple, IBM, Microsoft, Discovery Channel, Armani, Disney and Columbia Pictures. For National Geographic, he was team leader for separate photo expeditions to document the Red Sea, great white sharks and killer whales. His photos and essays have appeared in hundreds of publications around the globe, including National Geographic, Time, Life, The New York Times, Condé Nast Traveler, Le Figaro, Terra Sauvage, Airone, Mondo Somerso, Der Spiegel, Unterwasser and many more. His work has also been included in the books The Living Ocean, The World of Nature, and Oceans. He has appeared on National Geographic Explorer, Today, and Good Morning America and featured in People, Esquire and Money magazines. Amos's photography has won Nikon, Communication Arts, and BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year awards.
Margarita Samsonova
Margarita is a zoologist, sustainability activist, travel enthusiast and social media Influencer who uses the power of her social media to influence people to make more sustainable choices when traveling. After visiting more than 60 countries and seeing what actually happens to our planet, such as how plastic and food waste affects the environment, she decided to take a stand to speak about it and encourage people to care a little bit more about nature. Sustainability is the main focus of Margarita's social posts, and she speaks a lot about eco lifestyle, responsible traveling, ethical wildlife encounters, supporting locals and living in unity with nature.
More info can be found here.
The theme for this year's Earth Day is "Protect Our Species," so EcoWatch asked readers to submit their best photos of the creatures that inhabit this Earth. We then assembled a crack team of activists, writers and photographers to judge the entries we received: Blue Sphere Foundation Campaign Manager Candace Crespi, The Explorers Journal editor Angela Schuster and photographer and new media artist Diane Boswell.
And the winner is ... David Ruddock, for his captivating photo Morning In The Mighty Redwoods.
Ruddock is a retired photographer and graphic designer who lives with his wife Susie in Mckinleyville, California. Their town is centrally located to several Old Growth coastal Redwood groves, and the couple take advantage of that fact at least once a month.
"We stood beside our first Redwood on a camping trip about fifteen years ago and decided then and there that when we retired, we would do so in an area where we could walk among them often," Ruddock wrote in an email. "John Steinbeck once wrote, 'The redwoods, once seen, leave a mark or create a vision that stays with you always.'"
Asked about the inspiration for this particular photo, Ruddock answered he "felt the scene portrayed the silence and sense of awe you receive from the Redwoods."
The judges agreed.
"There are of course many photos that were close but that one seemed to evoke an emotion in the photograph about the awareness of a unique species," Boswell said in an email explaining the judges' choice.
She said the judges based their decision both on technical elements like composition, lighting, clarity and image quality, as well as on how well the image conveyed "an emotional connection to nature and conservation."
"We noticed that in the Redwoods photo the rays of light on the subject created dimension and the small figure of the hiker gave it a feeling of scale," Boswell said.
Ruddock will receive a $250 Patagonia eGift Card as his prize.
The second runner-up was the photo Yellow Warbler on Frozen Dogwood Tree by John Strange.
'Yellow Warbler on Frozen Dogwood Tree.'
John Strange
Strange is a 17-year-old student from North Carolina. He snapped the photograph in a lucky moment.
"I was out right then because I love to photograph the local wildlife to the point were I spend most of my free time out with my camera. The wildlife I photograph is my passion and my inspiration," Strange said in an email.
That passion meant he was ready to capture a unique situation.
"This bird is rare in my area, as is the snow that we had had during the time I took this photograph. When taken I immediately loved this photograph because of the beautiful yellow bird juxtaposed against the uniform purplish background of the dogwood tree encased in ice," Strange wrote.
Boswell also praised to the contrast between the yellow bird and the gray background. She said the photo captured the vulnerability of nature.
"It brings awareness to the importance of how all our decisions in protecting the environment are important for the most delicate to survive," she said.
This is EcoWatch's second photo contest. The winner of our first contest, held in honor of Thanksgiving 2018, was Dakota Altman of Lincoln, Nebraska for his mesmerizing image of a morning sunlight caught in a spider's web.And the winner is … Dakota Altman of Lincoln, Nebraska who photographed a spider and its intricate, wheel-shaped web during a morning hike to a saline wetland located just a few miles from his home.
"The morning light hit a patch of grass suddenly revealing a landscape dotted with silvery orbs of spider silk," he told us about the shot. "Upon seeing this I knew that my subject was going to be a spider and its web. I found it important to get down low and compose the photo as if the viewer was there kneeling among the grass."
