Category Archives: Nature Photography

ALABAMA (WHNT) — Officials are gearing up once against for the 2024 Outdoor Alabama Photo Contest and will start accepting entries on Tuesday, August 1, 2023.

Residents of the Yellowhammer state and visitors alike will be allowed to submit pictures, but are required to have been taken in Alabama in the past two years. Any amateur photographer (not employed by the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR)) is welcome to enter.

Organizers say this year’s contest will be a collaborative project between the ADCNR and the Alabama Tourism Department.

While smartphone and tablet photos will be accepted in the Young Photographers category (17 and under), the other nine categories will require pictures to be taken using a handheld camera.

No cellphone, smartphone, game camera, or drone photography will be chosen as winning photos for nine of the 10 categories, officials state.

A total of 10 photos per person can be entered in the following categories, and you can enter all 10 photos in one category or among several.

2024 Outdoor Alabama Photo Contest Categories

• Alabama State Parks
• Birds
• Bugs and Butterflies
• Cold-blooded Critters
• Nature-Based Recreation
• Scenic
• Shoots and Roots
• Sweet Home Alabama
• Wildlife
• Young Photographers (ages 17 and under)

First, second, third and one honorable mention will be awarded in every category. Winning photographs will be featured online and in a traveling exhibit at various venues across the state during 2024.

Organizations or venues interested in hosting the 2024 Outdoor Alabama Photo Contest Exhibit should email Kenny Johnson with ADCNR’s Communications and Marketing Section.

An exhibit of the 2023 winning photos is currently on display at the 5 Rivers Delta Resource Center in Spanish Fort, Alabama, until September 1, 2023. You can view the complete exhibit schedule here.

Officials also encourage art teachers to incorporate participation in the Young Photographers category into their art instruction this fall.

For complete 2024 category descriptions and contest rules, you can visit Outdoor Alabama’s website here.

The deadline to enter is October 31, 2023.

It’s safe to say that Enzo Barracco has found a muse in Mother Nature.

His career as a fashion photographer was turned on its head when he heard the survival story of Irish explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton — a tale so incredible that it inspired Barracco to become an explorer himself.

Now Barracco brings awareness to conservation and sustainability as a nature photographer. He organized an expedition to Antarctica, a journey he documented in his book, “The Noise of Ice: Antarctica.”

His most recent project, “The Skin of Rock Galapagos,” showcases the equilibrium of the oceanic system.

He spent the weekend as a guest speaker for The Explorers Club Hawaiʻi Chapter.

“The Noise of Ice: Antarctica” highlights the effect of a warming climate on icebergs and glaciers. The image on the book cover shows an iceberg turning upside down, revealing a fringe of icicles.

“The photos are very beautiful,” he said, “but actually are evidence of climate change. … When the iceberg melts, it loses the point of balance.”

Barracco knew he was one of the lucky few in the world who would ever see parts of Antarctica and the Galapagos Islands up close. His projects aim to “raise awareness, through my work, through photography, about our natural world.”

“We take so much for granted,” he said.

After growing up in the Mediterranean, Barracco told The Conversation that being in Hawaiʻi is like being back in his element.

Mark Blackburn, chairman of the Explorers Club Hawaiʻi Chapter, took Barracco on a tour around the state during his visit.

Blackburn wants to remind people to appreciate the beauty of the islands.

“Everybody’s crazy busy,” he said. “But if everybody would just take 10 seconds and look around at the atmosphere. Look at the light. Look at the clouds. Look at the horizon lines. … You’re never disappointed.”

Barracco agreed. “This is why my work tries, on a very small scale, to raise awareness about the beauty of our natural world,” he added.

This interview aired on The Conversation on July 24, 2023. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1. This interview was adapted for the web by Emily Tom.

Samsung, Sri Lanka’s leading smartphone brand, has captured the nation’s attention with the launch of its groundbreaking photography competition, “Rediscover Sri Lanka with Galaxy”, launched on the 21st of July, 2023. The competition, which has already garnered widespread acclaim, aims to showcase the mesmerizing beauty and rich culture of Sri Lanka to the world, while promoting tourism and contributing to the country’s economic growth.

