2012 Monthly Competition Winners

Location
Yellowstone Nationla Park

Subject
Cheetah Pair

Location
Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

Description
After a rushed breakfast we hurried to an area known for it's large cat sightings and were not disappointed. All things came together as a pair of cheetah brothers hunted in the early morning light.

Subject
Costal Brown Bears

Location
Lake Clark NP, Alaska

Subject
Roseate Spoonbill

Location
Ding Darlings Sanibel Island FL

Description
Mating season

Subject
A coalition of 3 cheetah brothers running across the Masai Mara

Location
Masai Mara, Kenya

Subject
Giraffe (Maasai)

Location
Arusha National Park, Tanzania

Location
Yellowstone National Park

Subject
Aguille du Midi

Location
Chamonix, France

Description
This mountain view is from the top of the French Alps during a holiday/vacation this past August.

Location
Mesa Arch, Canyonlands NP

Location
Canyonlands National Park

Subject
Great light with storm clouds Owl Creek Pass

Location
Owl Creek Pass Ridgway, Co

Description
It was an overcast day when all of a sudden the Sun Came out to Light Owl creek pass with storm clouds still in dark.

Subject
Sunrise at Mallard Pond

Location
St. Vrain State Park

Description
This image was taken in mid-October. The color change was dramatic as the sun came up.

Subject
Harris's Hawk

Location
Beer Creek Lake Park

Description
Raptor shoot by Evergreen Photo club with Hawkquest

Location
Bear Creak Park

Description
Captive Owl provided by Hawkcrest

Subject
Harris Hawk in Flight

Location
Bear Creek Lake State Park, Morrison, Colorado

Description
"Winged Warrior" - A Harris Hawk with wings in a full power sweep angles in for a landing. Raptor shoot, HawkQuest, Bear Creek Lake State Park, Morrison, CO

Subject
Artic Fox

Location
Denver Zoo; Denver, Colorado

Description
On a recent Russ Burden photo workshop, an Artic Fox attempted to rest while being observed. I was drawn to the single fall leaf, which matched the eye of the fox.

Location
Egret Rookry in Denver

Subject
Burrowing Owlet

Location
Near Greeley Colorado

Description
Getting these owlets to turn their heads is no easy task but boy are they funny when they do.

Subject
Wood Duck

Location
Littleton, CO

Description
Morning at Sterne Park

Subject
Wigdeon in Flight

Location
Socorro, NM

Description
Taken during my December tour to Bosque Del Apache NWR

Subject
Polar bears

Location
Churchhill Manitoba, Canada

Subject
Clouds and mushroom rocks

Location
Outside Page, AZ

Description
Taken at the toadstool area outside Page, Arizona during my April tour to Monument Valley and the Slot Canyons

Subject
Moon over Aspen Trees

Location
Wilson Mesa, Telluride, CO

Description
A 30 second exposure of an aspen covered hillside illuminated by moonlight and twilight.

Location
Goblin Valley State Park, Utah, USA

Description
The hoodoos in Goblin Valley State Park are called goblins.

Subject
Sunrise with trees

Location
Near Crawford Nebraska

Description
There was lots of dust in air, lit up sky

Subject
Northern Goshawk

Location
Hygiene, CO

Description
A trained northern goshawk flying off a perch in the snow

Subject
peacock displaying

Location
Denver Zoo

Description
Taken in the Denver Zoo while teaching a Digital Photo Academy zoo workshop.

Subject
Bighorn Rams

Location
Near Georgetown, Colorado

Subject
Swift Fox Kits at play

Location
Karval. Colorado

Description
Two of eight swift fox kits at play

Description
BROADTAIL HUMMING BIRD

Subject
Black Bear

Location
Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

Subject
Atlantic Puffin

Location
Iceland

Description
Puffin gathering nesting material.

Subject
Lion Cubs

Location
Ndutu Tanzania

Description
The 3, 2 month old cubs were left with their 6 month old cousin while mum went hunting. We watched, with pleasure, this large pride for several days.

Subject
Spider

Location
Ardmore NE

Description
This very large spider had taken up residence in the doorway of an old abandon house.

Subject
Dawn over Powder River and Hoar Frost in Trees

Location
Powder River northwest of Baker City, Oregon

Subject
Array of Columbines at Sunset

Location
Mayflower Gulch Colorado

Description
Columbines at Peak at Sunset in the High Country

Subject
fall colors

Location
Dallas Divide, Colorado

Description
The clouds and blue sky gave the light on the mountains (except of course the few peaks with direct sun). That gave the unusual light. The direction of light for the trees was the soft backlight from the orange clouds. This was the last week of September, 2007 after a gentle snow storm deposited snow on the mountains without blowing the leaves off the trees. The mountain near the left edge of the frame is Mt Sneffels. This is a 15-frame split density High Dynamic Range (HDR) mosaic.

