Baby orangutan and mother orang utan seen walking in Jakarta, Indonesia. Aprison Photography / Moment / Getty Images
By Tara Lohan
To be a good wildlife photographer, you need an expertly trained eye. But good ears help, too.
<p><a href="https://www.melissagroo.com/" target="_blank">Melissa Groo</a> learned that early on. Her unconventional path to become an award-winning wildlife photographer began with listening.</p>
<p>Spurred by a deep curiosity about the way animals communicate, she left a job in Ohio focused on school reform and moved to Ithaca, N.Y., to study with renowned zoologist Katy Payne, an <a href="https://elephantlisteningproject.org/katy-payne-on-elephants/" target="_blank">expert in the field of bioacoustics</a>.</p><p>During six years as a research assistant with Payne at Cornell's <a href="https://www.birds.cornell.edu/ccb/" target="_blank">Center for Conservation Bioacoustics</a>, including two field seasons in the Central African Republic, Groo built a lot of the skills she'd come to use later: waiting, watching and also listening.</p><p>Several years later, when she took a digital photography class at a community college and became hooked on the craft, she realized she could combine that new skill with her work in conservation and her compassion for animals.</p><p>Today her work is represented by the National Geographic Image Collection. She writes a regular column for <a href="https://www.outdoorphotographer.com/pro-perspectives/melissa-groo/" target="_blank">Outdoor Photographer</a>, is a contributing editor for Audubon and helped create a <a href="https://www.audubon.org/get-outside/audubons-guide-ethical-bird-photography" target="_blank">Guide to Ethical Bird Photography</a> with naturalist Kenn Kaufman.</p><p>The Revelator spoke with Groo about why empathy is a key skill in wildlife photography, the challenges of an ethical practice in the social media age, and her favorite shot.</p>
What drives you in your work, and what do you hope people learn?
<p>The world is full of pretty pictures and digital photography has made incredible photography possible by so many of us now. But I feel that, especially given the state of the world and the environment, what's needed more than just a pretty picture is a sense of advocacy and a real sense of conservation and compassion.</p><p>I'm very much drawn to the accuracy and honesty in the depiction of an animal and really showing the challenges to that animal's life or interesting behavior that we haven't seen much in pictures before.</p><p>I'll do quite a bit of research before I share a photo or before I talk about a particular issue because I'm often seeking to educate with my photos about a particular challenge that a species is facing or ways that we can better support local wildlife.</p><p>For example, I work with a wildlife hospital and sometimes I go in to capture human-caused disturbances to local wildlife. So, let's say a great blue heron comes in that's been entangled in fishing line. I'll photograph it when it comes in and then I'll photograph it later while it's being treated and rehabilitated. And then I'll photograph the eventual release.</p><p>So I tell that complete story and then I use that story in a number of ways to try to educate people and give them information about how we can avoid things like this in our community.</p><blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/Bz_WzjCDsLw/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="12" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:540px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:16px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Bz_WzjCDsLw/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style=" background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; width:100%;" target="_blank"> <div style=" display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div></div></div><div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display:block; height:50px; margin:0 auto 12px; width:50px;"><svg width="50px" height="50px" viewBox="0 0 60 60" version="1.1" xmlns="https://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><g stroke="none" stroke-width="1" fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd"><g transform="translate(-511.000000, -20.000000)" fill="#000000"><g><path d="M556.869,30.41 C554.814,30.41 553.148,32.076 553.148,34.131 C553.148,36.186 554.814,37.852 556.869,37.852 C558.924,37.852 560.59,36.186 560.59,34.131 C560.59,32.076 558.924,30.41 556.869,30.41 M541,60.657 C535.114,60.657 530.342,55.887 530.342,50 C530.342,44.114 535.114,39.342 541,39.342 C546.887,39.342 551.658,44.114 551.658,50 C551.658,55.887 546.887,60.657 541,60.657 M541,33.886 C532.1,33.886 524.886,41.1 524.886,50 C524.886,58.899 532.1,66.113 541,66.113 C549.9,66.113 557.115,58.899 557.115,50 C557.115,41.1 549.9,33.886 541,33.886 M565.378,62.101 C565.244,65.022 564.756,66.606 564.346,67.663 C563.803,69.06 563.154,70.057 562.106,71.106 C561.058,72.155 560.06,72.803 558.662,73.347 C557.607,73.757 556.021,74.244 553.102,74.378 C549.944,74.521 548.997,74.552 541,74.552 C533.003,74.552 532.056,74.521 528.898,74.378 C525.979,74.244 524.393,73.757 523.338,73.347 C521.94,72.803 520.942,72.155 519.894,71.106 C518.846,70.057 518.197,69.06 517.654,67.663 C517.244,66.606 516.755,65.022 516.623,62.101 C516.479,58.943 516.448,57.996 516.448,50 C516.448,42.003 516.479,41.056 516.623,37.899 C516.755,34.978 517.244,33.391 517.654,32.338 C518.197,30.938 518.846,29.942 519.894,28.894 C520.942,27.846 521.94,27.196 523.338,26.654 C524.393,26.244 525.979,25.756 528.898,25.623 C532.057,25.479 533.004,25.448 541,25.448 C548.997,25.448 549.943,25.479 553.102,25.623 C556.021,25.756 557.607,26.244 558.662,26.654 C560.06,27.196 561.058,27.846 562.106,28.894 C563.154,29.942 563.803,30.938 564.346,32.338 C564.756,33.391 565.244,34.978 565.378,37.899 C565.522,41.056 565.552,42.003 565.552,50 C565.552,57.996 565.522,58.943 565.378,62.101 M570.82,37.631 C570.674,34.438 570.167,32.258 569.425,30.349 C568.659,28.377 567.633,26.702 565.965,25.035 C564.297,23.368 562.623,22.342 560.652,21.575 C558.743,20.834 556.562,20.326 553.369,20.18 C550.169,20.033 549.148,20 541,20 C532.853,20 531.831,20.033 528.631,20.18 C525.438,20.326 523.257,20.834 521.349,21.575 C519.376,22.342 517.703,23.368 