Category Archives: Nature Photography

From birds in a Himalayan snowstorm to a tiny organism in polar waters, see winners of this year’s Environmental Photography Award

By Victoria Heath

This year marks the third edition of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation’s Environmental Photography Award – and after the submission of over 10,000 images by over 2300 professional and amateur photographers across the world – the overall winner and laureates of the five contest categories have now been revealed.

With his photograph ‘Fight to the Death’, Jasper Doest was crowned the winner in the category ‘Humanity versus Nature’ and overall winner of the 2023 Environmental Photographer of the Year by peers and the public vote. Doest also received a total prize money of €6500, as well as a trip to Ecuador to visit the SEK International University research base in the Amazon rainforest.

In addition to the Public Award, and five laureate categories, the Students’ Choice was created for high school students of the Principality, as part of the Foundation’s aim to raise awareness of environmental issues among the younger generation.

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‘Photography is a powerful tool for giving a voice to threatened wildlife and biodiversity,’ jury president Sergio Pitamitz said. ‘Thanks to the Environmental Photography Award, photographers are given the opportunity to showcase their images and, above all, their conservation messages.’

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Overall winner of 2023 Environmental Photography Award, ‘Humanity vs Nature’ winner & Public Award winner: Fight to the Death – Lopé National Park, Gabon, 2021.

The overall winner of the 2023 Environmental Photographer of the Year, Jasper Doest’s ‘Fight to the Death’ depicts an enraged elephant fighting for its life after being struck by a train transporting manganese through Lopé National Park in Gabon. Unable to be saved due to a hip shattered beyond repair, the elephant was killed. Following its death, the park director distributed its meat to the local community.

Despite the danger posed by regular train accidents in Lopé National Park and the director’s efforts to identify potential conflict areas, the railway company has declined to take action and continues to ignore the risk of running trains at full speed through the park. This is primarily due to the economic pressure of transporting Gabon’s second-largest export product, manganese, which accounts for 11 per cent of the country’s exports.

‘While it’s tempting to assign blame, I also believe that this photograph has the power to inspire change for those willing to take responsibility,’ said Doest. ‘Upon receiving this award, I would like to extend the invitation to all parties involved to gather together and have a meaningful discussion on how we can collectively put an end to the continuous killing of these critically endangered animals alongside this railway track.’

‘Change makers, reasons for hope’ category: Airborne – Malawi, 2022

Marcus Westberg’s Airborne shows elephants being moved from Liwonde National Park to Kasungu National Park, Malawi, under the supervision of conservation specialists. 

This method of elephant transportation is commonly used – first, elephants are put to sleep, then placed in lorries using cranes before being woken up during the journey. All these operations are carried out with the utmost care and respect for the animals, and help to regulate populations from one area to another.

‘Ocean Worlds’ category: My Kingdom – Espiritu Santo National Park Mexico, 2022

Simon Biddie’s photograph depicts California sea lions enjoying protected status in Espiritu Santo National Park in Mexico. The region is a no-fishing zone, providing the sea lions with a food-rich environment and a stable population. The only remaining threat for these animals is climate change.

‘Into the forest’ category: Falling Leaves are Blue – Himalayas, India, 2018 

Kallol Mukherjee captured a snowstorm in the Himalayas at an altitude of 4,267 m, just as a flock of Grandala birds invaded the landscape, offering a superb view of their synchronised flight or ‘murmurations’.

‘Polar Wonders’ category: Tiny Umbrella – Tasiilaq, East Greenland, 2018 

Franco Banfi’s photograph of a tiny benthic hydromedusa, with a bell measuring less than a centimetre, won this year’s ‘Polar Wonders’ category. This little-known gelatinous organism lives in deep or polar waters.

Students’ Choice 2023: Baby it’s Cold Out There! – Mýrdalsjökull glacier, Iceland, 2019

The beauty of Iceland won over the Principality’s high school students in David Feuerhelm’s photograph of the Mýrdalsjökull glacier, the fourth largest ice cap in the country. The glacier has many surreal ephemeral caves and landscapes.

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While out on a regular macro photography field trip with his friends, 45-year-old Singaporean photographer, Nicky Bay, managed to snap photos of a remarkably tiny but special crustacean.

