Tag: wildlife photography

Alaska’s Chilkat River Bald Eagle Preserve

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Our National Symbol © Debbie McCulliss

When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world. – John Muir

By Debbie McCulliss

The Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve is a world-famous, 48,000-acre area in which one of the world’s largest gatherings of bald eagles feast every fall on spawned-out chum salmon. As winter moves in, the eagles migrate into this open water reservoir in which the water temperature remains somewhat warmer than the surrounding waters. It is a place full of photographic opportunities and offers countless chances to make lifelong memories.

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Cute Raccoons Lead to Facebook Engagement

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Photo of two baby raccoon faces in a tree. © Keith Freeburn
Looks like the local raccoons had a recent litter of two little rascals. I love looking up at this nest and seeing curious little faces looking back at me. © Keith Freeburn

Interview with Keith Freeburn

Certain photos get tons of engagement on social media—likes, shares, comments. Others don’t. Why? What is it about these photographs that grabs viewers’ attention enough to comment or share? What can we learn from them? NANPA’s Facebook group has more than 20,000 members and dozens of posts each day. It’s an active community of nature photographers and people who enjoy great nature photography. This article is the first in a series in which we take a closer look at the most engaging photos from the group and see if we can tease out why they had such an impact.

Keith Freeburn posted his photo of two raccoons on September 13th and it was an immediate hit. To date, it’s garnered more than 1,300 likes, 109 comments and 191 shares. We asked Keith to tell us a little about himself and reflect on why this photo just took off.

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Weekly Wow! Week of November 23, 2020

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Showcase 2020 Top 100 Winner: “Rialto Beach Sunset, Olympic Peninsula, Washington” © Don Larkin
Showcase 2020 Top 100 Winner: “Rialto Beach Sunset, Olympic Peninsula, Washington” © Don Larkin

All of this week’s Weekly Wow! images can be seen in the slideshow on the NANPA homepage at nanpa.org.

The following Showcase images have been selected to appear on the NANPA home page for the week beginning Monday, November 16, 2020.  To view all of the top 250 photographs from NANPA’s 2020 Showcase competition, see the photo gallery on the NANPA website. The 2020 edition of Expressions contains all of the top 250 photos from the Showcase competition as well as interesting and insightful articles. Order your copy here!

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Weekly Wow! Week of November 16, 2020

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Waterfall photo. Showcase 2020 Top 100 Winner: “Mysterious Spring Dreams, Ricketts Glen State Park, Pennsylvania” © Vandana Bajikar
Showcase 2020 Top 100 Winner: “Mysterious Spring Dreams, Ricketts Glen State Park, Pennsylvania” © Vandana Bajikar

All of this week’s Weekly Wow! images can be seen in the slideshow on the NANPA homepage at nanpa.org.

The following Showcase images have been selected to appear on the NANPA home page for the week beginning Monday, November 16, 2020.  To view all of the top 250 photographs from NANPA’s 2020 Showcase competition, see the photo gallery on the NANPA website. The 2020 edition of Expressions contains all of the top 250 photos from the Showcase competition as well as interesting and insightful articles. Order your copy here!

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Young Photographers to Follow: Jacob Eckels

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Mountain Landscape © Jacob Eckels
Mountain Landscape © Jacob Eckels

Interviewed by Frank Gallagher, NANPA Blog Coordinator

Ten talented and promising young photographers were slated to enjoy—and be challenged by—an immersive field experience at the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont in Townsend, Tennessee, in July 2020, as part of NANPA Foundation’s High School Scholarship Program. Since the week-long experience was postponed due to the pandemic, we are profiling the young photographers over the next few weeks. We recently had the opportunity to catch up with Jacob Eckels.

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Weekly Wow! Week of November 9, 2020

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Showcase 2020 Top 100 Winner: “Fluke of a Mother Humpback Whale, Sea of Cortez, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico” © Matthew Meier
Showcase 2020 Top 100 Winner: “Fluke of a Mother Humpback Whale, Sea of Cortez, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico” © Matthew Meier

All of this week’s Weekly Wow! images can be seen in the slideshow on the NANPA homepage at nanpa.org.