516.035,25.035 C514.368,26.702 513.342,28.377 512.574,30.349 C511.834,32.258 511.326,34.438 511.181,37.631 C511.035,40.831 511,41.851 511,50 C511,58.147 511.035,59.17 511.181,62.369 C511.326,65.562 511.834,67.743 512.574,69.651 C513.342,71.625 514.368,73.296 516.035,74.965 C517.703,76.634 519.376,77.658 521.349,78.425 C523.257,79.167 525.438,79.673 528.631,79.82 C531.831,79.965 532.853,80.001 541,80.001 C549.148,80.001 550.169,79.965 553.369,79.82 C556.562,79.673 558.743,79.167 560.652,78.425 C562.623,77.658 564.297,76.634 565.965,74.965 C567.633,73.296 568.659,71.625 569.425,69.651 C570.167,67.743 570.674,65.562 570.82,62.369 C570.966,59.17 571,58.147 571,50 C571,41.851 570.966,40.831 570.82,37.631"></path></g></g></g></svg></div><div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style=" color:#3897f0; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:550; line-height:18px;"> View this post on Instagram</div></div><div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"><div> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"></div> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"></div></div><div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"></div> <div style=" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg)"></div></div><div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style=" width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"></div> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"></div> <div style=" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"></div></div></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"></div> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"></div></div></a><p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Bz_WzjCDsLw/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">A post shared by Melissa Groo (@melissagroo)</a> on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2019-07-16T19:48:47+00:00">Jul 16, 2019 at 12:48pm PDT</time></p></div></blockquote> <script async src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script><p>That's the thing with conservation photography. It's not just about when you click the shutter. It's what do you do with those photos after, how you educate with those photos, whether it's the words that you put with them or the hands you get those photos into.</p>
You’ve written a lot about the ethics of your field. How do wildlife photographers make sure they aren’t harming wildlife?
<p>It's about building a caring and compassion for the subject into your fieldcraft. And I think that gets lost a lot in this day and age when social media is king and people are trying to get the most "likes." They're cutting corners sometimes at the expense of the subject.</p><p>We want to get close, as photographers, but we need to know how to minimize our disruption. It's really incumbent on us because wildlife face so many threats and challenges from all sides.</p><p>I always recommend that people study their subject before they go photograph to learn about the stressors for this animal, their habits, the signs of alarm or distress and how can we be better alert to those signs. People need to know if a particular animal is likely to abandon its nest or its den if you're hanging out there for hours.</p><p>As important as knowing the right settings on your camera is building that empathy and that care into your fieldcraft and really thinking whether a picture is worth it. To us, this is just about a photo. But to wildlife, every single moment is about survival.</p>It seems like some wildlife photography can actually be downright exploitative. How do we as viewers recognize those images?
<p>I'm really passionate about the <a href="https://www.outdoorphotographer.com/pro-perspectives/melissa-groo/wild-in-captivity/" target="_blank">photography of captive animals</a> and trying to educate people on how to make choices about what sorts of facilities are ethical and really do care for their animals. And what sort of facilities, such as photography game farms, are completely exploitative.</p><p>At these game farms wild animals are kept in small cages, except when they're trotted out for paying photographers. And when these photographers go away with these photos and they don't tell the truth of these animals' lives and they try to hoodwink their viewers into thinking this is authentically in the wild, it gives a lie to that animal's life. And to me, it does an injustice to the animal as well as to the field of authentic wildlife photography.</p><p>Unfortunately the onus is on us now to differentiate ourselves from the unfortunate practices that are a blemish on the entire field of wildlife photography, like baiting of raptors. I think it's really important for people to give accurate and honest captions and to let people know how you got a shot. It's one way to stand out from photographers who don't care about animal welfare and will do whatever it takes to get that stunning shot that's going to get them a lot of likes on social media.</p>You initially got into conservation work because of your interest in sounds, particularly how animals communicate. We think of photography as being very visual, but do you rely a lot on listening?
<p>Yes, having learned the sounds of birds has been a great tool for me. I live next to this big state forest and I'll drive through with all my windows rolled down and I'm listening so hard. When I hear a species that I'm interested in, I know that I can stop and invest time trying to track that bird down and trying to photograph it.</p><p>I also use the sounds of other animals to alert me to something that I want to photograph.</p><p>Once I found this great horned owl because I heard all these crows mobbing something in the forest and I went running into the forest with my camera, and sure enough, they were mobbing a great horned owl.</p><p>Chipmunks have different chip warning calls for aerial predators than they do for terrestrial predators. If I hear them giving that the special call for aerial predators, then I know maybe there's a Cooper's hawk out in the yard.</p><p>I think it really helps you to be a better photographer if you're a naturalist — even if you're just a real amateur naturalist, which I consider myself.</p>Do you have a favorite species you like to photograph?