It was a possible new species of isopods, which Bay nicknamed “Singapore Tiger”, for obvious reasons.

“Highly likely” to be endemic

Bay shared with Mothership that the unique isopods were actually photographed in early 2022.

He was in the midst of compiling a list of isopods when the particular trip took place, and had asked his friends to alert him to any isopods they came across.

“This time, they shouted louder and it proved to be something new to all of us,” Bay said.

With much excitement, Bay immediately shared photos of the discovery with a local isopod Telegram chat group.

To protect the creatures, Bay did not share the location.

“Should poachers invade the space, the leaf litter would be compacted and it will affect the ecosystem as well,” Bay elaborated.

The isopods measure 12mm in length, the photographer shared.

This potentially new isopod species is not the only one of its kind to be dubbed a “tiger”.

“There are a few species in the region that were nicknamed various tiger names,” Bay pointed out.

“This particular species is much closer to a typical tiger with a bright orange base and distinct black stripes, unlike all of the other similar-looking species in Southeast Asia,” the photographer commented.

Bay gave it the name “Singapore Tiger” as it is “highly likely” that the isopods are only found in Singapore.

More work needs to be done to confirm new species

To verify that the isopods are indeed a possible new species, Bay consulted with local researchers.

It was confirmed that the “Singapore Tiger” belongs to the family Armadillidae, but this species’ genus has not been identified.

“So far, it does not have a perfect match with any existing genus,” Bay shared.

Foo Maosheng, entomologist at Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum (National Museum of Singapore), shared that he has neither personally encountered the “Singapore Tiger” before nor heard about isopods with the tiger-like pattern found on the ones photographed by Bay.

As an entomologist, Foo spends plenty of time conducting surveys of undergrowth, the same habitat where isopods can be commonly found.

“When it comes to identifying an animal, and in this case, an arthropod (the group in which insects and crustaceans fall under), there are different taxonomic levels that zoologists will go down to determine the species,” Foo explained.

“Each time one goes down a taxonomic level, it gets more specific to a certain group of animals based on certain groups of features. In this case, the experts are ‘stuck’ at finding the genus of this isopod, and unable to go searching at the species level. If it is unable to match any at the genus level, it is safe to say that it is a new species.”

To confirm that the “Singapore Tiger” is indeed a new species, more work has to be done.

According to Foo, researchers or experts will need to have a closer examination of “Singapore Tiger” specimens and compare it with other known species in the world, especially in Southeast Asia.

This would require studying the isopod anatomically, which may entail microscopic work.

It may even require molecular work to see if its DNA matches that of any known isopods.

“When the science behind it confirms that it does not match any known records, they can describe it as a new species,” Foo said.

While they have yet to receive the necessary permits to collect specimens, Bay shared that arrangements are being made together with a team in Nanyang Technological University to sequence the DNA of the “Singapore Tiger”.

Not the only undescribed isopods in town

“Singapore Tiger” is not the only possible new species of isopods to have been discovered by Bay.

On his website, which hosts an extensive checklist of the isopods he has photographed, three other isopods are listed as “unidentified Armadillidae“.

They are nicknamed “Sentosa”, “Mini purple”, and “Platin tung song”.

Another belonging to the family Scleropactidae has been nicknamed “Big Bear”.

Bay said that these did not get as much attention as they were “not as attractive” as the “Singapore Tiger”.

Furthermore, compared to the “Singapore Tiger” which has only been spotted at a localised spot, these other isopods were found in multiple parts of the country.

According to Bay, few people pay attention to isopods in the wild in Singapore.

Even for macro photographers, isopods may look similar in appearance and are hence overlooked.

“It is very likely that we can find new terrestrial isopods in Singapore since there are only a very small handful known species. The rest have been sighted or observed but no species name has been given to date. These are the ones [that] could be waiting to be described as new species,” Foo explained.

Started checklists to inspire interest

Bay began putting together his isopod checklist when a group of his friends started keeping isopods as pets in late 2020.

Since then, Bay has also started a website to catalogue isopods from the world over.

However, he has been photographing microfauna for 15 years and has a particular interest in invertebrates.