Open exclusively to Samsung mobile users with a passion for travel and capturing scenic shots of Sri Lanka’s breathtaking landscapes, the competition offers a unique opportunity to win a getaway for two in the paradise island. To participate, users need to upload their best photos of Sri Lanka to their Instagram or Facebook pages, using the hashtags #SriLanka and #withGalaxy, and send a Direct Message to the official Samsung Sri Lanka page. The photography competition consists of five categories: Nature, Culture, Beach, Wildlife, and Lifestyle, with five winners selected from each category.

Samsung’s motive behind launching this competition is to celebrate the allure of Sri Lanka—its lush green hills, pristine beaches, historic streets, delectable street food, curries, and sweetmeats beloved by all Sri Lankans. Through this campaign, Samsung aims to spotlight the hospitality of the locals who call this island home. The key to achieving this goal is storytelling through captivating photographs. As the saying goes, “A picture is worth a thousand words,” and Samsung believes that stunning imagery of Sri Lanka’s beauty will awaken wanderlust in people’s hearts, making Sri Lanka their top destination for their next adventure.

Mr. SangHwa Song, Managing Director of Samsung Sri Lanka, expressed the brand’s motivation behind the campaign, “Sri Lanka was dealt a tough blow that we all faced. And therefore, our national image has taken a low blow as well, reducing confidence in travelers to visit our island paradise. And we at Samsung wanted to change this sentiment. Our goal is to flood the hashtag with the beauty of Sri Lanka.”

This remarkable campaign is exclusively available for Samsung Galaxy smartphone and tablet users, making it a first-of-its-kind initiative in the smartphone industry. Participants stand a chance to win weekly vouchers or the grand prize—a delightful getaway to Sri Lanka’s enchanting destinations.

For more information on how to participate in the #RediscoverSL campaign, users can visit Samsung Sri Lanka’s social media pages. Samsung continues to be a brand that prioritizes its customers’ needs, offering peace of mind through their Galaxy smartphones. The interactive diagnostics and optimization on the Samsung Members app make it effortless to enhance device performance, while the helpline provides extra support for troubleshooting any issues.

Samsung has been consistently recognized as the “People’s Youth Choice Brand of the Year” in Sri Lanka for four consecutive years by Slim Sri Lanka’s review of the country’s most valuable brands. With a broad customer base that spans all age groups, particularly Gen Z and Millennials, Samsung continues to lead as Sri Lanka’s No. 1 smartphone brand.

Join us in this extraordinary campaign, and let your inner photographer shine with Galaxy as we embark on an unforgettable journey to rediscover the beauty of Sri Lanka, contributing to its revival and resurgence as an alluring travel destination once more.

 

“My life is too short for me to hurry.” That quote from British author and former gardener Marc Hamer jumped off the page as I was reading his book, “How to catch a mole, wisdom from a life lived in nature.”

The logic of it at first doesn’t add up, if life is short shouldn’t one try to get as much as possible from every day at a fast pace. In newspaper world the second hand on the clock is more relevant than the minute hand, seconds ticking away towards an ever present deadline.

As the world moves to online and everything is run by artificial intelligence, will deadlines cease to exist? No more, “Stop the presses and get me rewrite” yells into the newsrooms of old movies from the ’40s and ’50s. Today, the 24/7 stream of information flows like a river, always something arriving as the old news floats downstream.

But in the hybrid newsroom of print and online it turns out there are more deadlines than ever. First, the early print deadline around mid-day as stories and print wind their way through a labyrinth of news desk stops and then out to offsite planners and designers before arriving back in New England at the printing press in Providence, Rhode Island. Then an overnight ride back to Cape Cod for the final destination in a subscriber’s driveway or on the morning newsstand.

Online, stories, photos and videos are sent into a revolving queue based on page views and reader traffic set to specific times throughout the day aligning with website metrics calculated for the best times to catch the most “eyeballs.” As the 21st century moves into the 2020s, online monitoring is constant. Check out a pair of new shoes on a website and suddenly you are bombarded with popup ads for similar products. Indeed Big Brother is watching, no matter where your mouse and web browser might go, so act fast.