<p>I love <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/birds" rel="noopener noreferrer">birds</a> — just my backyard birds — owls and all kinds of birds.</p><p>I'm also really passionate about predators, particularly wild dogs like coyotes and foxes. And wild cats, like bobcats and lions. I've never seen a lynx but it's high on my list.<span></span></p><p>I'm fascinated with elusive predators. I feel there's a real place for them in natural communities and I'm always trying to change minds about them. A lot of people regard these animals — mostly bobcats, foxes and coyotes — as varmint. And that makes me crazy. I think these are really special animals and knowing that they are around me where I live in upstate New York just lends so much magic and mystery and beauty to the landscape.</p><p>I love to travel to Africa and photograph the exquisite animals there. And I've loved photographing the spirit bear in British Columbia. But my favorite photo of all time was taken two miles from my house because it was two miles from my house. But also because it depicts a bobcat mother and her kit nuzzling each other. It's such a rare photo and it's such a rare moment in the wild to have been able to glimpse and to have captured on film.</p><p>It's those moments that I live for.</p><blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/B2CPAYyjnQN/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="12" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:540px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:16px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B2CPAYyjnQN/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style=" background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; width:100%;" target="_blank"> <div style=" display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div></div></div><div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display:block; height:50px; margin:0 auto 12px; width:50px;"><svg width="50px" height="50px" viewBox="0 0 60 60" version="1.1" xmlns="https://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><g stroke="none" stroke-width="1" fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd"><g transform="translate(-511.000000, -20.000000)" fill="#000000"><g><path d="M556.869,30.41 C554.814,30.41 553.148,32.076 553.148,34.131 C553.148,36.186 554.814,37.852 556.869,37.852 C558.924,37.852 560.59,36.186 560.59,34.131 C560.59,32.076 558.924,30.41 556.869,30.41 M541,60.657 C535.114,60.657 530.342,55.887 530.342,50 C530.342,44.114 535.114,39.342 541,39.342 C546.887,39.342 551.658,44.114 551.658,50 C551.658,55.887 546.887,60.657 541,60.657 M541,33.886 C532.1,33.886 524.886,41.1 524.886,50 C524.886,58.899 532.1,66.113 541,66.113 C549.9,66.113 557.115,58.899 557.115,50 C557.115,41.1 549.9,33.886 541,33.886 M565.378,62.101 C565.244,65.022 564.756,66.606 564.346,67.663 C563.803,69.06 563.154,70.057 562.106,71.106 C561.058,72.155 560.06,72.803 558.662,73.347 C557.607,73.757 556.021,74.244 553.102,74.378 C549.944,74.521 548.997,74.552 541,74.552 C533.003,74.552 532.056,74.521 528.898,74.378 C525.979,74.244 524.393,73.757 523.338,73.347 C521.94,72.803 520.942,72.155 519.894,71.106 C518.846,70.057 518.197,69.06 517.654,67.663 C517.244,66.606 516.755,65.022 516.623,62.101 C516.479,58.943 516.448,57.996 516.448,50 C516.448,42.003 516.479,41.056 516.623,37.899 C516.755,34.978 517.244,33.391 517.654,32.338 C518.197,30.938 518.846,29.942 519.894,28.894 C520.942,27.846 521.94,27.196 523.338,26.654 C524.393,26.244 525.979,25.756 528.898,25.623 C532.057,25.479 533.004,25.448 541,25.448 C548.997,25.448 549.943,25.479 553.102,25.623 C556.021,25.756 557.607,26.244 558.662,26.654 C560.06,27.196 561.058,27.846 562.106,28.894 C563.154,29.942 563.803,30.938 564.346,32.338 C564.756,33.391 565.244,34.978 565.378,37.899 C565.522,41.056 565.552,42.003 565.552,50 C565.552,57.996 565.522,58.943 565.378,62.101 M570.82,37.631 C570.674,34.438 570.167,32.258 569.425,30.349 C568.659,28.377 567.633,26.702 565.965,25.035 C564.297,23.368 562.623,22.342 560.652,21.575 C558.743,20.834 556.562,20.326 553.369,20.18 C550.169,20.033 549.148,20 541,20 C532.853,20 531.831,20.033 528.631,20.18 C525.438,20.326 523.257,20.834 521.349,21.575 C519.376,22.342 517.703,23.368 516.035,25.035 C514.368,26.702 513.342,28.377 512.574,30.349 C511.834,32.258 511.326,34.438 511.181,37.631 C511.035,40.831 511,41.851 511,50 C511,58.147 511.035,59.17 511.181,62.369 C511.326,65.562 511.834,67.743 512.574,69.651 C513.342,71.625 514.368,73.296 516.035,74.965 C517.703,76.634 519.376,77.658 521.349,78.425 C523.257,79.167 525.438,79.673 528.631,79.82 C531.831,79.965 532.853,80.001 541,80.001 C549.148,80.001 550.169,79.965 553.369,79.82 C556.562,79.673 558.743,79.167 560.652,78.425 C562.623,77.658 564.297,76.634 565.965,74.965 C567.633,73.296 568.659,71.625 569.425,69.651 C570.167,67.743 570.674,65.562 570.82,62.369 C570.966,59.17 571,58.147 571,50 C571,41.851 570.966,40.831 570.82,37.631"></path></g></g></g></svg></div><div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style=" color:#3897f0; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:550; line-height:18px;"> View this post on Instagram</div></div><div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"><div> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"></div> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"></div></div><div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"></div> <div style=" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg)"></div></div><div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style=" width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"></div> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"></div> <div style=" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"></div></div></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"></div> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"></div></div></a><p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B2CPAYyjnQN/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">A post shared by Melissa Groo (@melissagroo)</a> on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2019-09-05T15:41:08+00:00">Sep 5, 2019 at 8:41am PDT</time></p></div></blockquote> <script async src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script><p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://therevelator.org/wildlife-photography-groo/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wildlife-photography-groo" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Revelator</a>. </em></p>
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Summer has officially come to an end. Luckily, EcoWatch is here to keep its memory alive by sharing the winners of our "Best of Summer" photo contest.