Subject
Hanging Lake and Waterfall

Location
North of Interstate 70 and East of Glenwood Springs

Subject
Fall colors with fresh snow in the Sneffels Range

Location
Dallas Divide, Ridgway, Colorado

Description
Sunset on the Sneffels Range with Fresh snow, Fall colors and no Wind

Subject
Sunrise

Location
Doha Qatar

Description
I go to the Corniche often to capture the sunrise. This island on the horizon used to have many palm trees. All but one was removed so competitive volleyball could be played here during the Asian Games in 2005. I threw a rock in the sun stream to create the ripple.

Subject
Lions and stars

Location
Serengeti

Description
It was well before sunrise and we were passing through a burn area and saw these two male lions. I photographed the lions with a 1/40 second exposure with a 24 mm lens at f/1.4 and ISO 3200. I photographed the night sky later with the same 24 mm lens, at f/2, iso 1600 and a 30 second exposure making a two frame mosaic, then combined the two images.

Subject
Composit of several images

Location
N/A

Description
I made up this composition from several layers of images, of the butterfly and various flower shots.

Subject
Lion cubs

Location
Ndutu Tanzania

Description
Using an artistic filter in PSE10, I enhanced the texture of these cubs at play. This style appeals to me for children's books or note cards.

Subject
Bull elk wrestle

Location
Outside Estes Park, CO

Description
Two bull elk play wrestle after the rutt

Subject
Wild burro (Equus africanus asinus) jenny and foal

Location
Custer State Park, South Dakota, USA.

Description
This may look like a maternal moment. In actuality the jenny was just about to tug sharply on the little one's ear to get it to stand up after a lengthy rest.

Location
Mt. Evans, Colorado, USA

Description
These two young yellow-bellied marmots spent a lot of time play-sparring on the morning I spent with them.

Subject
A Coyote

Location
Custer State Park

Description
This Coyote was chasing another and they were both running as fast as they could.

Subject
Sunlight streaming through smoke

Location
Grand Teton National Park

Description
Smoke made the tetons hazy, but a spot of sunlight streamed through one area making a neat effect.

Subject
Water droplets on aspen leaves

Location
Near Telluride, CO

Description
Macro image using four extension tubes on a standard lens.

Subject
Cheetah

Location
Serengeti, Tanzania

Description
I used a Topaz program and Color Blast

Subject
Bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) rams

Location
Clear Creek County, Colorado, USA

Description
Two rams collide as they battle for mating rights with the females of the herd. They did this over and over again right in front of us.

Subject
Ornate Hawk-Eagle

Location
Vernal, Utah

Description
This is a falconer's bird that I photographed at the National Falconry meet in Utah last Thanksgiving. I used the sponge filter.

Subject
Wildebeest crossing the Mara River

Location
Tanzania

Description
Wildebeest jump into the Mara river in Tanzania, northern Serengeti, in their annual migration to greener pastures. We were very fortunate to watch this mass crossing of the river with over a 1,000 animals. The three of us (guide +2 photographers) were the only ones there and in a perfect position. All the wildebeest who tried made it as no crocodiles showed up.
August, 2012.

Location
Our backyard, Denver, Colorado, USA

Subject
African Lioness with Cub

Location
Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

Description
Testing the limits of its Mother's love, a mini "Lion King" refuses to be ignored!

Subject
Mountain Goat kids

Location
Mt. Evans

Description
Three mountain goat kids sky lined in the early morning light.

Subject
Least Chipmunk

Location
Mt. Evans

Description
This chipmunk posed for me near the upper Mt. Goliath Nature Trailhead on Mt Evans.

Location
Denver, CO

Location
Chatfield State Park, Colorado, USA

Subject
Nellie Creek Falls, Colorado

Location
Colorado

Description
A beautiful double waterfall in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado is surrounded by beautiful Aspens displaying their fall colors. rain enhanced the colors. 4x5 Fuji velvia transparency.

Subject
Grand Tetons reflected in beaver pond.

Location
Grand Teton National Park

Description
Sunrise in Grand Teton National Park

Description
5-layer merge, Fluid Mask 3, background blur using CS6 'Field Blur' (19%), Resize and Sharpen for Web (NPN) reset to MHWPC #'s.

Subject
Glacier Bay in early morning

Location
Glacier Bay, Alaska

Description
The clouds were heavy on this day and restricted the morning light. This was complemented by the air being cooler than the water creating layers of fog.

