2010 Monthly Competition Winners

Subject
Reddish Egrets

Location
Ding Darling, Sanibel Island, Florida

Description
Two reddish egrets in a territorial dispute.

Subject
Three pronghorn running.

Location
Karval, CO

Description
The first two pronghorn appear to be young males with "horns" that are short. The horn the first pronghorn may be a strange shape.

Subject
Bald Eagle

Location
Lock and Dam 14, Mississippi River, LeClair, Iowa

Description
This bald eagle is circling and spotting a fish in the Mississippi river just before it turns and swoops in to grab the fish from the water in LeClair, Iowa; Lock and Dam 14.

Subject
Grizzly Bear running with Fish

Location
Brooks River, Katmai National Park, Alaska

Description
A male grizzly bear has successfully caught a salmon and is racing from the scene to avoid sharing his feast.

Subject
Wood Duck Drake

Location
Littleton-Colorado

Description
Wood Duck Drake/early morning

Subject
Waterfalls

Location
Columbia Gorge on Oregon Side

Description
Triple Falls, on Oneonta Creek, is a set of 3 side-by-side falls located about 1.8 miles from the road on a moderate difficulty trail. The falls are about 135 feet high. They're about 2 miles east of Multnomah Falls.

Subject
Waves on a big rock

Location
Devil's Punch Bowl, Devil's Punch Bowl State Park, OR

Description
This rock is located just outside the hole that feeds the Devil's Punch Bowl. This shot was at low tide and shot from within the Devil's Punch Bowl.

Subject
Double Rainbow

Location
Eleven Mile Reservoir

Description
Taken a few minutes before a drenching thunderstorm hit

Subject
Heart of a lilly pad blosoom

Location
Pond off Federal Blvd

Description
The lilly pads were starting to bloom, but nothing real close to shore, only had my Canon P&S camera too, shooting handheld.

Subject
Fall colors near the Mormon Farm Capitol Reef National Park

Location
Capitol Reef National Park

Description
Picture was taken with a 20 second exposure at 7PM.

Location
"Out of Africa" wildlife park, Camp Verde, Arizona

Subject
Sand Tiger Shark

Location
Denver Aquarium

Description
Scuba diving with Sand Tiger in Denver aquarium.

Location
Denver Zoo

Description
An intimate moment between a mother giraffe and her calf at the Denver Zoo.

Subject
Mountain goats

Location
Mt. Evans Wilderness Area, Colorado, USA

Description
A newborn mountain goat (Oreamnos americanus) leaps to reach its mother. The young are very precocious and easily navigate the rugged tundra landscape only a short time after being born.

Subject
Southwestern Myotis (Myotis auriculus)

Location
Coronado National Forest, Arizona, USA

Description
This free-flying bat was photographed as it flew low over a water tank and took a drink. A Phototrap triggered a set of flashes when the bat broke an infrared beam at the point of focus. The image was taken on my just-completed bat photo tour.

Subject
Latourell Falls

Location
Columbia River Gorge, Oregon

Subject
Common Paintbrush

Location
Arches National Park, Utah, USA

Description
Common paintbrush (Castilleja chromosa) growing densely. The wildflower is also known as slickrock paintbrush or early paintbrush.

Subject
Mosquito Lake with Mountain Bakdrop

Location
Approx 25 miles North oh Haines Alaska

Description
We went to Mosquito Lake to photograph Tundra Swans. When we got there this is the scene we saw. This picture is a composite of 7 pictures.

Subject
Bobcat

Location
Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, Tucson, Arizona

Subject
Hypomelanistic Western Diamondback Rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox)

Location
Arizona Sonora Desert Museum, Tucson, Arizona, USA

Location
Tarangire Park, Tanzania

Subject
Plains Zebras

Location
Serengeti, Tanzania

Subject
White-crowned Sparrow

Location
Mt.Evans/Summit Lake/Colorado

Description
Found by Summit Lake in early June.

Subject
Wood Duck

Location
Pond in Littleton, CO

Description
Shooting Wood Duck behavior after sunrise with Russ

Subject
Eared Grebe

Location
Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge, Colorado, USA

Description
This Eared Grebe was diving for breakfast. I'm not sure what it came up with, but the Grebe found it a lot more appetizing than I would.

The red-eye is not from a flash and its color has not been enhanced.

Subject
Storm clouds

Location
Lakewood, CO

Subject
Curves in the Great Sand Dunes at Sunset

Location
Great Sand Dunes NP, CO

Location
Yellowstone National Park

Description
Yellowstone river taken in Hayden Valley.