<p>For our third ever <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/photo-contest" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">photo contest</a>, 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!</p><p>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. </p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMTEzMzc4MC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxNTYwOTYzNX0.sI-D9PNh1u8mY2NkDHGr0tA62PqcywI3pkPjer-VhUM/img.jpg?width=980" id="0512c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="c421d0038cc4449d36618b6a8ddf01f5" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Late Summer view of the Milky Way over Bodega Head, California.
<p>"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."</p><p>Freitas' photo was chosen by an accomplished team of judges: activists and filmmakers Gary and Sam Bencheghib, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wildlife" target="_self">wildlife</a> photographer Anthony Bucci, award-winning photographer and expedition leader Amos Nachoum and zoologist, activist and social media Influencer Margarita Samsonova.</p><p>Samsonova called the winning picture "stunning."</p><p>"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.</p><p>Bucci, meanwhile, praised Freitas' technique.</p><p>"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."</p><p>Freitas is retired and lives in Santa Rosa, California. His favorite summer activities are landscape photography, pickleball and hiking.</p><p>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.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMTEzMzc4MS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzMDI4NzY5Mn0.pgnkwlBpUbIr1I_xH5ONEplBcI9CEYJMDjEM2Kx8Ufg/img.jpg?width=980" id="32f32" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="8c2dc2bbe678c45c26f4723f3ea81022" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
<p>"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 <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/national-parks" target="_blank">national park</a> several times.<br/></p><p>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.</p><p>"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."</p><p>Pizzi lives in Los Angeles, where he runs <a href="https://vibesandhorizons.com/" target="_blank">Vibes and Horizons LLC</a>, a scuba-diving travel agency, underwater photography sales platform and environmental blog. His favorite summer activities are scuba diving and exploring the ocean.</p><p>"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!"</p>"Spirit of the Valley" at Yosemite National Park, California.
Michael Pizzi / Vibes and Horizons
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Our EcoWatchers have determined their favorite photos for July and August, featured below! Vote now. Pexels
Update, September 17: Voting is now closed. Winners of both EcoWatchers' Choice and Grand Prize will be announced on Sept. 23.
On June 26, EcoWatch launched its "Best of Summer" Photo Contest. Throughout the summer, we've been receiving submissions from EcoWatchers, and we've been giving readers the opportunity to vote for their favorite image. Our EcoWatchers have determined their favorite photos for July and August, featured below!
<p>Now it's time to vote on your favorite summer photo! Vote below and let us know which photo you think should win our EcoWatchers' Choice award.</p><h2>Here's How to Vote:</h2><p>Upvote an image below by clicking on the green up arrow located above each photo. You can also downvote photos. You can only submit one vote per photo, and voting will remain open for one week.</p><p>The winning photo from the vote will receive our "EcoWatchers' Choice" award of a $100 Patagonia e-gift card.</p><p>But that's not the only prize we're giving away. Our panel of judges are also choosing a photo to win our "Best of Summer" photo, with a $250 Patagonia e-gift card award. The judges are: Gary and Sam Bencheghib, Anthony Bucci, Amos Nachoum and Margarita Samsonova. To be considered for this larger prize, please read our guidelines below and submit your photo by September 11.</p>
<p>Submit your photo to bautista@ecowatch.com with the subject line "ECOWATCH SUMMER PHOTO CONTEST" by September 11th for a chance to win and to have your photo appear on EcoWatch.com. To be considered, submit your photo with the following information:<br></p><ol class="ee-ol"><li>Name</li><li>Email</li><li>Phone Number</li><li>Photo Submission (.jpeg file format recommended)</li><li>Caption & Location</li><li>Facebook and Instagram profiles (if available)</li></ol><p>Our judges will choose the winning photo and the winner will be announced September 23rd. The EcoWatchers' Choice award winner will also be announced September 23rd.</p>
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EcoWatchers' Choice: Vote Now for Your Favorite 'Best of Summer' August Photo Submission
30 August 2019
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This landscape photo is a sumbission from EcoWatch's first photo contest. Alan Lantz
On June 26, EcoWatch launched its "Best of Summer" Photo Contest. Throughout the summer, we've been receiving submissions from EcoWatchers, and we're giving readers the opportunity to vote for their favorite image. Our team has reviewed the August submissions and selected the photos below as our favorites of the month. Let us know which photo you like best by voting below!
<h2>Here's how to vote:</h2><p>Upvote an image below by clicking on the green up arrow located above each photo. You can also downvote photos. You can only submit one vote per photo, and voting will remain open for one week. </p><p>In early September, you'll have one more chance to vote to choose between the July and August winners. The winning photo from that vote will receive our EcoWatchers' Choice award of a $100 Patagonia e-gift card. </p><p>But that's not the only prize we're giving away. Our panel of judges are also choosing a photo to win our "Best of Summer" photo, with a $250 Patagonia e-gift card award. The judges are: Gary and Sam Bencheghib, Anthony Bucci, Amos Nachoum and Margarita Samsonova. To be considered for this larger prize, please read our guidelines below and submit your photo by September 11.</p>
<p>We look forward to seeing your submissions!<br></p><p>Submit your photo to bautista@ecowatch.com with the subject line "ECOWATCH SUMMER PHOTO CONTEST" by September 11th for a chance to win and to have your photo appear on EcoWatch.com. To be considered, submit your photo with the following information: <br></p><ol class="ee-ol"><li>Name</li><li>Email</li><li>Phone Number</li><li>Photo Submission (.jpeg file format recommended)</li><li>Caption & Location</li><li>Facebook and Instagram profiles (if available)</li></ol><p>Our judges will choose the winning photo and the winner will be announced September 23rd. The EcoWatchers' Choice award winner will also be announced September 23rd.</p><p>Find out more about our judges!</p><h2>Contest Judges</h2><p><strong>Gary and Sam Bencheghib<br></strong>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.</p><p><strong>Anthony Bucci<br></strong>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.</p><p><strong>Amos Nachoum<br></strong>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<em> </em>magazines. Amos's photography has won Nikon, Communication Arts, and BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year awards.</p><p><strong>Margarita Samsonova<br></strong>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.</p>
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"Sunset on the Serengeti" A photo submission to EcoWatch's first photo contest in 2018. Jenna Davis
Update, August 14: Voting is now closed. Michael Pizzi of Vibes and Horizons is the July EcoWatchers' Choice winner. EcoWatchers will vote on an August winner and again a third time to choose between July and August winners to get the EcoWatchers' Choice prize of a $100 Patagonia eGift card.