Location
Windy Ridge above Alma, CO

Subject
Porcupine

Location
Animals of Montana

Subject
Butterflies on Coneflower

Location
Butterfly pavilion in Kentucky

Location
Denver Zoo

Description
Processed using NIK Silver Efex Pro.

Subject
Marmot

Location
Mt Evans, CO August 2012

Subject
Rufous Hummingbird

Location
Buena Vista, CO

Description
A male rufous hummingbird photographed in evening light at our backyard feeder.

Subject
Snowy egret

Location
Fort Myers, FL

Description
Snowy egret in early light at point of take off. Fort Myers, FL while on my BIrds of Florida tour.

Subject
Rufous Hummingbird-female

Location
Evergreen ,Colorado

Subject
Burrowing Owl

Location
Weld County, Colorado

Subject
Yuccas at sunset in White Sands

Location
White Sands National Monument

Description
White Sands National Monument at sunset.

Subject
Rain

Location
Serengeti, Tanzania

Subject
Grizzly Bear

Location
Denver Zoo

Subject
Plains Zebra

Location
Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

Subject
Black Crowned Night Heron

Location
"Ding" Darling National Wildlife ReFuge, Florida

Description
Heron was fishing, the only light was from the front with little light reaching background.

Subject
Mountain Goats - Nanny and Kid

Location
Mt Evans, Idaho Springs, Colorado

Description
A one week old baby mountain goat (kid) gets an affectionate kiss and nuzzle from mother mountain goat (nanny)

Location
Chatfield State Park, Colorado, USA

Location
Iceland

Subject
Reeds near a local pond

Location
Freedom Park, Edwards, CO

Description
I wanted to catch the first rays of light as they shown down on the reeds at the reflecting pond at Freedom Park in Edwards, CO. I also want to get there before the wind picked up (as it always does) to catch the pond when it was smooth

Subject
Sunrise at Muddy Pass Lake

Location
CO SH 40 & 14

Description
Muddy Pass Lake is on CO SH 40 just north of the turnoff for CO SH 14 to Walden. Steve said, "This is going to be a fishing trip." I said, "Yes!" I get some of my best shots when we go fishing. After catching the sunrise we headed into Steamboat Springs for breakfast. It was a perfect morning.

Subject
A wind blown bristlecone pine.

Location
Windy Ridge above Alma, CO

Subject
Night sky

Location
Colorado Highway 103 near Echo Lake

Description
15 second exposures with 24 mm f/1.4 lens at f/2, iso1600 on stationary tripod, 6-frame mosaic, crop of lower half.

Subject
Rainbow

Location
Beartooth All American Road Montana

Description
Light Beams and Rainbow photographed from the top of Beartooth Pass during an early morning rain.

Subject
Garden of the Gods and night sky

Location
Garden of the Gods, Colorado

Description
4x5 image of the Gods in late afternoon light on Fujichrome Velvia ISO 50 combined with a 15 second exposure of the constellation Cygnus make at ISO 1600, 24 mm lens at f/2.

Subject
Prickly Pear Cactus Flower

Location
Tuscon, Arizona

Description
With the use of the saturation tool, I enhance the beautiful colors of this spring cactus flower.

Description
Flower was Cloned in

Subject
Swainson's Hawk

Location
Pawnee Grasslands

Description
Captured this shot as this adult was hunting grasshoppers in a field.

Subject
Swift fox (Vulpes velox) vixen and kit

Location
Pawnee National Grassland, Colorado

Description
The kit nuzzled up against its mother, in an interaction that can only be described as adoring.

Subject
Mtn Goats

Location
Mt Evans June 2012

Location
Mt. Evans, Colorado, USA

Description
I made this image in late June. Rim lighting on mountain goats can be quite nice, especially with a dark background.

Location
San Juan National Forest, Colorado, USA

Description
I made this image in mid July in the high country near Silverton. I set up by these Sulphur Paintbrush to capture the pre-sunrise color on the clouds and used my 17mm Tilt/Shift lens to capture a large number of paintbrush and the tarns. The tilt motion let me have the paintbrush in the foreground and the mountains in the distance in focus. I kept the same composition for the actual sunrise, and as soon as the paintbrush started to glow at first light, I knew I had a winner. The image was created by combining seven exposures by hand in Photoshop to balance the bright sun and dark midground.

Subject
Redfish Lake and the Sawtooth Range

Location
Sawtooth National Recreation Area, Idaho

Subject
Yucca

Location
White Sand National Monument, New Mexico

Subject
Peacock

Location
Denver Zoo

Description
color adjustments in photoshop

Subject
Moose and Squirrel

Location
RMNP and Arapahoe NWR

Description
Two shots combined to make my favorite cartoon characters.