Circling back to Hamer’s observation, perhaps slowing down is the solution for our short lifespans. A moment remembered turns into a memory. Time wasted chasing a daily checklist may yield nothing more than a completed list. Like a busy bee in a field of flowers, a person can really only take on one thing at a time, best to be in the moment and enjoy.

This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Photo Shoot: No Need to Rush

Each week, Marion Technical College shares MarionMade! stories of our many wonderful people, places, products and programs in the greater Marion community. To read more positive stories of Marion, or to share some of your own, visit us at marionmade.org or on social media.

One man volunteers his time and talent to take dozens of beautiful pictures of Marion County − its new businesses, historical places, interesting people and everything in between.

“I like the history of Marion − from the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Chapel to the Huber Machinery Museum to the True House. We need to learn about our history.” David Weichenthal said. “I also like learning about how people get their start in business.”

David moved to Marion with his family in 1980. His parents, Gerhardt (Gary) and Dorothy Weichenthal, owned the Beltone Hearing Aid Office on Main Street in Marion for many years before retiring.

While Dave spent decades programming computers with his degrees from the University of Rochester and Marion Technical College, he always had a love of photography.

Artistry runs in the Weichenthal family

David comes from an artistic family. His mother, Dorothy, still loves to paint and write at age 97. His sister, Patty Felker, makes Christian music. Joan Wood is a sculptor, painter, graphic designer and children’s book author. David borrowed Joan’s high-end camera equipment to snap photos as he started his hobby.

From family portraits to nature shots, David Weichenthal loves to take pictures. David says the secret is to take many photos.

“Only one of every 100 pictures may come out,” David said.

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Photography has become more affordable with an iPhone and a digital camera. When David started his hobby, he had to buy and pay to develop rolls of film with only 36 pictures each.

“Last year, I took about 30,000 photos, and it only cost me $40 for an SSD storage card to hold all of them,” David said.

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Occasionally, a few subjects are reluctant to have their portraits taken.

“I try to present people in their best light,” David said. “People tell me they will break the camera, but it hasn’t happened yet.”

He likes taking candid shots and allowing young children to take photos.

“They love it! They haven’t broken anything so far,” Dave chuckled.

Photos archive history, follow a town’s legacy

He also loves genealogy and once inherited family photos from the 1890s. Unfortunately, only a handful of the pictures identified the people in them.

“It’s important to label your photos for future generations,” David said.

David enjoys getting to see and learn about different parts of Marion, from the Amish cabin builder in LaRue to LuLu’s Toy Shop in downtown Marion. Over the years, David generously volunteered dozens of hours to showcase this vibrant, thriving community.

“I’ve enjoyed all of the MarionMade! stories,” David said.

Any residents interested in licensing the MarionMade! logo, submitting photos, offering story ideas or sharing their passion for the community, can find resources on MarionMade.org under the “Get Involved” section. Ideas can also be submitted via social media channels or by email to [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Marion Star: David Weichenthal’s photos highlights Marion’s people and places

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The notion of what the world would look like if humans were to vanish has been explored extensively by scientists, as well as many post-apocalyptic movies.

However, French photographer Romain Veillon is making it his mission to capture in pictures the potential result of a planet without people.

The 38-year-old has spent years photographing abandoned places around the world that have been overtaken by nature, with eerily beautiful results.

For his recent book “Green Urbex: The World Without Us,” released in 2021, he shot a series of deserted and/or forgotten spots, including a ghost town in Namibia, an abandoned cinema in Brussels, a dilapidated Tuscan villa and a disused railway track in Ukraine.

‘Post-apocalyptic vision’

Veillon, who is working on the second volume of the book, hopes the haunting images will serve as a reminder of the “necessity to live in harmony with our habitat,” as well as highlight the importance of working with rather than against nature.

“We are all fascinated by this post-apocalyptic vision,” he says. “Maybe we need to be the witness of that to enjoy what we have and the time in front of us.”