EcoWatch launched its "Best of Summer" Photo contest on June 26. Images are being submitted from around the world, showcasing EcoWatchers trekking through jungles, beaches and various other scenery, highlighting a shared love and appreciation for our planet.
The EcoWatch team looked at last month's submissions for our "Best of Summer" photo contest and chose five of our favorite photos for EcoWatchers to vote on. You have one week, beginning now, to vote for the EcoWatchers' Choice award for July.
Please upvote below on which photo you feel represents "Best of Summer" on EcoWatch by clicking on the green up arrow located above each photo. For the photos you feel are not the winners, please downvote. You can only submit one vote per photo.
EcoWatchers will vote once now for a July submissions winner, again for August submissions and a third vote to choose between July and August winners to get the EcoWatchers' Choice prize of a $100 Patagonia eGift card.
<p>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 <a href="mailto:bautista@ecowatch.com" target="_blank">bautista@ecowatch.com</a> 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:</p><ol class="ee-ol"><li>Name</li><li>Email</li><li>Phone Number</li><li>Photo Submission (.jpeg file format recommended)</li><li>Caption</li><li>Facebook and Instagram profiles (if available)</li></ol><p>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.</p><h2>Contest Judges</h2><p><strong>Gary and Sam Bencheghib</strong></p><p>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.</p><p><strong>Anthony Bucci</strong></p><p>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.</p><p><strong>Amos Nachoum</strong></p><p>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 <em>National Geographic, Time, Life, The New York Times, Condé Nast Traveler, Le Figaro, Terra Sauvage, Airone, Mondo Somerso, Der Spiegel, Unterwasser</em> 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 <em>People, Esquire</em> and <em>Money </em>magazines. Amos's photography has won Nikon, Communication Arts, and BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year awards.</p><p><strong>Margarita Samsonova</strong></p><p>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.</p><p>More info can be found <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/ecowatch-summer-photo-contest-2638991345.html?" target="_self">here</a>.</p>
Ascending the Alps
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMDUyMzgzNC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxMDAyMjA3MH0.IObyPrdwK-ZgT5_ajMPwEGY2VnZPf1g6M9d5rY8CDPs/img.jpg?width=980" id="34ac4" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="36b58b5f9fc94e6c1fa63c4b12b0d350" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />A small herd of cows relax on a beach during a peaceful sunrise in Andhra Pradesh, India
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMDUyMzgzNS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNjQ0NjA0MX0.G_USgeqwl0bcpRPJPL1f6s4oMmDx2yQyU6QRqcxTKFk/img.jpg?width=980" id="0b54a" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="e1aefe343b97dd5877517d99a7440776" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />Rishi Chebrolu
Moraine Lake in Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMDUyMzgzNy9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1Njc2NDc0Mn0.Il-myQpGnYaYISC5MC8O9purjGJN7gHn3ctSTOy3E7Q/img.jpg?width=980" id="89ee4" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="6489cbcfb90de3272ebe31d4c434c9f2" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />Ramkarthik Ramadoss
Yosemite Valley, Yosemite National Park, California
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMDUyMzg1MS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzNTc0NDAwMn0.m-fU2qBXJSSy_vz7FR4BfGrWvpwSiO46uJpNaiLudy8/img.png?width=980" id="75ab3" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="c55a772ec9d8e8c22f834b6b3747b57e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />Michael Pizzi / Vibes and Horizons
Ominous clouds gather over a summer day in Zanzibar
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMDUyMzg0NC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyODc0NTcxMH0.s_K8RyHbbDvR4Db8N6JnZk_KI_Pu9TPZnswOc4LRPs8/img.jpg?width=980" id="21093" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="73f358730edc1ae05193df2e70c5fe12" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
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Shirley Fire, 2014. Stuart Palley
By Patrick Rogers
During the day, freelance photographer Stuart Palley covers news events for publications like the Los Angeles Times and shoots images for advertising and PR clients. By night, he pursues his passion: photographing the wildfires that have been ravaging, with increasing frequency, the forests, grasslands, towns and cities of his native California. Over the past five years, Palley has documented nearly 75 fires, from the Mexican border to the Shasta Trinity National Forest near Oregon.