Subject
Male Mountain Bluebird

Location
Castle Rock, Co

Subject
Roseate Spoonbill

Location
Southwest Florida

Subject
Grizzly Cubs

Location
Yellowstone National Park

Subject
North American Kestrel

Location
Arapahoe County, Colorado

Description
On a very cold winter's morning, hours of observation rewarded me with a close shot of a male Kestrel on the hunt.
He briefly glanced in my direction as if to say "What's Up"

Subject
White-faced Ibis

Location
Myakka River State Park, Florida

Description
White-faced ibis searches for food just before sunset.

Location
Aurora, CO

Subject
GREAT GREY OWL

Location
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, U.S.A.

Subject
Wildflowers with a Wild Sunset

Location
Shrine Pass Trail- Vail, Colorado

Description
The monsoon season produced this Wild sunset with an array of wildflowers

Subject
Lightening east of the Badlands, SD

Location
Kadoka, SD

Description
We went to South Dakota to photograph the Badlands. At the visitor's center they told us of a location that had "mini badlands" that were not so heavily photographed. As we were waiting for a sunset a strong thunderstorm rolled in. Thankfully, we missed 1 1/2 inch hail and got some fantastic shots of the lightening.

Subject
Columbine

Location
Crested Butte, Colorado

Subject
Pawnee Buttes at Sunrise

Location
Pawnee Buttes National Grasslands

Description
Taken this spring at Pawnee Buttes

Subject
Sunrise

Location
Tarangire National Park, Tanzania

Subject
Mother and cub lions

Location
Denver zoo

Description
A young cub snuggles up to Mom at the Denver zoo. Image from 2003.

Subject
Bear

Location
Denver Zoo

Location
Animals of Montana, Bozeman MT

Subject
A young Burrowing Owl on a Mullein

Location
Near Greeley Colorado

Description
Taken about 15 minutes after sunrise.

Subject
Impala

Location
Tarangire, Tanzania

Subject
American Kestrel

Location
Adams County, Colorado

Description
While out looking for raptors to photograph last winter, we found this great perch which was perfect for this hunting American Kestrel. She did not take long at all to land on it.

Subject
Spinecheek Anemonefish

Location
Indonesia

Description
Spinecheek Anemonefish in Anemone[the fish is immune to the Anemone poison and it adopted as a protected area to hide from predators]

Subject
Young Burrowing Owl about a week after fledging

Location
Near Greeley Colorado

Description
A young burrowing owl coming into the den after flying around the field for a while.

Subject
Aurora Borealis

Location
Fairbanks, AK

Description
Fantastic 5 nights in a row with the aurora.

Subject
Sand Dunes and Clouds

Location
Death Valley, CA

Description
Dunes, shadows and clouds in mid-afternoon light are nice in color but much more dramatic in black and white.

Subject
Colorado Blue Columbine

Location
Buena Vista, CO

Description
Close up of a columbine flower in the woods near our home.

Subject
Crowned Crane

Location
Denver Zoo

Subject
Wild Horses

Location
Hot Springs, South Dakota

Description
Barbara Fleming and I stayed on an extra day after our wild horse trip with Charlie Summers in May and we treated to our own private tour by Susan, the Manager of the Wild Horse Sanctuary. Just before sunset, we spotted this herd galloping along a ridge and we were able to drive to a spot to view them just as they crossed the river. It was awesome!

Subject
A hybrid falcon on the chase

Location
United Arab Emirates

Description
A hybrid falcon flown at a lure at the Falconry Festival near Dubai, UAE

Location
Rocking 7K Ranch, Granada, Colorado

Subject
Osprey with Rainbow Trout

Location
Silverthorne, Colorado

Description
A rainbow trout meets an untimely end as it is fished out of a local stream and delivered to the Osprey nest for a trout diner for two.

Location
Denver, Colorado

Subject
Western Seagull Portrait

Location
Tiburon Peninsula in San Francisco Bay, California

Description
The Seagull's feathers were lifted by a strong wind, while perched on a deck overlooking San Francisco Bay.

Subject
A male impala watching us from the ridgeline

Location
Masai Mara, Kenya

Subject
Two oxpeckers on the back of a zebra

Location
Masai Mara, Kenya

Subject
Black-shouldered Kite

Location
Ndutu Tanzania Africa

Subject
Sunset over the Pacific Ocean

Location
Soberanes Point, Garrapata State Park, California

Description
Sunset at Soberanes Point in Garrapata State Park, along the California Hwy 1 coastline.

Subject
Wildflowers on the Grand Mesa

Location
Grand Mesa National Forest, Colorado

Location
Jokulsarlon, Iceland

Description
Took a tour on a zodiac of "glacier bay"

Subject
West Mitten - Monument Valley - After Thunderstorm

Location
Monument Valley, Arizona, USA

Description
A thunderstorm had just passed through Monument Valley. As the sun neared the western horizon, a shaft of light illuminated the West Mitten, as well as the clouds. Other monuments in the background remained in shade.