The book, which is only available in French at present, is divided into three different sections. The first showcases deserted places that remain relatively well preserved and the second focuses on dilapidated sites in a far worse state.

Finally, the third section is made of images of long-forgotten places that have been completely overrun by vegetation.

“The photographs were all shot during the last 10 years,” Veillon tells CNN via email. “It’s really a mix of all the places I have been documenting since I started.”

Enduring fascination

His fascination with abandoned places began at an early age, when he discovered a deserted truck factory near Paris.

Although the book, which contains over 200 images, provides some historical background to a number of the sites, the photographer says he tries to offer as little detail as possible so that people can “make up their own answers” to any questions they may have.

“Each story will be different from the other, and that’s what I love,” he adds.

However, capturing deserted spots in so many different, and often remote, corners of the world is far more complicated than just picking up a camera and hitting the road.

Veillon sometimes spends months researching lesser known sites and pinpointing their exact location, not to mention applying for authorization to photograph some of them.

“I spend hours searching for historical clues that can help me locate the location I want to photograph,” he explains.

Extraordinary sites

“There’s a huge amount of time [spent] on Google Maps trying to see if some buildings might be buried under vegetation. And just driving around when you’re in a new area can also bring some nice surprises.”

Having friends all over the world has also proved useful to the photographer, who often receives tips from other travelers, and sometimes his social media followers, on potential sites to include in his work.

One of the highlights from the book is an image of Buzludzha, an abandoned Soviet monument in Bulgaria, which Veillon says was one of his favorite places to photograph.

“Buzludzha is for sure the most extraordinary and unique place I have ever been to,” he says of the former Bulgarian Communist Party headquarters built atop a mountain.

“From the outside, it looks like a UFO, and inside, you find the most beautiful mosaics.”

Romania’s defunct Constanța Casino, which has been designated as a historic monument by the Romanian Ministry of Culture and National Patrimony, also left a lasting impression.

Nature reclaiming

“I was so surprised to see the remains of the old casino stage, the wonderful chandeliers or the ornaments of the grand staircase,” he admits.

Veillon’s haunting images of Japan’s Nara Dreamland, taken around a decade after the theme park closed in 2006, have garnered the most attention.

“This is a perfect example of what I want to show when we say ‘nature is taking over,” he says. “You can see ivy slowly covering the roller coaster like it is getting eaten by it. The park was destroyed [between 2016 and 2017] not long after my visit, so it makes the photograph even more iconic I think.”

While the travel restrictions brought about by the pandemic have meant that Veillon’s travels have been few and far between of late, he’s planning to visit Peru later this year and also hopes to visit ghost town Akarmara, a former coal mining village in Abkhazia, Georgia that’s been overtaken by trees, in the near future.

However, Abkhazia remains closed to international visitors.

“It [Akarmara] is the one journey I should have done a long time ago,” he says.

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Chris Pratt, 44, enjoyed a family outing with all three of his children on Sunday morning and looked as happy as could be. The actor was photographed walking outside with his wife Katherine Schwarzenegger, 33, his oldest son Jack, 10, and two daughters, Lyla, 2, and Eloise, 1, and flashed a big smile to nearby cameras. Jack was having fun on a scooter while the Chris was pushing Eloise’s stroller and Katherine pushed Lyla’s.

The former Everwood star wore a casual outfit that included a gray T-shirt, black shorts, and black sneakers. He also added sunglasses and a black baseball cap. Katherine wore an opened black button-down long-sleeved shirt over a black top, black leggings, and black sneakers. She also added sunglasses to her look and had her hair down under a white baseball cap.

Jack, whose mother is Anna Faris, wore a dark blue T-shirt, matching shorts, and black sneakers with white socks, while Lyla wore a white graphic tee, leggings, and white sneakers. The blonde cutie also had her hair up. Eloise wore a light pink outfit and had her hair in pigtails.

Chris’ latest family outing comes a month after Katherine took to Instagram to share adorable photos of the doting dad and their daughters. She also included photos of herself hanging out with family and friends and doing all kinds of activities. “Nature, jenga and family,” she captioned the post.