“I like to document invertebrates and showcase their diversity through macro photography as they are often overlooked. You can see from my website that I have many other ‘catalogues’ or checklists for other groups of invertebrates. In a way, the checklists help others identify the various species available in different localities and deeply appreciate them. Eventually, others may also learn about the conservation of our biodiversity. As cheesy as it sounds, we cannot love what we don’t know and we cannot conserve what we don’t love.”

When he is not behind his camera and out looking for invertebrates, Bay is a software engineer by training and is currently working as a chief technology officer.

Isopods, being crustaceans, are cousins of crabs and lobsters. They can be found in marine habitats or on land.

Despite living on land, terrestrial isopods breathe through gills. They require damp environments, such as those found in moist undergrowth, to survive.

By consuming decaying organic matter, terrestrial isopods play a key ecological role as nature’s recyclers.

All photos courtesy of Nicky Bay

The Central Catchment area is known for its cluster of nature parks that offer a contrast to the modern stylings of downtown Singapore. But it’s not all just woody trails and secondary rainforests. 

Thomson Nature Park may not be as sprawling as the other nature reserves and parks in the area but this buffer park has some gems of its own. Buffer parks refer to green areas which act as a buffer between urban development and nature reserves to reduce pressures and stresses on the reserves.

The park officially opened to the public in October 2019 and was also the former site of a Hainan village in Singapore. And if you think village life is bucolic, this area was also known for another pretty exciting event. 

The village life

The village was established in the 1930s by Hainanese immigrants who were one of the last Chinese communities to settle in Singapore and was known for its rambutan plantations and farms, of which you can still see remnants today. 

By the 1960s, it was housing approximately 100 families who came from various dialect groups and ethnicities. Farming was the main livelihood in the village and residents reared poultry and pigs, and cultivated fruits like rambutan, durian and pineapple. 

In the 1980s when Singapore went through an age of urban development, people left villages to live in more modern homes and the land was overtaken by secondary forest. 

The trails that go through the forest take you through some ruins that show what’s left of a pig farm, a kitchen, outhouses, abandoned wells and old road signs.

There is also information on certain ruins and areas in the trail further describing how life was in the village and also prompting you to look for the right things among the ruins. 

Famous residents

Fun fact: One of the families who settled in the village went on to open one of Singapore’s popular franchises. 

The family-run business started selling western food and Chinese dishes such as Hainanese pork chop. In 1978, the Han family set up a small bakery in the nearby Upper Thomson Road and eventually expanded it islandwide to become the Han’s Cafe chain.

Grand Prix track

While the Singapore Grand Prix these days pulls in the biggest names in motorsport and entertainment, in September 1961, the first grand prix was held in the Thomson Road circuit which went through the village. 

The circuit rain 4.8km long and included some very dangerous hairpins and bends, including the infamous Devil’s Bend. This bend was also the most dangerous turn of the circuit and the Thomson Road circuit was reputed to be one of the most dangerous tracks in the world.

It is also exactly why plenty of road accidents happened here and the race was discontinued from 1973 onwards. 

Now, the Singapore Grand Prix is held in the Marina Bay street circuit and is one of the most popular tracks with the Formula 1 drivers. 

Wildlife in the park

Since Thomson Nature Park opened to the public, it’s also a place to spot some wildlife. Residents of the park include the lesser mousedeer, macaques, the straw-headed bulbul and more. 

A freshwater stream also runs through the park and is home to native aquatic species like the near-threatened spotted tree frog and the Malayan box terrapin.

Its most famous – but elusive – residents is the banded leaf monkey known to have a body of black fur, distinguishable rings around their eyes, and bright orange babies. 

The monkey is also a native animal in Singapore and was discovered by Sir Stamford Raffles almost 200 years ago when they were commonly spotted around Singapore. Today there are only about 60 of these monkeys left in the wild. 

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There really is nothing more exhilarating than being witness to two bull elk brawling with antlers intertwined during the fall rut or having the clouds light up in dramatic fashion at the perfect alpine lake at sunrise or watching an osprey as its talons break the surface of the water as it dives for a fish.

As a photographer, capturing these moments in pixels extends that experience into a lifelong memory through a photograph for your wall or into a winning image in a nature photo contest.

But at what expense do you need to go while in the field when considering your fellow photographers or your subjects?