Subject
Male Lion

Location
Denver Zoo

Description
He looked over at me as if to say - go away I am napping

Subject
Pika

Location
Rocky Mountain National Park

Subject
Bighorn Lambs

Location
Yellowstone N.P. near Gardiner MT.

Subject
Snowy Egret

Location
City Park, Denver

Subject
Swift fox (Vulpes velox) kit and vixen

Location
Pawnee National Grassland, Colorado

Description
Swift fox (Vulpes velox). This is a very young kit, only recently emerged from the den, interacting with the vixen, its mother.

Subject
Whipple's fishhook cactus (Sclerocactus whipplei var. roseus)

Location
Needles District, Canyonlands National Park, Utah

Description
This is a closeup image of a Whipple's fishhook cactus (Sclerocactus whipplei var. roseus). The cactus is also known as Whipple's cholla or simply fishhook cactus. It reminded me of candy with crystals of sugar inside.

Location
St. Mary Lake, Glacier National Park, Montana, USA

Description
The image was created by combining three captures by hand in Photoshop to retain detail in the bright sunlit peaks and the dark foreground.

Subject
Raindrops on lupine leaf

Location
Crested Butte, CO

Subject
Overview of Monument Valley

Location
Monument Valley, AZ

Description
Taken at sunrise from the top of Hunts Mesa overlooking the formations of Monument Valley. I made the image on one of my tours to the area each October.

Subject
Meerkat

Location
Kgalagadi Trans-Border Park, South Africa

Description
I cut the Meerkat out of the original photo, blurred the background considerably with the motion filter, then combined the layers to make it appear the animal was running a lot faster than it really was.

Subject
Digital art of a yellow-headed blackbird

Location
Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Utah

Description
I've been having fun lately with a Photoshop action that turns a pie-shaped section of an image into something you would see through a kaleidoscope. Here is an image that started its life as a yellow-headed blackbird, (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus) and got turned into some sort of strange bat-like creature. The original starting image, from which a very small pie-shaped section was taken, can be seen at http://tinyurl.com/bryhbb

Subject
Young Male Lion

Location
Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania

Location
Yellowstone National Park

Description
Observed this owl on several occasions at Phantom Lake in the northern part of the park. Got this shot one morning just as the sun came up.

Subject
Ant & grasshopper on a penstemon

Location
my backyard

Description
While trying out a new lens I focused the grasshopper. The ant crawled over the top and he and the grasshopper seemed to greet each other by touching antenna.

Subject
Two juvenile lions crossing a creek

Location
Serengeti, TZ

Subject
Lilac-breasted Roller

Location
Serengeti, Tanzania

Location
Lincoln County, Colorado, USA

Description
This photo was taken along Colorado 71 near Karval, Colorado.

Subject
Setting Moon over Red Rocks park

Location
Red Rocks Park, Morrison, CO

Description
Taken about mid morning off road through Ref Rocks Park, converted to B&W to give it more impact.

Location
Paria Wilderness, Northern Arizona

Description
One of the most scenic areas in the Southwest, The Paria Wilderness encompasses a very large area in which The Wave is the most famous spot. Requires a seven mile hike (round trip) to reach but is well worth the effort.Panorama shot.

Subject
Colorado Sunset

Location
Ken-Caryl Ranch, Jefferson County, Colorado

Description
Sunset shot from the deck of my home

Subject
Sunset

Location
Botswana Linyanti River Looking Northwest

Subject
Bear at the Denver Zoo

Location
Denver Zoo

Description
One of the Bears at the Denver Zoo lying around, he looked so relaxed and peaceful.

Subject
Buzzard at Denver Zoo

Location
Denver Zoo

Subject
Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep

Location
Denver Zoo

Subject
Rufous Hummingbird

Location
Sonoran Desert Museum, Tucson, Arizona

Description
A Rufous hummingbird is resting between feeding forays. A rufous migrates the furtherest of any hummer, traveling 2000 miles from Mexico to Alaska.

Subject
Swift Fox (Vulpes velox) kits

Location
Pawnee National Grassland, Colorado, USA

Subject
Redwing Blackbird

Location
Bosque Del Apache Natl Wildlife Refuge

Description
While photographing the snow geese at sunset at Bosque Del Apache, a redwing blackbird landed in a near by bush. It proceeded to feed on seed pods. As if by luck, one of the participants on my tour was letting me test his 500mm with my 1.7 converter. It was the combination I needed to get close enough to the bird.

Subject
Bighorn Sheep (Ovis canadensis) ram

Location
Glacier National Park, Montana, USA

Description
This guy just kept coming closer and closer and I just kept shooting and shooting. The tight framing captures enough of the ram to fully identify it, and it's definitely not a typical portrait.