Subject
Summer runoff from multiple graciers

Location
Mount Cook National Park

Description
Photo taken from small aircraft.

Subject
Galaxy over the Tetons

Location
Tetons N. Park and deep Space

Description
The Andromeda galaxy photographed with a 500 mm lens, 20 minute exposure merged with a 4x5 image of the Tetons.

Subject
Bird in Tree

Description
The image is composed from a bird photo and a photo of a tree taken in Roxborough State Park then the Oil Painting filter in Photoshop was added and I kind of like the effect.

Subject
Elephant silhouette

Location
Masai Mara, Kenya

Description
1. Slight noise reduction
2. Cooler white balance
3. Increased bluish tint almost to max
4. Increased luminance significantly
5. Reduced chromatic aberration

Subject
Deer jumping the cottonwood

Location
Parker CO

Description
I captured some most amazing images of the deer jumping the fence but since The Mile High Wildlife Photography Club does not allow the hand of man in image competition I had to find a different way to use them. I drove to 6th Avenue across from Buckley Airforce Base specifically looking for a fallen cottonwood tree that might work with the deer jumping the fence. I copied the deer from the first image and pasted it over the cottonwood tree. I then processed the image in Nik Silver Efex Pro using the Antique Plate II. The image was still a little muted for my taste so I enhanced the brightness/contrast in Photoshop Elements.

Subject
Swift Fox (Vulpes velox)

Location
Pawnee National Grassland, Colorado, USA

Description
The vixen with three of her four kits. It was the first time more than one kit was out of the den this year, and they posed nicely.

Location
Near Oxbow Bend

Description
Mama Grizzly running through snow

Subject
Olive Baboon

Location
Lake Manyara National Park, Tanzania

Subject
Burrowing Owl

Location
Near Last Chance, Colorado

Description
A male burrowing owl in flight

Subject
American Kestrels

Location
Near Windsor, Colorado

Description
Three fledgling female American Kestrels sitting on a branch.

Description
Overnight water froze on this pine tree creating a frozen scene

Subject
Grand Tetons in Fall

Location
Grand Teton National Park

Description
It was the last day of my 2011 fall Teton and Yellowstone tour and the clouds and weather didn't disappoint.

Subject
Boulder Falls

Location
Boulder, Colorado

Location
Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada, USA

Description
I hiked out to the Fire Wave alone several evenings for sunset, sometimes having the whole place to myself. On the last evening there, the sunset colors and this composition appealed most. Taken at Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada, USA.

Subject
Tiger lily (Lilium columbianum), a wildflower

Location
Near Solomon Lake, Kaniksu National Forest, Idaho, USA

Description
To accomplish the artsy effect, I used the Open Source plugin called G-MIC within another Open Source program called GIMP. Then I brought the image into Photoshop for adjustments to saturation.

Subject
Royal Terns Courting

Location
West Coast, FL

Description
Royal terns courting. Notice his raised left foot. In the next frame, he is on top of her.

Subject
Bald Eagle on rock wall

Location
China Poot Bay, Alaska

Subject
Wandering Albatross

Location
Kaikoura, South Island, New Zealand

Subject
Great Blue Heron

Location
Florida

Description
A great blue heron in flight in the early morning, in Florida.

Location
Douglas County, CO

Description
Common House Finch in Crabapple Blossoms

Subject
Baby gorilla

Location
Rwanda

Subject
Coyote

Location
Yellowstone NP

Subject
Night sky and arch

Location
Canyonlands National Park, Utah

Description
Mesa Arch in Canyonlands National Park is a very popular site for sunrise. This image was made well before sunrise in deep twilight. The Milky Way galaxy parallels the arch and at lower left above the arch is the Andromeda Galaxy (M31), also elongated horizontally. Just above the Milky Way is the constellation Lyra. This is an 11 frame mosaic.

Subject
Braided river flow from glaciers in Mt. Cook NP

Location
New Zealand

Subject
Pawnee Buttes

Location
Near New Raymer, CO

Description
These two buttes rise up in the middle of the wide open prairie.

Subject
Waterfall

Location
Near Punakaiki, South Island, New Zealand

Subject
Clouds at sunset

Location
Parker, CO

Subject
Great Horned Owl

Location
Arizona Sonora Desert Museum, Tucson, Arizona

Description
The Arizona Sonora Desert Museum conducts predator free flights. In these sessions trained predators respond to the commands of their handlers. No teathers are used. This beautiful great horned owl swooped in silence just a few feet over my head and landed on a cactus stalk 12 meters from where I was standing. In between heart palpitations and rapid breathing, I was able to remember to take this picture.