There used to be a time, before the invention of cameras in cell phones and the accessibility of digital cameras, that if a photographer was already at a location photographing a special sunset or a coyote curled up in the snow, the etiquette was to allow that photographer to have that moment.

Today, it isn’t unusual to have dozens of people with a camera set up on tripods photographing the exact same scene. Those images may be different depending upon what equipment you use and your own creative vision but more and more, having 20 people take the same photo has me thinking, how do I maintain my own style if I am photographing the same subject at the same time as 19 other people?

And beyond just questioning why I should take the same or similar photo, there are several other questions to consider when in the field:

• Am I blocking anyone else’s view of the scene?
• Is there an opportunity to teach someone about how to share the space?
• Can I take a different view without damaging the habitat or disturbing the animal?
• Is all of this attention stressing my subject?
• Is my safety or the safety of my subject worth this photo?

There are many situations that happen in the field that can cause stress to a photographer or to a subject:

• The person who insists on sitting in their car while not allowing anyone else outside of theirs to see the same scene. (Again, I have to ask myself, “Is there a reason they cannot be outside of the car, and should I even be outside of my own car because of safety or impact?”)
• The photographer with the longest lens insisting on being in front of everyone else with shorter lenses or cell phones.
• The aggressive photographer or cell phone user (they are different types of situations and therefore the terms should not be used interchangeably) who ruin a situation for everyone because of their single-minded desire for their own photo.
• The photographer who blocks wildlife from moving where they want to go so they can get the shot they envision.
• And my favorite, the person who stops to ask what you are photographing, causing the subject you are waiting for or already photographing to flee.

The last one in particular ties back to the original comment about etiquette before cell phones and digital cameras. On more than one occasion I have lost wonderful photo opportunities of birds feeding, porcupines eating, bull elk crossing a river and more because of unintentional requests for information. I really am not a curmudgeon, and I do like to share information, but when stopping at a location where there is already a photographer, assess the scene. Look at the situation and see if your actions might impact the subject they are photographing or what the photographer, who may be trying to put food on the table, hopes to capture.

For example, would walking up at the edge of the water or allowing a child to throw sticks into the water cause a ripple through the surface ruining the reflection in the lake? Would stopping where a photographer is using their vehicle as a blind to ask what they are photographing cause the subject to flee, potentially harming you, the photographer or the animal?

When out in the field, whether you are on vacation, working as a professional or fall anywhere in the myriad of situations in between, consider these things:

• Please don’t yell when out in nature. If someone is blocking your view, move over to them and politely explain that your view is obstructed and ask if they could move a little to the left or right. Politeness always goes farther than aggressiveness and understand that maybe they have an obstructed view as well or may not have seen you behind them. See if you can find a solution that works for both of you.
• Don’t move branches, snap off twigs or cut down grasses just to have a better view of your subject, especially nesting or bedded animals. In most situations, animals have selected those areas for exactly what is in the way of your photo. Having cover protects the animals from predators, wind, rain and hot sunshine, camouflages their location, and if the nest is no longer a viable location, may prevent future generations from nesting in the area. Trimming branches and grasses in a landscape image may cause the plant to not produce seeds for the next generation of growth.
• Learn about your subject before you head out into the field. The more you know about your subject — endangered status, nesting behavior, what they eat, when they mate, challenges the area already faces — will not only improve your photographs but can reduce the impacts on your subject.
• When joining another person or group that is already photographing, ask if it is okay to join them. Remember that they may be on a workshop or have a sensitive situation. They may be recording video and do not want unnecessary audio recorded in their content. Maybe they spent four, five or more hours waiting for a particular situation that may be changed or damaged by new movement and noise.

As Dr. Stephen Covey said in his book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, “seek first to understand, then to be understood.” It works in nature too.

For more information about ethical field practices and photography etiquette, visit the North American Nature Photography Association (NANPA) at https://nanpa.org/why-nanpa/ethics/, Nature First at https://naturefirst.org/en/ and Leave No Trace at https://lnt.org/why/7-principles/.

Dawn Wilson is the outdoor reporter for the Estes Park Trail-Gazette. She also guides in Rocky Mountain National Park, leads photo workshops throughout North and South America, sells prints of her photographs, and recently published 100 Things to Do in Estes Park Before You Die. To learn more about her work, visit www.DawnWilsonPhotography.com.