<p>Palley's infernal images, which are collected in a new book, <em>Terra Flamma: Wildfires at Night</em>, tell the story of an epic confrontation between humanity and nature. His photographs, such as the one of a man running from a burning house in Thousand Oaks last fall, named <a href="http://time.com/time-top-10-photos-of-2018/" target="_blank">as one of Time's Top 10 Photos of 2018</a>, depict the conflict's resulting fallout in dramatic fashion.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTA5MTUwMy9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNTY3MjI2NH0.Jb_8rVUf-ertQKrKrqhCoFO4_dm6-aAJvmf2-LYjC4s/img.jpg?width=980" id="f9786" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="704e57f5a2e4c1e8453b9b3454331d98" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">Stuart Palley</small></p><p>"On the one hand, you've got this incredible natural phenomenon that is awesome in the biblical sense, and on the other, it's ruining people's lives, it's killing people, it's burning their houses down," said Palley. "It certainly affects me. I'm a human being first and a photographer after that."<br></p><p>Largely devoid of actual people (and thankfully so), the images portray humanity in the fiery husks of houses and vehicles caught in the flames, in the trails of city lights on the distant horizon, and in the glaring electric searchlights of firefighters at their command posts.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTA5MTUwMi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxMzEwOTAzMX0.x-iOxs-SFS-aQzQtfigLjMjUAKKNhmCrdIHgSGAFUoM/img.jpg?width=980" id="0a178" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="4a6912bcf43689676d18a53667f91e89" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">Stuart Palley</small></p><p>Palley shot his first wildfire during a summer internship at the Orange County Register<em> </em>in 2012 and has since become trained in wildland fire-safety procedures. He wears the same protective clothing as the firefighters and carries a radio to monitor their activity on the fire line. After a night of shooting, Palley said, his car and camera equipment smell of smoke and ash for days afterward.<br></p><p>Shot with a tripod and using long exposures, the night skies in his pictures beam with stars and aircraft. They trace gentle circles above the fiery fury below that sends sparks leaping into the air.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTA5MTUwMS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwODQ5OTY3MX0.To88qllvyzoli6e2rpSBj0wYooP8pK9WIWD8_MeURdc/img.jpg?width=980" id="fd9ba" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="81a52e293e60e80bad25621fecf5f4e5" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">Stuart Palley</small></p><p>Such spectacular plays of light, smoke and color—a glow that cannot be found anywhere else—inspire him. "Fire is its own light source and has its own energy. It bathes everything in this warm light, which is very fleeting and temporary but creates incredible colors," Palley said. "Essentially I'm using the fire to light and paint the scene."<br></p><p>By simultaneously capturing the fires' luminous and destructive power—the yin-and-yang appeal of pictures, as he puts it—Palley hopes <em>Terra Flamma</em> sparks conversation and encourages people to consider their own roles in a natural process that is increasingly being influenced by human action (and inaction).</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTA5MTQ5OS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyMDA0MTE0M30.tQV3bAry9lrDti3vevJnujq2nB36EicFcuQwmPJgoGU/img.jpg?width=980" id="d9860" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a180aacbd42461f03257035fbbecdbd6" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">Stuart Palley stands at the scene of a wildfire.</small></p><p>Drought and wildfire are a natural part of the California ecosystem, but people are fanning the flames through the drier conditions caused by a warming climate and the steady expansion of urban development into lands that are vulnerable to seasonal fires. In 2017, "we had the most destructive wildfire in California history, and here we are barely a year later, and we've already had the <em>new</em> most destructive wildfire, which has eclipsed the previous one," said Palley, referring to <a href="https://www.chicoer.com/2018/12/07/camp-fire-where-we-are-one-month-later/" target="_blank">the Camp Fire that raged through the small town of Paradise and surrounding communities</a> last November, killing 86 people and destroying nearly 14,000 houses.<br></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTA5MTQ5Ny9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0MjIzNzg2NX0.tva04vHFZ1Gj9VsZMOXSdQalebbfH6X2wEHLwlKrQ7I/img.jpg?width=980" id="32d6e" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="c1b550651e7eb5496b16eae12b2e9a34" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">Stuart Palley</small></p><p>"In the immediate term, fires are going to continue to become more destructive. People will die," said Palley, who donates a portion of proceeds from his fine art work to the Eric Marsh Foundation for Wildland Firefighters, <a href="https://ericmarshfoundation.org/" target="_blank">which supports firefighters and their families</a> with retreats and post-traumatic therapy workshops. But he is also hopeful. "The recent massive fires in California have put this issue in front of people all over the country and all over the world. People are starting to take climate change much more seriously." Like his images, Palley's outlook is both bright and dark: "Hope for the best, and plan for the worst."<br></p><p> <em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/onearth/nighttime-shots-massive-wildfires-photographer-shows-us-light" target="_blank">onEarth</a>.</em><em></em></p>
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'Everything Is Interconnected': Photo of Radiant Spider Web Wins EcoWatch Contest
21 November 2018
Popular
"Nature's heterogeneity and biodiversity are at the epicenter of my thankfulness and happiness. Here, deep within a saline wetland, morning light shines through the dew covered understory revealing an orb-weaver's web." Dakota Altman
EcoWatch is excited to announced the winner of our first-ever Gratitude Photo Contest. Participants sent us their best shots of what in nature they were most thankful for this Thanksgiving.
Our three amazing judges—Greenpoint Innovations founder Stephen Donofrio, marine scientist Gaelin Rosenwaks and documentary photographer Marc Bryan-Brown—picked their favorites from more than 70 photo entries of breathtaking landscapes, incredible wildlife and majestic waterways.
<p>
And the winner is … <a href="https://www.instagram.com/dakotaltman/" target="_blank">Dakota Altman</a> 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.
</p><p>
"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."
</p><p>
Altman works as an assistant and biologist for the
<a href="https://www.joelsartore.com/gallery/the-photo-ark/" target="_blank">Photo Ark</a>, a project of long-time National Geographic contributor Joel Sartore. <span></span>
</p><p>
<span></span>"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."
</p><p>
Rosenwaks said that the photo really stood out to her from the other entries.
</p><p>
<span></span>"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.
</p><p>
Similarly, Donofrio said the photo was "unique in how it was able to visualize a landscape and a micro ecosystem at the same time."
</p><p>
<span></span>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.
</p><p>
"You don't have to visit distant continents or remote jungles to find something extraordinary," he said.