Subject
Swift Fox Kits

Location
Pawnee National Grasslands, Colorado

Subject
Yellow-bellied Marmots

Location
Trail Ridge Road, Rocky Mountain National Park

Subject
same

Location
Serengeti, Tanzania

Subject
Dew drops on a spider web

Location
Yellowstone N.P.

Description
I was walking around on a foggy morning in Yellowstone when I came across this spider web covered with dew. The best shots were the very close macros showing the reverse reflection of the trees in the drops.

Subject
Red Poppy

Location
Pinewood Springs, Colorado

Subject
Mount Moran at Sunset

Location
Grand Teton National Park

Description
On a still autumn evening, the calm waters reflected a beautifully lit cloud formation. I got down to the water's edge and used my 12-24 to take in the entire scene. I took the image while on my fall tour to the Tetons and Yellowstone.

Subject
Grooming lorikeets

Location
Denver Zoo

Description
One of my favorite places in the Denver Zoo is the cage housing the lories and lorikeets. I took the image while leading a Digital Photo Academy workshop to the zoo. The enclosure is a great location to teach flash photography.

Subject
Emperor tamarin

Location
Denver Zoo, Denver, Colorado

Description
This is an emperor tamarin (Saguinus imperator), known for its long white moustache. It was taken at the Denver Zoo, in Colorado. The zoo is accredited by the AZA (American Zoo Association).

Subject
Cinnamon Teal

Location
Weld County,Colorado

Description
Drake "politely" asking for permission.

Subject
Spotted Sandpipers preparing to mate.

Location
Cherry Creek State Park, Colorado, USA

Subject
Crested Caracara

Location
Weaver Ranch in Raymondville, Texas

Subject
Great Horned Owl-juvenile

Location
Lakwood,Colorado

Description
Owlet left the den and is about learn how to fly.

Subject
Avocets Mating Ritual

Location
Belmar Lake

Description
Taken at Belmar Lake in April 2010, early morning.
400mm 1/500 f7.1 IS0400

Subject
Plains Zebras

Location
Serengeti, Tanzania

Subject
Rocky Mountains

Location
Rocky Mountain National Park

Description
Spring outing at Rocky Mountain National Park, taken from the shore line of Bear Lake.

Location
Metro Denver Area

Subject
Lupine and Mt Moran

Location
Grand Teton NP

Description
Field of lupine with Mt Moran in the background at sunrise.

Subject
Backlit Dandelions

Location
My backyard

Description
Not much to say - I had to lay on the ground to get the sun behind them.

Subject
Tree on the top of a Butte.

Location
Zion National Park

Description
This tree caught my eye as I was driving by. I must have seen too many Harry Potter movies as it looked like an evil, magical tree.

Subject
Two Cherry Blossoms with water drops

Location
My Backyard

Description
I combined the two cherry blossom and added the reflection in the water drops

Subject
Tree Swallow babies in Cottonwood Tree

Location
Northwest Elbert County

Description
I found this old cottonwood tree on the Arkansas River near Coaldale. We have a birdbox in our back yard and the Tree Swallows had several babies. The hole in the cottonwood tree had obviously been a nest for birds so I couldn't help but put the Tree Swallow babies in it.

Location
Highlands Ranch

Description
Our resident fox caught a squirrel and took it to my neighbor's yard for a meal. I got down low and shot wide open to blur out the background bushes.

Subject
Great Egret

Location
Weld County, Colorado

Subject
Broad-billed hummingbird

Location
Madera Canyon, Arizona

Description
A broad-billed hummingbird (Cynanthus latiro) in flight.

Subject
Roadrunner

Location
Bosque del Apache

Description
Roadrunner catching early morning sun along road. Posed for about 15 minutes.

Subject
Sunset and yucca

Description
Taken in White Sands Natl Mon on my tour to Bosque Del Apache and White Sands in December. It was a glorious sunset and I decided to minimize the yucca and emphasize the sky and reflected color on the dunes.

Subject
The Organ rock fin with Rough Mulesears (Wyethia scabra)

Location
Arches National Park, Utah, USA

Description
I used a Canon 24mm tilt-shift (Mk II) lens to capture this image. I used the shift motion to look up without pointing the camera up in order to avoid key stoning in the rock fin, and I used the tilt motion to align the plane of focus along the flowers and the middle of the rock fin to get everything in focus.