The following Showcase images have been selected to appear on the NANPA home page for the week beginning Monday, November 9, 2020.  To view all of the top 250 photographs from NANPA’s 2020 Showcase competition, see the photo gallery on the NANPA website. The 2020 edition of Expressions contains all of the top 250 photos from the Showcase competition as well as interesting and insightful articles. Order your copy here!

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Weekly Wow! Week of November 2, 2020

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Photo of a dramatic sunset at Katmai National Park by Dennis Fast.
Showcase 2020 Top 100 Winner: “Evening Drama on the Katmai National Park Coast” © Dennis Fast Photography

All of this week’s Weekly Wow! images can be seen in the slideshow on the NANPA homepage at nanpa.org.

The following Showcase images have been selected to appear on the NANPA home page for the week beginning Monday, November 2, 2020.  To view all of the top 250 photographs from NANPA’s 2020 Showcase competition, see the photo gallery on the NANPA website. The 2020 edition of Expressions contains all of the top 250 photos from the Showcase competition as well as interesting and insightful articles. Order your copy here!

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Weekly Wow! Week of October 26, 2020

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Showcase 2020 Top 100 Winner: “Black Skimmer Makes a Dramatic Landing, Sarasota, Florida” © Peter Brannon
Showcase 2020 Top 100 Winner: “Black Skimmer Makes a Dramatic Landing, Sarasota, Florida” © Peter Brannon

All of this week’s Weekly Wow! images can be seen in the slideshow on the NANPA homepage at nanpa.org.

The following Showcase images have been selected to appear on the NANPA home page for the week beginning Monday, October 26, 2020.  To view all of the top 250 photographs from NANPA’s 2020 Showcase competition, see the photo gallery on the NANPA website. The 2020 edition of Expressions contains all of the top 250 photos from the Showcase competition as well as interesting and insightful articles. Order your copy here!

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Weekly Wow! Week of October 19, 2020

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Showcase 2020 Top 100 Winner: “Motion Blur of Trees and Bushes, Grand Marais, Minnesota” © Frieda Fast
Showcase 2020 Top 100 Winner: “Motion Blur of Trees and Bushes, Grand Marais, Minnesota” © Frieda Fast

All of this week’s Weekly Wow! images can be seen in the slideshow on the NANPA homepage at nanpa.org.

The following Showcase images have been selected to appear on the NANPA home page for the week beginning Monday, October 19, 2020.  To view all of the top 250 photographs from NANPA’s 2020 Showcase competition, see the photo gallery on the NANPA website. The 2020 edition of Expressions contains all of the top 250 photos from the Showcase competition as well as interesting and insightful articles. Order your copy here!

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Choosing an Ethical Photography Workshop

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Grey owls typically punch through the snow to capture the prey moving beneath the surface, as seen in this image. However, we often see images of great grey owls swooping down to pluck mice off the top of the snow. That is indicative of a scene captured using store-bought mice. © Daniel Dietrich
Grey owls typically punch through the snow to capture the prey moving beneath the surface, as seen in this image. However, we often see images of great grey owls swooping down to pluck mice off the top of the snow. That is indicative of a scene captured using store-bought mice. © Daniel Dietrich

By Sarah Killingsworth & Daniel Dietrich

Getting started in wildlife or nature photography can be overwhelming, with gear to select, locations to identify and scout out, and numerous new skills to learn. Many photographers look to photography workshops or guides to help them build skills or capture a “dream shot.” But how do you know if the person you’re hiring for a photo workshop is ethical? Are the shots you see on Instagram truly wild animals, not manipulated in any way? Are they taken at game farms, where animals are bred specifically for photography? Are they lured in with bait? Are they captive animals simply not disclosed as such?

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