In addition to being photographed on outings and sharing their own casual photos of their family on social media, Chris and Katherine have also shared holiday photos. Some of the most recent holiday photos were for Easter. Katherine showed off her daughters and other family members, like her mom Maria Shriver, in the special post. She also showed off gorgeous nature photos of their surroundings. “Easter of love, family, sisters and some firsts for little one ,” she captioned the post.

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KINGSTON, N.Y.—Photographer Andrew Moore hunched over a table at his studio in the Fuller Building recently and walked his new intern, Elizabeth Kiluba, through ways she could make her photos pop.

Kiluba, 16, a Hurley resident on summer vacation from Kingston High School, became Moore’s intern some weeks ago. “We’re still getting to know each other,” Moore said in late June. He stopped her as she scrolled through a series of black-and-white photos on her iPhone. Kiluba said one photo looked wrong because a negative got scratched.

“If you just rewash that negative you can get rid of some of that. You can bring them in, I’ll show you how to do all that stuff,” Moore said. The pair got lost in a tangent, discussing the merits and pitfalls of color photography and processing.

Moore has taught for decades, at the university level and locally at the Center for Photography at Woodstock, and said part of the appeal of having an intern was that he could be around young people and their ideas while feeling more connected to the community. Kiluba’s tasks, he said, would initially be more clerical than artistic, organizing digital files and preparing paperwork for grant applications, but he planned to have her join him on shoots, make promotional content and teach her how to use higher-level equipment.

It will all culminate in a gallery exhibition for Moore later this year in New York City featuring work he and Kiluba are preparing. The exhibition, Moore said, will be a meditation on modern wilderness and our relationship with nature, also exploring how the pandemic affected people’s relationship with Upstate New York and the natural environment.

APPLETON – The pub at Primrose Retirement Community was bustling at 2 p.m. July 11.

“Oh, just a second, I’ll get you a chair,” said Christine Dicus, the facility’s life enrichment director, as two more residents showed up.

Every table was full but it wasn’t for Happy Hour, bingo or a party. In fact no drinks or food were being served.

The crowd of 32 assembled for a slide show of nature photography.

The program was given by Bob Haase of Eldorado and was titled “The Beauty of Nature Through the Eyes of a Photographer.”

His first slides included scenes of brilliant fall foliage reflecting on the surface of a North Woods lake, a thrush plucking a red berry from a shrub and red fox kits playing in a field.

“Not only does photography bring me closer to nature, but it gives me a positive attitude,” said Haase, 79. “How could I be in a bad mood watching a fox kit playing like this?”

The photo showed a young fox holding the tail of a littermate in its mouth.

Over 40 minutes, Haase showed 164 images culled from the tens of thousands he has captured in his career.

The goal: inspire the audience with impactful images, help stimulate conversation and evoke memories.

“I think pictures have a unique ability to help us remember a time or place or feeling,” Haase said.

Haase decided to bundle his photographic talent in a presentation at Primrose after two friends, Jerry and Gloria Norris, moved to the facility in 2019.

Jerry was in declining health and Haase knew his friend, with whom he had attended college, would appreciate seeing some of the fruits of his recent camera work.

The idea expanded from a personal viewing in 2022 to an event in Primrose’s life enrichment program. Primrose has residents in independent living, assisted living and memory care units at its Appleton campus.

“(Haase) is so talented,” said Dicus, the event director. “He brings the outside in. It turned out to be a big hit.”

The life enrichment program offers six activities on weekdays and four on weekends, Dicus said. The goal is to provide enrichment in social, emotional, physical, spiritual, purposeful and intellectual realms.

After Haase gave the presentation last year, Dicus said the first question from the audience was: “When are you coming back?”

So Haase and Dicus scheduled a follow-up for July 11.

Such a program is more than just viewing beautiful images.

Several studies have shown looking at nature photos can stimulate the memories and senses of older adults, including people with dementia, for example.