Subject
Prairie Wild Onion (Allium textile)

Location
near Canyonlands National Park Needles District, Utah, USA

Description
The Prairie Wild Onion were blooming in profusion in mid May. This particular plant with the spiraling stalk really grabbed me.

Subject
Pelican

Location
Mexico

Description
We were on vacation in Mexico and I went to the Gulf to photograph the sunset. There were some pelicans flying. I used one of the pelican shots in a program called Flood to create the reflection.

Subject
Coyote

Location
Yellowstone National Park

Description
We watched the coyote for quite a while as he came across a large meadow hunting.

Subject
Waterfowl

Location
Belmar Park

Description
Taken at the small pond near the parking lot at Belmar Park in Lakewood last fall.

Location
Was captured at the lake at Belmar Park in November, 2009.

Location
Ndutu Lake area of the Serengeti in Tanzania

Description
This secretary bird was on it's nest, you can see the twigs at it's feet, in the top of a tree. It ate this long snake like a piece of spaghetti!

Subject
Fox Kit

Location
Prospect Park

Description
Fox kit hiding in the tall grass waiting for its mother to return.

Location
Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico

Description
Fall image of a Clark's Grebe after diving for dinner.

Subject
Sunset during a wind storm in White Sands NM

Location
White Sands NM, New Mexico

Description
On our last night in White Sands with Russ, we experienced a glorious sunset with 60mph winds right into our faces.

Subject
Latourell Falls

Location
Columbia River Gorge, Oregon

Description
One of a series of waterfalls in the Columbia River Gorge east of Portland, Oregon

Subject
Sunrise

Location
Lake Dillon, Summit County, Colorado

Description
Sunrise with clouds over lake

Subject
Snow storm in the valley near Dillon

Location
I-70 just west of Eisenhower Tunnel

Description
In mid February we were coming home from visiting the Colorado National Monument. There was a lot of traffic so as we were just sitting there waiting I looked back over my shoulder and saw this spectacular site.

Subject
American Kestral

Location
Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum

Description
While leaving the park a handler had the Kestral on display for park guest to view.

Subject
Masai Cattle Calf

Location
Safari West Wildlife Preserve, Santa Rosa, California

Subject
Two Captive Cheetahs

Location
Safari West Wildlife Preserve, Santa Rosa, California

Subject
White Tiger

Location
Singapore Zoo

Description
White tiger about to receive chicken dinner.

Subject
African Lions

Location
Serengeti, Tanzania

Subject
American Avocet

Location
Belmar Park, Lakewood, Colorado

Description
As many members know, Belmar Park can be a great place to photograph American Avocet in the spring. Early morning is definitely best because of the contrasting black and white. I am always hoping for reflections of the Avocets but an added bonus in this image for me is the water drop on the end of its bill.

Location
Bandon, Oregon

Description
On an overcast day while leading my photo tour to Oregon, we stopped to photograph some white crowned sparrows that were busy eating and gathering nesting material.

Subject
Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia)

Location
Salton Sea, California, USA

Location
Grand Teton National Park

Description
While leading my photo tour to Grand Teton National Park in the autumn, we were treated to a magnificent sunrise at one of my favorite locations in the country.

Location
Tuscon, AZ

Location
Joshua Tree National Park, California, USA

Description
Taken at dawn. One RAW file was processed twice to bring out the detail in the sky and the foreground and then combined by hand in Photoshop.

Location
Rocky Mtn Raptor Assoc.

Location
Denver Zoo

Description
I used a long lens to photograph the big horn ram at the Denver Zoo in late afternoon light.

Subject
Desert Bighorn Sheep (Ovis canadensis nelsoni)

Location
Arizona Sonora Desert Museum, Tucson, Arizona, USA

Description
This desert bighorn sheep ram was demonstrating the flehmen response while keenly following the ewes in their enclosure.

Subject
Bald Eagles

Location
Kachemak Bay, Alaska

Subject
Bald Eagle with Fish

Location
Lock and Dam 14, Mississippi river, LeClair, Iowa

Description
"Fresh Fish Fast Food" - A bald eagle grabs a shad fish for its fast food lunch from the waters of the Mississippi in LeClair, Iowa at Lock and Dam 14.

Subject
Gentoo penguin & chick on Saunder's Island

Location
Falklands Islands

Description
Gentoo penguin chick just hatched.

Location
Audubon Nature Center, Chatfield State Park, Colorado, USA

Subject
Sandhill Crane

Location
Bosque Del Apache, NM

Description
Taken at the farm where bunches of Cranes and Geese were feeding early morning.

