June 2012 Competition Winners

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.