Nature photography is a term covering all types of living-world photography – from wildlife, birds and insects to trees, flowers and fungi – and many of the club’s members have a passion for spending hours stalking bugs in the countryside or including safaris and rainforest treks in their holiday plans.

Capturing a great nature photograph doesn’t necessarily mean journeying far – once a photographer learns about the birds and creatures living around them, these visitors not only make a garden come alive but our photographs too.

Flowers and plants are a perfect place to start, with leaves, buds and vegetables also making interesting subjects. Summer is a great season for plant photography but conditions can be key –  early mornings reward with dewy water droplets on leaves and petals and shooting in evening light before sunset gives a soft hue, avoiding harsh shadows from bright sunlight. 

Animals and insects can be tricky to locate, but with patience, practice and a little insight into their reactions and behaviours – such as knowing insects are generally most active around midday – a great image is within easy reach.

A keen garden photographer with a mirrorless or DSLR camera would invest in a close-up macro lens, while for wildlife a zoom or telephoto lens will cope with longer distances often involved and allow the shot to be taken without disturbing the subject.  However, nature photography is very accessible and doesn’t necessarily need expensive kit. Modern smartphones can create superb results, with multiple lenses/apertures and zooming now common features. Try experimenting with your mobile phone’s camera settings – High Dynamic Range (HDR) will enhance detail, while shooting in burst mode can help capture anything that moves fast. Always make the most of natural light available and to avoid blurring, find something to rest your phone on for stability. Importantly, as mobile phones live in our bags and pockets, it’s worth remembering to clean the lens periodically to avoid smudged photos.

The wonderful images featured on these pages are from recent Sidmouth Photographic Club competitions. Members are always keen to share skills and expertise with each other and the friendly club welcomes photographers with all abilities and cameras. More information can be found at www.sidmouthphotoclub.co.uk

The calendar is known for its collection of local images and information on flora, fauna and natural landscapes.

GBCMA project co-ordinator Janice Mentiplay-Smith said the photo competition was a great way for local people to showcase their skills by photographing plants, animals and the environment.

“Each year we produce and distribute the calendars across the region,” Ms Mentiplay-Smith said.

“The competition has been running for more than a decade now and entering it has become quite a tradition for keen photographers and nature lovers.

“The images in this year’s calendar were chosen from more than 300 entries.”

Preference is given to photographs depicting local plants or animals in their natural state, insects, waterways or other natural features that narrate stories about the Goulburn Broken Catchment.

“We always receive extremely positive feedback on the quality of the calendar and the fact it contains amazing images of the local environment, taken by local people,” Ms Mentiplay-Smith said.

“I encourage everyone to grab their camera and get out into the natural environment and see what they can find.”

To participate, submit colour photographs between 2MB and 10MB in a landscape format as JPEG images.

Email entries to [email protected]

Please include your name and address in the email with a subject line.

Each email should not exceed a 10MB limit.

The deadline for entries is August 14.

In the spring of 1927, photographer Ansel Adams hiked with his friends through the snow at Yosemite National Park in California. The 25-year-old brought along his camera, as he always did, stopping to take a photo he later titled “Monolith, the Face of Half Dome.”

That now-iconic image helped launch his career. Adams went on to become one of the most recognizable faces of American nature photography. 

“Many photographers speak about the fact that you cannot take pictures of the Western landscape today, or the national parks, without automatically thinking in some way of Ansel Adams,” said Sarah Mackay, an assistant curator at the de Young Museum in San Francisco.

Adams was born in San Francisco; his first solo exhibition was held at the de Young in 1932. And the de Young is hosting the new exhibition, “Ansel Adams: In Our Time.”

Mackay said, “What Ansel Adams advocated for throughout his career was how photography should be considered a fine art in and of itself.”

“For a while, was it not? Were people not taking him seriously?” asked Knighton.

“Yeah, I mean, photography, even into, like, the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s, was always kind of struggling to be considered a fine art medium,” Mackay replied. “Today we know it to be, but it was not even throughout a lot of the 20th century.”

Adams was ahead of his time. In the new exhibition, his images are displayed alongside the works of some of the contemporary photographers he influenced, such as Abelardo Morell, who uses a camera obscura tent to capture two views simultaneously. His picture, “Tent-Camera Image on Ground: View of the Yosemite Valley from Tunnel View, Yosemite National Park, 2012,” is actually a photograph of the ground itself with the image projected onto it. 