Location
Ranch near Lakewood, CO

Subject
Yellow-bellied Marmot

Location
Trail Ridge Road, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

Subject
Dragon fly

Location
Hudson Gardens

Description
70-200 at f16 to get the depth of field I wanted in the wings and body. The background was far enough away to still be thrown out of focus.

Subject
Young bear with salmon

Location
Lake Clark NP, Alaska

Subject
Chapman's Zebra (Equus burchelli antiquorum)

Location
Addo Elephant National Park, South Africa

Description
These two zebra were aligned perfectly on the horizon. Who says you should avoid mergers?

Subject
Black-backed Jackal

Location
Tarangire National Park, Tanzania

Description
Black-backed Jackal prepares to drink from a rainwater puddle.

Location
Glacier National Park, Montana, USA

Description
Triple Falls, which spills into Reynolds Creek. That is snow up above the falls, still there in August. The previous winter had been a particularly snowy one.

Subject
Yuccas at dawn in White Sands

Location
White Sands National Monument

Description
We arrived in White Sands the morning of a fresh snow so there were no tracks and were bestowed a gorgeous morning alpen glow.

Subject
Wood lily (Lilium philadelphicum)

Location
Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta, Canada

Description
Just the inner portion of the wildflower, using extension tubes on a macro lens to get very close.

Subject
Pair of African Moon Moth

Location
Butterfly Pavilion Westminster Colorado

Subject
Artic Fox

Location
Denver Zoo

Location
Bosque Del Apache, NM

Subject
Lioness and Lion Cub

Location
Masai Mara Game Reserve, Kenya

Description
A lion cub stretches his chin up to nuzzle against his mama - Masai Mara Game Reserve, Kenya.

Subject
Fischer's Lovevird

Location
NDUTU

Description
I took this image in Tanzania at NDUTU Safari Lodge. These birds are very colorful and playful. The color is what attracted me to this bird.

Subject
Spotted Towhee

Location
Roxborough State Park, Littleton, Colorado

Description
Male is belting out a call for a mate. Best seen before leaves sprout on the scrub oak. Taken March 30, 2012. Used Nikon D7000 with 70-300mm lens, ISO 800, 1/1250 sec at f10. Post-processed primarily in Lightroom 3.6, with slight adjustment and output using Photoshop CS-5.

Subject
Snowy Owl

Location
El Paso County, Colorado

Description
Just as an early winter's morning fog lifted from the frozen prairie, a Snowy Owl took flight.

Subject
Female Wigeon in spring plumage

Location
Ketring Park, Littleton, CO

Subject
Eagles

Location
Homer, Alaska

Description
Two Bald Eagles fighting over a piece of fish.

Subject
Scenic

Location
Blue Cypress Boat Launch, FL

Description
Near Blue Cypress Lake

Subject
Star Trails and Acacia trees

Location
Southern Serengeti

Description
14 minute exposure, 28mm lens at f/3.5.

Location
Misty Fjords National Monument in Alaska

Description
New Eddystone Rock is located in the Behm Canal of Misty Fjords. The massive, 200 foot high basalt rock is a volcanic plug created eons ago.

Subject
Sunset

Location
Amboselli N.P.

Description
Typical sunset on our Kenya trip

Subject
Reflected Sunrise

Location
Good Harbor Beach, Gloucester, Massachusetts

Description
The Little Good Harbor river winds its way to the ocean past Good Harbor beach at sunrise in Gloucester, Massachusetts.

Subject
Prickly Pear Cactus

Location
Pima County, Arizona

Description
Increasing the saturation and using a mask tool to darken the background, I enhanced the beautiful color of this textured succulent.

Subject
Cheetah

Location
Samburu National Reserve

Description
A cheetah will stalk to within 50-60 yards of its prey before dashing to speeds of up to 70 mph in the subsequent chase.
Using Photoshop: Dodge background, Burn spots, Levels to increase contrast.

Subject
House Finch

Location
Northwest Elbert County

Description
This male house finch was beautiful looking over his shoulder on the pine branch. Special effects added include frames with bevel and shadow treatments.

Subject
Sage Grouse Hen

Location
Walden, CO

Description
A female sage grouse coming into the lek.

Subject
Snow Geese

Location
Bosque del Apache

Description
Three Snow Geese prepare for landing.

Subject
preening flamingo

Location
Riviera Maya, Mexico

Description
During a family vacation, I went to the area of the resort where the flamingos come in to feed. It was a soft light day and I concentrated on this particular bird that started preening.