“Not just scenery: Viewing nature pictures improves executive attention in older adults,” a 2014 study by Katherine Gamble and colleagues at Georgetown University showed the value of exposure to nature images.

The work found that viewing nature (and not urban) images significantly improved executive attention in older adults as measured by the Attention Network Test.

Among a growing number of interventions, nature exposure offers a quick, inexpensive, and enjoyable means to provide a boost in executive attention, the researchers concluded.

Laurence Aegerter, a visual artist based in Amsterdam, uses nature images as part of a project she calls “Photographic Treatment.” The effort hopes to improve the quality of life of elderly people with dementia by staging “photo interventions.”

Her work was featured in a 2018 article published on CNN.com.

In one example, Aegerter describes meeting a dementia patient in the later stages of the illness at a care facility in Switzerland. She visited the man to note his reactions to photographs she had brought along.

She asked him to remark on the images but he was relatively unresponsive, “fluttering in out of awareness, like a lamp flickering on and off,” she said. For 10 minutes, the patient hardly said anything.

Then Aegerter said she showed him a photograph of a cat and a kitten; the image provoked a marked change.

“He was able to speak for five minutes in a row,” Aegerter said in the report. “That image triggered something very deep in him, a very deep memory that made him feel so strong. In those minutes, it was like he had no disease at all.”

Haase said he isn’t surprised by such studies. And though he hasn’t researched it, he believes images are an effective way to reach people.

He’s seen it work in various ways over more than six decades.

Haase grew up in central Wisconsin and started his relationship with shutter speeds, f-stops and lighting while a student at Montello High School. He worked for the student newspaper and yearbook.

He went on to get degrees at UW-Platteville and UW-Stout and eventually joined the faculty at Moraine Park Technical College in Fond du Lac where for 27 years he taught graphics, production and photography.

Haase retired in 2001. The year was no coincidence. His father had died at the age of 57 so Haase decided he would stop working at that age and try to enjoy as much life as he could, knowing nothing is guaranteed.

Haase now devotes most of his time to volunteering and nature photography. He is a delegate to the Wisconsin Conservation Congress, gives fly-tying lessons through Trout Unlimited and is on the board of directors for the Wisconsin Outdoor Communicators Association.

He makes local photography outings to public parks and preserves, including Heckrodt Wetland Reserve in Menasha, as well as private properties.

He and his wife Mary also spend time at their cabin set on a scenic lake in northern Wisconsin.

A few times a year he also goes farther afield on photo trips to places such as Sax-Zim Bog, about 30 miles northwest of Duluth, Minn., or Montana or Wyoming.

A digital camera is always at his side. Haase estimates he captures about 5,000 images a month.

He has about 2 TB of stored images.

“What good do they do sitting on my hard drive if nobody can see them?” Haase said.

Haase put that sentiment in action at Primrose. Over 40 minutes he showed birds, mammals, scenics. All were of the high quality you’d see in a nature magazine.

A photo of hooded merganser ducklings drew “oohs” from the crowd. So did an image of a white doe with normally-colored fawns.

“I like animals at a distance and I’ve never seen them as close as this,” said Primrose resident Pat Maronek, 87. “And those colors are unheard of.”

For Maronek, the slide show brought back memories of one of her favorite places, McGill Pond in Stevens Point.

Her fellow resident Marcie Tautges, 84, also enjoyed it.

“The lake scenes reminded me of Mayflower Lake near Birnamwood,” Tautges said. “It looked like home.”

The group stayed for 10 minutes of questions and answers: What kind of camera do you have? Are their things left to see and photograph?

Haase said nature photography helps him start each day with a positive attitude. And yes, there are many things he still wants to do, including photograph grizzly and polar bears.

He thanked the group for inviting him again. The room slowly emptied about 3 p.m. But dozens of conversations continued as residents walked or wheeled out.

Haase would like other nature photographers to consider doing the same types of programs at assisted living facilities, nursing homes and schools. He is planning to offer the program to other facilities this year.

“If I can reach one person, brighten one person’s day, it’s worth it,” Haase said.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Nature photographer shows images to stimulate memories, senses