</p><p>
Runners-up of the Gratitude Photo Contest include Dorothy Cullen's "Don't Worry, Bee Happy"—a stunning close-up of a bee.
</p><p>
During the judging period, Donofrio said he was "drawn to how this bee seems to be so powerful and big, despite its actual size."
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODkxNjgyNy9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1MTczMzU4Mn0.ZX4l_Qus6-l6IXCpKFDeaOYvl1hr3-FgiD86hzAwo3E/img.jpg?width=980" id="c79d8" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="5c5c063aafd613c85b200c6e6fe993bd" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">"Don't Worry, Bee Happy"</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">Dorothy Cullen</small>
</p><p>
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.
</p><p>
"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."
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODkxNjkyNi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNzgwNzgzMX0.BD-BhrNVfUvfiaFs8N25BskjZ0zwfRc48y607B9HnL8/img.jpg?width=980" id="78aaa" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="b9deef7f6d009e3c0742a643682bd825" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">"Stillness" </small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">Balazs Dibuz</small>
</p><p>
The judges were impressed by the high quality of the entries.
<span></span>
</p><p>
"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."
</p><p>
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."
</p>
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Westend61 / Getty Images
Update: The window for photo submissions has ended. The winner will be announced this Wednesday, November 21.
EcoWatch is pleased to announce its first photo contest! Show us what in nature you are most thankful for this Thanksgiving. Whether you have a love for oceans, animals, or parks, we want to see your best photos that capture what you love about this planet.
<p>Send your photo to <a href="mailto:bautista@ecowatch.com" target="_blank">bautista@ecowatch.com</a> with the subject line "ECOWATCH PHOTO CONTEST" by November 16th with the following information for a chance to have your photo appear on EcoWatch and win a $250 Patagonia eGift Card:</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;"><strong>1.</strong> Name</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;"><strong>2.</strong> Email</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;"><strong>3.</strong> Phone Number</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;"><strong>4.</strong> Photo Submission file (.jpeg file format recommended)</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;"><strong>5. </strong>Caption</p><p>Our judges will choose the winning photo and the winner will be announced on November 21st. One submission per person. </p><p>All submissions will be evaluated by our wonderful judges Stephen Donofrio, Gaelin Rosenwaks and Marc Bryan-Brown to decide who the winner is. </p><h3>Stephen Donofrio</h3><p>Stephen Donofrio's work spans across sectors on climate, water, and forests sustainability, branching out to include carbon finance, cap-and-trade, corporate responsibility, and forest risk free agricultural supply chain management. He launched Greenpoint Innovations in 2014 with the aim of delivering compelling insights and unforgettable stories with the integration of innovative technologies and the arts. Aside from Greenpoint Innovations, he serves as a director at Forest Trends, is a regular public speaker at global forums, and is an associate educator at Boston College and Arizona University.</p><p><strong>Website: </strong><a href="http://www.greenpointinnovations.com/" target="_blank">www.greenpointinnovations.com</a> </p><p><strong>Instagram:</strong> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/stephendonofrio/" target="_blank">@stephendonofrio</a></p><h3>Gaelin Rosenwaks
</h3><p>Gaelin Rosenwaks is a marine scientist, explorer, photographer and filmmaker. Alarmed by the changes happening in the oceans, Gaelin founded Global Ocean Exploration, Inc. to share her passion for ocean exploration, marine conservation, and fishing through powerful imagery, words and adventure. She now participates and conducts expeditions in every ocean to alert the public not only to the challenges facing the oceans, but also to what science is doing to understand these changes.</p><p><span style="background-color: initial;"><strong>Website:</strong></span><strong> </strong> <a href="http://www.gaelinrosenwaks.com/" target="_blank">www.gaelinrosenwaks.com</a></p><p><strong>Instagram: </strong>@GaelinGOExplore</p><h3>Marc Bryan-Brown</h3><p>Documentary photographer Marc Bryan-Brown has been shooting people, places and things for more than 30 years. Starting in the music industry he was Whitney Houston's personal photographer at the peak of her career. Following that he moved into travel and expedition work. He is cited by the Mountainview Museum of Computing as being on the first "online expedition" and the 1994 Friendship Flight Across Arctic Siberia where images and reports were filed from the field to a website. Marc lives in the New York Hudson Valley with his wife Florence Seery.</p><p><em>By entering this photo contest you are granting EcoWatch the right to use your photo on our site and our media channels in conjunction with this contest without the written permission of the photographer. Unless otherwise instructed, EcoWatch reserves the right to use photo submissions on our site and in our media channels aside from the contest. If you do not wish to give EcoWatch the rights to use your photo aside from the current photo contest that you are participating in, please let us know within your email submission with the text "No, I do not want to give EcoWatch the rights to use my photos in other media aside from the current photo contest that I am participating in." </em><br></p><h2>More Contest Details:</h2><p><strong>Entry Details</strong></p><ul class="ee-ul"> <li>Photo submissions must be original work taken by the contest entrant.</li></ul><ul class="ee-ul"> <li>By entering this photo contest you are granting EcoWatch the right to use your photo on our site and our media channels in conjunction with this contest without the written permission of the photographer.</li></ul><ul class="ee-ul"> <li>Unless otherwise instructed, EcoWatch reserves the right to use photo submissions on our site and in our media channels aside from the contest.</li></ul><ul class="ee-ul"> <li>The winner's name will be announced alongside the winning photo submission.</li></ul><ul class="ee-ul"> <li>Photos that have already been submitted to other contests currently ongoing or have already won prizes in other contests are not eligible.</li></ul><ul class="ee-ul"> <li>Image files created through any device capable of taking still images, such as smartphones and digital still cameras, will be accepted.</li></ul><ul class="ee-ul"> <li>Color and monochrome images are valid for entry.</li></ul><ul class="ee-ul"><li>After judging concludes, the winners will be notified by email sent to their listed email address by November 21st. The Patagonia eGift Card will be sent to the same listed email address. </li></ul><p><strong>Disclaimers</strong></p><ul class="ee-ul"> <li>EcoWatch reserves the right to void entries that depict brand logos or other intellectual property, whether on electronic signs, posters, or in other forms, or that in its judgment are harmful to public order, go against standards of decency, or are conflicting to the goals of the contest.</li></ul><ul class="ee-ul"> <li>EcoWatch is not responsible for the resolution of legal issues arising from the entrants submitted photos and will not pay any costs thereby incurred.</li></ul><ul class="ee-ul"> <li>EcoWatch does not bear any costs to the entrants that incur by entering the contest.</li></ul><ul class="ee-ul"> <li>Submitted entries may not be withdrawn or returned.</li></ul><ul class="ee-ul"><li>EcoWatch reserves the right to suspend or postpone the receipt of any or all entries if it is judged that the contest is unable to be run effectively, smoothly, or without affecting the fairness of judging.</li></ul>
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Caribbean Flamingo. Claudio Contreras Koob
By Lisa Moore
Imagine yourself, camera in hand, suddenly spotting a grazing elk, a hummingbird feeding its chicks, a grizzly charging a rival or a bumble bee gathering pollen. You want the shot, but how do you get it without disturbing the natural behavior of the beautiful animal you're hoping to capture through your lens?