“What’s so funny about this picture is, Ansel Adams took ‘Clearing Winter Storm’ from a parking lot,” Mackay said.

“Clearing Winter Storm” is typical of Adams’ work – nature shown as a pristine wilderness. 

Contemporary photographers, on the other hand, are more likely to include evidence of a human presence, playing up that contrast. Adams, meanwhile, is best known for the contrasts he created in the darkroom. 

When correspondent Ed Bradley visited him at home in Carmel, California for “Sunday Morning” in 1979, Adams gave a glimpse into his painstaking printmaking process:

Adams: “You see how this is burned out? I discard that.”
Bradley: “What do you do with your rejects?”
Adams: “They are destroyed. Everybody asks me, ‘Oh, don’t throw it away. Even if it isn’t good, I’d like it.’ But I can’t have bad prints out.”
Bradley: “You’re a perfectionist now?”
Adams: “Well, you have to be.”

From 1979, photographer Ansel Adams:

Ansel’s son, Michael Adams, used to accompany his father on his photographic expeditions. Today, he lives in that same Carmel home, where he’s kept the darkroom intact.

Ansel Adams was a classically-trained pianist. He referred to the photographic negative as the “score” and the print as the “performance.” Over his career, he “performed” his photos in several different ways, constantly tweaking exposures in the darkroom.

“I would have to say almost all of the ones that are well-known, there’s a fair amount of manipulation in the dark room to bring up what he wanted you to see,” said Michael. “And he would say, ‘This is not what you’re going to see when you look at this, but it’s what I want you to see.”

But as for what he wanted you to see, Adams was reluctant to get specific. Here’s what he told “Sunday Morning” three years before his death: “People say to me, ‘What did you mean with that picture? What did you have in mind?’ I said, ‘It’s in the picture.’ … If isn’t in the photograph, then I failed.”

With crowds still coming out in droves to see his photographs decades later, and with contemporary artists still riffing on his compositions, it’s clear Ansel Adams succeeded in capturing something timeless. Mackay said of Adams, “His ability to spot those images that were going to be majestic, and iconic, and really just gorgeous, is something that I think differentiates him from so many.”

     
For more info:

      
Story produced by John Goodwin. Editor: Carol Ross. 

After a decade of selling prints of his landscape photographs taken around the world, Mickey Shannon has published his first book and it’s dedicated to his home state.

“Kansas is Beautiful” is a 144-page, hardcover, 10 inch by 13 inch coffee table style book. Shannon, who grew up in Derby and now lives in Goddard, self-published the book. It retails for $64.99 and can be purchased directly from his website at mickeyshannon.com/ksbook as well as at select local bookstores and gift shops.

Another way to see his work is at Exploration Place in downtown Wichita. Museum staff invited Shannon to showcase nearly 30 of his images in their new gallery space outside the Dome Theater. The “Kansas is Beautiful” exhibition opened to coincide with the publication of the book in April and will be on display through at least the end of 2023.

Shannon is a self-taught photographer who bought his first real camera in 2007 and started to sell his prints in 2011. He operates Mickey Shannon Photography and also works in web development at Friends University.

He said he began envisioning publishing a book as early as 2015 but knew he wanted to self-publish to retain creative control of the project. That meant waiting until he could fund the printing of the initial 1,500 copies of the book, which was supported by sales of his fine art prints as well as financial assistance from a Koch Cultural Trust grant.

The book, which debuted in April of this year, features one of his best-selling images on the cover. “Monument Rocks Milky Way Panorama” was the result of at least three nighttime photo missions to Monument Rocks in western Kansas. If you look closely, you’ll see that Shannon appears in the photo under the arch of the massive chalk formation.

“That one really catches people’s attention because there’s a lot of dynamic to it,” he said. “Not only is it a panoramic of the Milky Way over Monument Rocks, but then on the right side of the photo there was a fireball that streaked across the sky. The fireball is really small in the photo because I just caught the tail. end of it. People always ask how I got the light; most think it’s a sun rise image but it’s actually the moon rising behind the Milky Way.”