Subject
male mallard stretching

Location
Ketring Lake

Description
During the fires this past early summer, I was able to extend my normal photographing time as the haze from the smoke diffused the light and provided a nice warm tone. The mallard perched on a log and began preening which is often followed by a good wing stretch.

Location
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA.

Description
A coyote (Canis latrans) jumps as it hunts for rodents under the surface of the snow.

Subject
Tropical Reef

Location
Halmahera Island,Indonesia

Description
Photo taken with wide angle fisheye lens

Location
San Juan Mountains, Colorado, USA

Description
I made this image in the morning with the light hitting the tree and snow. The rather dark clouds behind the aspens really makes them stand out.

Subject
Crashing surf at sunset.

Location
Montana de Oro State Park, CA

Subject
Northern lights

Location
outside Fairbanks

Description
Hit the aurora display perfectly this year--5 nights in a row with lights galore.

Subject
West Thumb, Yellowstone

Location
Yellowstone

Description
I used Topaz - Simplify - Oil Painting. I added the reflection of the pink cloud.

Subject
Humpback Whale Tail

Location
Inside passage of Alaska

Description
Used Topaz - Simplify. Then cloned colors into areas that needed brightening.

Subject
Nudibranch Chromodoris Annae[type of a sea slug less than 1" long]

Location
Lembeh Strait-Indonesia

Description
Underwater photo of Nudibranch on the mirror.Backscater and unwanted reflection removed in photoshop.

Subject
Lion (Panthera leo)

Location
Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya, Africa.

Description
I used the free Pixel Bender plug-in and its oil paint effect for this lion. The effect seems to work really well on fur.

Location
Yellowstone National Park

Subject
Big Horn Sheep - Rams Fighting

Location
Wapiti, WY

Subject
African Lion

Location
Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania

Description
It was a cool and overcast mornig in the Ngorongoro Crater and as we approached our picnic site for breakfast; a young male lion entered the scene, creating quite a stir for both humans and wildlife!

Location
Icy morning @ Ketring Lake

Location
Above Ketring Lake

Subject
Fall Colors in the High Country reflection

Location
Forebay Reservoir (Twin Lakes area)

Description
Fall Colors, mountain vistas, and Puffy clouds reflected in the waters of Forebay Reservoir

Location
Along the edge of Chatfield Lake

Subject
Hallett Peak

Location
Rocky Mountain National Park

Description
Shot from Bear lake, beautiful January morning, Got there a little early, temp -5, no coffee, waited and rewarded with the sun just hitting the peak leaving the surrounding mountains in shadow.

Subject
Lower Reaches of Pagosa Peak with a snowy mantle

Location
Archuleta County, NW of Pagosa Springs

Description
Taken the morning after a foot of new snow.

Subject
Raptor

Location
South of Boulder

Subject
Male lion

Location
Wildlife Sanctuay, Hudson, CO

Description
Black maned lion staring into the distance as though remembering a previous life.

Subject
Elephant at the zoo

Location
Denver Zoo

Description
Elephant throwing sand

Subject
Meerkat Pair

Location
San Diego Zoo, California

Description
Photographed in the shade, a pair of Meerkats find a favorite spot to watch the humans as they pass by.

Subject
Lioness drinking at Etosha waterhole

Location
Etosha National Park, Namibia

Description
Lioness with reflection drinking at an Etosha waterhole. The trick was to time the shutter as the tongue came out.

Subject
Squid during a night dive.

Location
Raja Ampat-Indonesia

Subject
White Bellied Sunbird

Location
Kruger NP- South Africa

Description
A male white bellied sunbird feeds on the nectar from a flower

Subject
Yearling and baby Mt Goats

Location
Mt Evans

Description
Yearling Mt Goat pushing the new kids off their boulder

Location
Coeur d'Alene National Forest, Idaho, USA

Description
This was a real treat, a waterfall that we had never heard of before. It is Fern Falls, which is on a tributary of Yellow Dog Creek.

Location
San Juan Basin, New Mexico, USA

Subject
Christmas Tree Worm underwater image-subject less than 1/2" with

Location
Bonaire-Netherlads Antilies

Subject
Peacock Male

Location
Denver Zoo

Subject
African lion cub

Location
Cheetah breeding facility in South Africa

Description
It was a highlight of my trip to get to actually hold and interact with these two 3-month old lion cubs at a breeding facility in South Africa (they thought my long hair was a fun chew toy). Due to reflective light from a green building the color version has a weird tone to it, but I loved the almost innocent expression as she chews on her little brother's paw and thought it made a nice black and white.

Subject
Pallid bat (Antrozous pallidus)

Location
Hidalgo County, New Mexico, USA

Description
We had a bat biologist hand-holding this guy for us. The bat was only temporarily captive, and released just minutes after this back into the wild.