<p>Find four compelling answers to this question in a brief and beautiful video from National Wildlife magazine, highlighting the work of wildlife photographer <a href="https://app.frame.io/f/62e5c6ae-c23f-4803-b13c-b96504e4eb2e" target="_blank">Claudio Contreras Koob</a>. </p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube">
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="45dfa8c4e2223f58664aee0d305d3c0e"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/86y--X_uDBo?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
</p><p>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:</p><p><strong>Be invisible.</strong></p><p style="">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.</p><p><strong>Know your subjects.</strong></p><p style="">"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."</p><p><strong>Take your time.</strong></p><p style="">"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."</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image" style="">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xNzIwODc5Ni9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NzExNDU5NH0.B3bavGidBAT_w4FWuVD9Hm5hBVQg0PG4-yOS-_jXEFM/img.jpg?width=980" id="c889f" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="d104f16e4316a91d7014347dab49abdc" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">Green sweat bee. </small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">Dave Weth</small></p><p><strong>Do not disturb.</strong></p><p style="">"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.</p><p style="">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."</p><p>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.</p><p>These people, and everyone else who submits to <em></em>National Wildlife<em>'s</em> annual contest, take the time to see and appreciate the natural world. So, please submit your favorite photographs to our <a href="https://photocontest.nwf.org/menu-home.aspx?comp_id=1E47179D-00D1-4458-8F8F-029DEC98A012" target="_blank">2018 photo contest</a>, 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.</p>
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Human's impact on planet Earth is huge. Thanks to the work of environmentalist and photographer, J Henry Fair, we can now get a bird's-eye view of the world's ever-increasing demand for energy, eating habits and rampant consumerism that are degrading our planet.
Fair's new book,
Industrial Scars, The Hidden Costs of Consumption, shows the effects industrial production has on our environment and exposes the dirty "secrets from oil drilling, fracking and coal-ash waste, to large scale agricultural production and abandoned mining operations."
Fair's book has received rave reviews from many, including Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org. "Think of these images as a surveillance camera for the planet, recording the biggest crimes against nature we've ever imagined," McKibben said. "Images like these will be the standards around which we muster."
The New York Times' Roberta Smith said, "The vivid color photographs of J Henry Fair lead an uneasy double life as potent records of environmental pollution and as ersatz evocations of abstract painting ... information and form work together, to devastating effect."
In the book, Fair's images are accompanied by detailed explanations from award-winning science writer, Lewis Smith.
"The overall message is clear," according to Fair. "It is up to us to accept a consumer responsibility and environmental awareness and to change our habits if we want to ensure a better world for future generations to enjoy."
For more information, visit Fair's Facebook page.
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8 Incredible Images Win Top Prize for 'Illustrating the Rich Diversity of Life on Earth'
17 October 2016
Popular
By Clara Chaisson
What on Earth have you photographed?
This open-ended question, asked annually by the BigPicture Natural World Photography Competition, invites predictably diverse submissions: A leopard prowling around Mumbai's Aarey Milk Colony, a Chilean volcano's violent eruption, and the surprisingly peaceful relationship between a blackfish and a venomous Portuguese man o' war, just to name a few.
But out of some 5,000 images, it was White Rhino, by Maroesjka Lavigne of Ghent, Belgium, that snagged the grand prize.
"I love the camouflage and the texture—you can almost feel the cracked mud," wildlife photographer Suzi Eszterhas, who chaired the panel of expert judges, said in a press release. "This photograph also has a poignant, ghostly quality that reflects how rhinos are slipping away before our eye."
For the last six years, the number of rhinos poached for their horns has been climbing and the International Union for Conservation of Nature said poachers killed 1,338 of the endangered animals in 2015. The photo competition hopes that capturing the natural world's incredible variety on film will inspire us to save it in real life.
The "BigPicture" exhibit, on display at the California Academy of Sciences through Oct. 30, features 48 photographs from 27 countries. The judges this year awarded prizes in seven categories: Human/Nature; Terrestrial Wildlife; Landscapes, Waterscapes, and Flora; Aquatic Life; Winged Life; Art of Nature; and Photo Essay: Coral Reef.
Explore the prize-winning images below:
Reposted with permission from our media associate onEarth.