Altman works as an assistant and biologist for the Photo Ark, a project of long-time National Geographic contributor Joel Sartore.
"My love for invertebrates has always drawn me to photograph them," Altman said. "Spiders, in particular, get a bad rap so shining a beautiful light upon them will hopefully change people's preconceived notions. This change I would like to extend to the importance of saline wetlands, marshes and prairies where most of my work is being done."
Rosenwaks said that the photo really stood out to her from the other entries.
"I felt the winning image captured the scope of what an ecosystem is; the intricacy of a complex environment where everything is interconnected," she said.
Similarly, Donofrio said the photo was "unique in how it was able to visualize a landscape and a micro ecosystem at the same time."
Altman, who received a $250 Patagonia eGift Card for winning the contest, said he hopes that the photo will inspire others, especially younger generations, to look more closely and view their surroundings in greater detail.
"You don't have to visit distant continents or remote jungles to find something extraordinary," he said.
Runners-up of the Gratitude Photo Contest include Dorothy Cullen's "Don't Worry, Bee Happy"—a stunning close-up of a bee.
During the judging period, Donofrio said he was "drawn to how this bee seems to be so powerful and big, despite its actual size."
Another participant, Balazs Dibuz, contributed "Stillness," a serene image of Slocan Lake in British Columbia, Canada. It was among many striking landscape photo entries we received.
"The tranquility and peacefulness in this beautiful landscape is breathtaking," Bryan-Brown said. "The muted layers of tones as the image recedes into the mists add to a sense of blissful isolation. As I look at this image I want nothing more than to be standing on that beach."
The judges were impressed by the high quality of the entries.
"All of the images evoked a strong sense of emotion which is appropriate because of the theme of gratitude," Rosenwaks said. "It was clear that every image meant a lot to the photographer. I was honored to be one of the judges."
Donofrio added, "It was wonderful to see the range of submissions that truly show how gloriously diverse of a natural world we have around us, all evoking an understanding of how we as a human race give thanks and value to the places in which we live."
Find four compelling answers to this question in a brief and beautiful video from National Wildlife magazine, highlighting the work of wildlife photographer Claudio Contreras Koob.
A winner in the magazine's 2017 photo contest, Koob offers four basic tips that any photographer—amateur and professional alike—can use to make ethical images in the field, whether it's in your own backyard or around the globe. His advice:
Be invisible.
To avoid disturbing an animal, keep a suitable distance, approach very slowly and wear camouflage or use a blind. "You have to get them to accept you as if you were a stone," said Koob.
Know your subjects.
"Learn the behaviors of what you are going to photograph," said Koob. "They have a language, and they are always telling us what they think, but we have to understand it."
Take your time.
"Give yourself a lot of time to return and return and return … so you can understand the cycles of life and death in the place you want to photograph," said Koob. While photographing flamingoes, for example, Koob said he "could see their reactions to my presence and I could see that there was no problem if I really made it slow, slow, slow."
Do not disturb.
"No image is as important as the creature that you are photographing or as the environment that you are photographing," said Koob. Animals can be easily spooked. So tread lightly, and if you notice even a small change in an animal's behavior—especially if the animal is courting, feeding, nesting or with its young—slowly and quietly move away.
Koob's final bit of advice has special value for the millions of avid amateur photographers out there who may think that the greatest wildlife images have to come from the hands of a pro in an African savanna or some other exotic locale. "You can go in your backyard and find conservation stories out there and find beautiful details." he said, "In the details, there are lots of beautiful things to see."
We, the editors of National Wildlife magazine, have seen how true that is. Hundreds of people who submit images to our annual photo contest are amateur photographers who see the beauty in the details—people like house painter Dave Weth, whose image of a green sweat bee landed on the cover of our December-January 2018 issue, and people like Anne Grimes, whose lovely image of a crab spider shedding its skin won second place for backyard habitats in our 2017 contest.
These people, and everyone else who submits to National Wildlife's annual contest, take the time to see and appreciate the natural world. So, please submit your favorite photographs to our 2018 photo contest, which is now open. All entries are judged blind, so everyone has an equal chance to win. And every entry, whether a winner or not, helps advance the conservation work of the National Wildlife Federation.
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