Subject
Bull Elk and cow during the rut

Location
Rocky Mountain NP

Subject
Tornado

Location
Lemon Gulch, Parker, CO

Description
Shot taken from my back deck, quite a sight to see fortunately the tornado stayed right in that area for about 20 minutes and did very little damage. I am especially thankful it never headed our way. To get a sense of the size you can see small houses near the base all of which survived.

Subject
White Sands Yucca

Location
White Sands NM

Subject
Pine Tree in the Mist

Location
Madison River, Yellowstone National Park

Description
We passed this on the way to shoot a gorgeous sunrise. It didn't happen, so we went back to take pictures on trees in the early morning mist.

Location
Yellowstone National Park

Description
Bridge near Lewis Falls

Subject
Ducks heading back to nature

Location
Parker, CO

Description
Just having a little fun, my mother in-law saw some photos done in a similar style so I gave it a try. I think it kind of a fun image.

Subject
Wild Iris Texture Craqulure

Location
Near North Lake just north of Stonewall, CO

Description
This wild iris was taken in early June 2009 near North Lake just north of Stonewall, CO. It was edited in Photoshop Elements with the effect of Texture Craqulure.

Subject
Ring-billed gull

Location
Kountze Lake, Belmar, Lakewood

Description
Learning to capture birds on the wing is a real challenge.
Removing the Canada goose directly behind the gull and using the colored pencil effect turned this into a usable photo.

Subject
Male Snowy Owl

Location
El Paso County, Colorado

Description
This 2-year-old male Snowy Owl spent almost 2 months in a prairie neighborhood east of Colorado Springs. Snowy Owls are extremely rare in Colorado - the last recorded sighting of one in El Paso County was in 1937!

Subject
King Penguin and Chick

Location
Falkland Islands

Description
King Penguin chicks get huge before their first moult, so they still depend on both parents for food. These parents must be good providers.

Subject
Killdeer

Location
Thornton, Colorado

Subject
King Penguins

Location
Rocky Mountain National Park

Description
Taken in July, Midday, slight overcast

Description
Sunrise at garden of the gods

Subject
Grand Teton National Park

Subject
Serval (Felis serval)

Location
Masai Mara, Kenya, Africa

Description
A young serval (Felis serval) atop a termite mound. Taken in the Masai Mara region of Kenya, Africa. I cloned out some extraneous foliage, rocks, and a spider web, then applied a sketch and watercolor effect.

Subject
Blue Footed Booby

Location
Galapagos

Description
Blue Footed Booby tucking blue bill under wing.
Digitally enhanced by using edge finding filter.

Subject
Sandhill Cranes

Location
Bosque del Apache, MN

Subject
Steamer Duck

Location
Falkland Islands

Description
Steamer Duck Itching Face on Carcass Island Beach

Subject
Great Egret with Chicks

Location
St. Augustine, FL

Subject
Latourell Falls

Location
Columbia Gorge, OR

Subject
Sunrise on Mono Lake

Location
Mono Lake, CA

Subject
Vegetation

Location
Gothic Valley

Description
After photographing sunrise light on a peak in Gothic Valley, I found this collection of leaves with dead skunk cabbage soaked in morning frost on my way back to the campground. I snapped a few pictures before the sun came over the horizon and created a harsh contrast seen.

Subject
Seed pods of Mountain Mahagomy backlit

Location
Castlewood Canyon State Park near Franktown, Colorado

Description
In October we were hiking the East Canyon Trail. The seed pods were almost sparkling against the light. I used ISO 100, f13, 1/25 sec. and cropped the photo very tight to eliminate background.

Location
Denver Zoo

Subject
Polar Bears just hanging out

Location
Denver Zoo

Subject
Big Brown Bear profile

Location
Denver Zoo

Subject
Polar bear Mom & cub of the year

Location
Outside Churchill, Canada

Subject
Wood Duck Drake

Location
Littleton, Colorado

Subject
Hummingbird at flower

Location
Pima County, Arizona

Subject
Red-breasted Merganser Drake

Location
Prospect Park, Wheat Ridge, CO

Location
Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska, USA

Description
Denali at sunrise in the fall of 2009.

Subject
Mount Moran Alpenglow

Location
Grand Teton National Park

Location
white Sands, NM

Location
Bryce Canyon National Park

Subject
Orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus)

Location
Rio Grande Zoo, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

Description
Mother orangutan kisses her 15-month-old baby

Subject
Male American Kestrel, Falco sparverius

Location
Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, Tucson, Arizona

Description
The museum docents brought out this male kestrel on each of several days. On this day I was glad to be able to photograph the bird in the very even shade of a tree. I thought the colors of the kestrel worked well with the adobe wall, which served as the background.