Subject
Alaskan Coastal Brown Bear with salmon

Location
Brooks Falls, Katmai National Park, Alaska, USA

Description
Competition for fishing spots is severe, so it is usually prudent to give up your spot, and move to a more secluded area to munch on the fish. Pentax K20D, DA55-300mm Pentax lens at 210mm, 1/500sec at f8, ISO 400, hand-held.

Subject
Bullfrog

Location
Stogsdill Ranch near Karval, CO

Description
Photographing birds with the Stokers at a small pond when 4-5 bulfrogs started going across water.

Subject
Pelican

Location
Lake Manyara National Park, Tanzania

Description
Flock of pelicans were beginning morning stretches after roosting in trees.

Subject
North American Moose

Location
Grand Lake, Colorado

Description
It was New Year's Day and dawn in the Rocky Mountains, dark and artic cold, as a moose cow awakened for another day.

Subject
North American Kestrel

Location
Aurora Reservoir, Colorado

Description
On an early December morning a male Kestrel hovers over a frozen field in search of prey.

Subject
Black-crowned Night Heron

Location
Sterne Park (Littleton, CO)

Description
I watched this Night Heron for several minutes and was able to get very close as it waited patiently for a catch. The stillness of the moment was cut short, however, by park visitors who then startled the bird into flight.

Location
Thailand Temple

Location
Madison River Yellowstone

Subject
Sunset at Yamcola Reservoir

Location
Southwest of Steamboat Springs, Colorado

Description
Several miles west of the little town of Yampa, CO is the reservoir called Yamcola. We were fishing there one evening in September. When the sun started going down I could tell it was time to put the fly rod away and get the camera out. This is a combination of 3 images: 1 with exposure right on, 1 over exposed and 1 under exposed. They were combined in Nik HDR Effex Pro.

Subject
Eclipsed Moon

Location
Colorado

Description
The lunar eclipse of December 10, 2011 occurred with the moon just entering total eclipse as the Moon set over the Continental Divide of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. This image was obtained 22 minutes before sunrise and 17 minutes before the beginning of totality. The cloud-capped mountain below center is 13,294 foot James Peak, and just off the left edge is Parry Peak.

Subject
Sunset in the Serengeti

Location
Seronera Valley, Serengeti, Tanzania

Description
A moment of brilliant color at day's end.

Location
Big Cypress Swamp, FL

Location
Hudson Garden

Description
Macro class with Russ Burdon. Floating water lily. Filter placed around lily using photo shop.

Subject
Timber wolves howling

Location
The Wild Animal Sanctuary (Keenesburg, CO)

Description
Lightroom: adjust white balance of the original and add the default preset "Punch" for a clarity and vibrance boost of the final image

Viveza: color and hue adjustments to the sky

Photoshop: insert sky background, Poster Edges filter on wolves, Diffuse Glow filter over a Poster Edges filter on the mound, touch up fur edges and teeth whitening using a combination of painting, cloning and smudge tool

Subject
Same

Location
South Platte River

Description
Altered some of coloration and used Photoshop Artistic Filters

Subject
Moose in water

Location
Grand Teton National Park in the autumn

Description
Still morning at OxBow Bend and the big bull moose came through the water after he read my email to be there at a certain time and he cooperated!

Location
Lambert's Bay, South Africa

Description
I photographed this Cape Gannet landing over the colony at Bird Island, on the west coast of South Africa.

Subject
Snowy Owl

Location
Falcon, Colorado

Subject
Sandhill Crane

Location
Bosque Del Apache, NM

Description
A Sandhill Crane takes flight at sunrise.

Subject
Dune Field and Clouds

Location
Mesquite Dunes, Death Valley N.P., CA

Description
Late afternoon landscape. Black and white conversion in Photoshop.

Location
Glacier National Park, Montana, USA

Description
Sunbeams in the mist next to St. Mary Falls.

Subject
Sunset and clearing storm in the tetons in spring

Location
Grand Teton National Park

Description
While leading my spring tour to the Tetons, the clouds parted just enough at sunset to produce the dramatic light. Knowing where this stand of trees is, we quickly went to it to capture the moment.

Subject
wood duck babies

Location
Littleton

Description
The original image started with the 3 ducklings in the middle. I added 2 new ones to the log to the left of the original three. I then copied and pasted the same two to create the refection in the water. I did the same for the additional rear facing duck on the right. To create the focal point, I added the lone front facing duck on the far right. I then brought the composite into Nik Viveza to punch up the color, contrast and vibrancy of the water.

Subject
Red-tailed Hawk

Location
Sandstone Park, Longmont, Colorado

Description
Used glowing edges filter, plus other more minor adjustments