Story continues

In addition to well-known Kansas landmarks like Monument Rocks and urban scenes including Wichita, Shannon also chose images from lesser-traveled locations where he captured backroads, wildflowers, waterfalls and other natural scenes. Within the book’s pages are images filling double page spreads with famous quotes as well as half-page images accompanied by stories behind how Shannon captured the photos.

Next to “The Floodgates Open,” a 2015 image taken after a heavy rainfall of a waterfall not far from Wichita, he writes: “I shot this at Santa Fe Lake, just west of Augusta. This part of Kansas holds a special place in my heart. My grandparents owned a piece of land between Andover and Augusta, just southwest of Santa Fe Lake, where I spent much of my childhood. It wasn’t until many years later on my quest to visit as many Kansas waterfalls as possible that I realized there was a waterfall at the lake.”

Another included photograph is one that he said goes viral anytime he posts it online. In the story that accompanies “Keeper of the Plains Lightning Bolt,” he writes: “The shot above taken in 2009 was one of my first award-winning images, having been a finalist in a photography contest with Smithsonian magazine. That summer was particularly stormy, so I spent a number of nights seeing what kinds of photographs I could get out there. At the time, I didn’t own a lightning trigger, so I was photographing lightning manually hoping to get lucky. One night, I did. I couldn’t have tried to frame the iconic Wichita statue within this lightning bolt any better.”

Shannon attributes his success to continuing to evolve as a photographer and applying his expertise as a web developer to his photography website, mickeyshannon.com.

Growing up in Kansas and family trips to outdoor destinations in Colorado, Oklahoma and South Dakota stoked his interest in nature. Picking up a disposable camera in his late teens, Shannon found he had an eye for composing landscape photographs. Finally in 2007, while in college at Friends University, he bought his first digital SLR camera and began reading nature photography books.

Shannon said he spent most of a 2009 trip to the Swiss and French Alps taking photos and at the end of the vacation he knew he wanted to be a professional landscape photographer. He began selling prints of his work in 2011, and the decision in 2018 to focus on fine art prints of his photographs helped grow the business. His image “Moraine Lake Sunrise Brilliance” taken in Lake Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada, put him on the map among collectors, he said. But how did they find an image of this famous lake taken by a Kansas-based photographer?

“Since I do web development in my day job, I understand how to get myself high up in Google searches,” he said. “That’s helped me build up a website that does very well on Google. If you search for Kansas photography, I’m probably the first to come up. I’m usually in the top three if you were to search Colorado photography or Hawaii photography, and that’s really helped people find me.”

The Moraine Lake image is his top seller, followed by “Golden Light in the Flint Hills,” a sunset view of green, rolling hills to the east of Tuttle Creek Lake near Manhattan.

“I took that in the summer of 2020 or 2021,” Shannon said, “and it took me a few months to even process those images because I didn’t think they were going to be that great. Once I did, I thought that one was really good and it has turned out to be one of my best-sellers. I have buyers for that one not just in Kansas, but all over the country. They might be people from Kansas who moved, I’m not sure, but it’s nice to know that people in other parts of the country also think Kansas is beautiful enough to hang my print on their wall.”

That print is one of the few limited editions within Shannon’s Kansas collection. He prefers to keep his Kansas images as open editions – meaning there is no limit to how many he’ll print and sell – to make them more accessible to anyone who wants to purchase. Open editions can be purchased in smaller sizes and cost less than a limited edition. As an example, a 24”x16” print of the limited edition “Moraine Lake Sunrise Brilliance” has only 200 prints available and starts at $350 depending on the type of media the customer chooses for the print. An open edition Keeper of the Plains image in the same size starts at $280 depending on the print type selected.

Having a number of limited editions in his portfolio has helped Shannon qualify for showing and selling his work at fine art shows including Autumn & Art, scheduled for Sept. 15-17 in Wichita. At press time, formal invites hadn’t gone out for the event but he’s attended the past two years.

Shannon’s work is on display at other regional events throughout the year and he also has book signings scheduled. See a list of those events on his website at mickeyshannon.com/event-schedule.

Meanwhile, Shannon continues to take trips and capture more images around the world that he’ll add to his website and that could end up in a book.

“I’m hoping to do more books if this one continues to sell well,” he said. “It was a really fun process.”