Field and Forest Nature Photo Contest

Photographer's Comments

First Place - Greg Summers

Photograph: Good Morning Starshine
Location: Sawhill Ponds, Boulder, Colorado
Date taken: November 24, 1999
Equipment used: Nikon F100, Tamron 28-200, Provia, Bogen tripod , no filters. (Exposure information lost in the excitement of the moment.)
Web site: Colorado Photos and the Field and Forest Members Gallery

Comments: As the sun rose through the mist that lay in a blanket over the pond, I positioned it behind a stand of trees, Suddenly, it was like shafts reaching into the water of the pond. It was as if the fog was on fire. I scrambled around to find the right place where enough of the shore with the beautiful, new fallen snow in the foreground and the reflection of the trees in the water. It was 10 degrees and I could barely feel the shutter release with my fingers. My breath fogged the viewfinder but somehow I kept clicking with no idea if what I would see on film would be anywhere close to the golden sunlight as it streamed toward me. I was breathing hard as I tried to take it all in.

What makes this more of a miracle for me is that this is in an unlikely place with tangles of wires in the background and a wire fence along a dirt road. In the distance is the noise of early morning traffic. But not this day. This morning, it was still and silent and all the workings of the world were hidden in a blanket of gilded fog. in a moment, it was melted off by the warming air. The world crept back in. Now, I have this to remind me of the beauty that is always around me and invisible for most of the time.

Second Place - Rona Smyth

Photograph: Great Horned Owl
Date taken: August 2000
Location: Massey, Ontario
Equipment used: Minolta 35mm camera with a 70-300mm zoom lens, polarizing filter, tripod and fill flash.

Comments: Wildlife photography is an exciting occupation. My appreciation for wildlife grows with every shot. I will often bring my children, ages 8 and 9, along on photo shoots. So far they have had the opportunity to pet a porcupine, hold a baby cougar, be within 20 feet of endangered animals and feed a baby moose. My nine-year-old daughter Jade has already decided that she wants to be a wildlife photographer when she grows up.

Third Place - Andrew A. Skolnick

Photograph: Beauty of the Marsh
Date taken: August 29, 2000
Location: Brookfield, Illinois, USA
Equipment used: Olympus C-3030Z digital camera, monopod.
Web site: www.aaskolnick.com/portfolio.

Comments: My first photo of a dragonfly was published 26 years ago in Natural History Magazine. It was taken with a Nikon F2 and 55mm macro lens. It was sharp enough to be spread across one and one-half pages of the magazine. This photo was taken on August 29, 2000 with my Olympus C-3030Z digital camera. The photo from a quarter century ago was one of my favorites -- but it pales compared with this recent image. Although I understand the physical principles, I am still amazed at how much greater sharpness and depth of field we are able to get with these tiny digital cameras -- a gift of their smaller focal lengths.

This beauty is a green darner. I have another photo of a green darner that I took in Connecticut more than 20 years ago right after it emerged, showing its shed nymph skin. It also was taken with the best 35 mm macro equipment available at the time. It too pales in depth of detail. I am just amazed and thrilled by the new technology that captures nature up close so much more easily and faithfully.

Honorable Mention - Rainer Ehlert

Photograph: Hummingbird Mother Feeding a Fledgling
Date taken: March 4, 2000
Location: State of San Luis Potosi, Mexico
Equipment used: Canon EOS 1n RS with a 35-350mm @ 350mm and a 35mm extension tube with 540EZ Canon flash exposed on Agfachrome RSX II 100ASA film (using +2/3 "forced development") at 1/250sec @ f14.

Comments: I had the luck to have a Hummingbird nest in my garden. Four weeks after breaking the egg, the fledgling had this size. I was observing the mother for more than six hours and noticed she was feeding her fledgling approximately every 15 to 20 minutes. She would sometimes sit on the branch to do her feeding but mostly spent her time hovering. She got used to me and at the end of the session I was able to get this shot. Next day 5th of March, 2000, mother and child went away to explore the world.
Web site: www.rsfotografia.com and www.xanlil.com/Aranyas

Honorable Mention - Erich Mangl

Photograph: Leaves
Date taken: October, 15 2000
Location: Vienna, Austria
Equipment used: Nikon Coolpix 950 using "macro-mode".

Comments: I picked a few branches to have those leaves at home. I liked the colors, and I played with the Coolpix (as i always "play" with the flowers for my wife). I have no special interest in anything, I mean I´m not a "nature photographer". I take photos from really everything that jumps into my eye. Mostly I just "play" with the camera. I know not much about technical things (some people told me "hey you point and shoot only").

Honorable Mention - Christine Ross

Photograph: Moonrise, Arizona
Date taken: Fall 2000
Location: Page, Arizona, USA
Equipment used: Nikon N90s, with a Nikkor lens and teleconverter--400mm on Fuji Velvia film.

Comments: There were many photographers gathered in the same spot for shots of the latest harvest moon. I now wonder how their shots turned out, and if we all ended up getting about the same one.

First Place	Second Place	Third Place
Click on a place to read the judge's specific comments regarding our first, second and third place winners. The full text of the judge's comments can be found at the bottom of this page.