Best Images From 2010, Many Already Published
©Bert Gildart: It’s always a pleasure for Janie and me to sort through images I’ve produced over the year and decide which we like best. Although I’m usually the one depressing the shutter, often Janie holds strobes or serves as a model, sometimes in very challenging positions.
Travel creates some unusual opportunities, and 2010 was no exception, and so we were able to examine images from Anza Borrego, Zion, Sonny Bono Wildlife Refuge, and a few places along the East Coast to include Cumberland, Bull Run and Andersonville.
L to R: Kayaking to Cumberland Island National Seashore; Daniela Weiss peering down from Angel’s Landing and onto canyon created by Virgin River.
Several images from Zion brought back delightful memories, particularly one of Daniela Weiss peering down from Angel’s Landing onto the canyon created by the Virgin River.
CUMBERLAND ISLAND RANKED HIGH
As well, an image of Janie and me kayaking from South River State Park in Georgia, across the Intercoastal waterway and then, finally, seven miles later reaching our destination. For us, this image approaching Cumberland Island National Seashore also ranked high.
L to R: petroglyphs at Hell’s Canyon; fairy shrimp, which emerge but once on average every five years — both from Anza Borrego Desert State Park.
But the images that seemed best from a photographic point of view were the ones taken in and around Anza Borrego Desert State Park, and perhaps this should not seem surprising when we recall the months we spent camped in this wonderful California area. While there we hiked to a spot preserving the ancient images of Indian art, and because of the photographic techniques, including the balancing of several strobes with daylight, I liked that image.
FAIRY SHRIMP CHALLENGED
So, too, the image of fairy shrimp, which emerge only following extreme desert rains, generally about once every five year. Last year was one of those years, and at the time I posted this image and described the elaborate techniques for recording these inch-long crustaceans.
Despite the successful documentation of the above, my favorite image of 2011 was taken near Sonny Bono Wildlife Refuge of a pair of burrowing owls.
BIZARRE NEST TOPS LIST
Though it is difficult to photograph these tiny owls, even more difficult was finding a pair with a compelling story. Farm practices have eliminated the burrows required by these diminutive owls, forcing them in several cases to resort to discarded tractor tires.
Twenty-first Century provides many challenges for wildlife, epitomzed by the bizarre nest these burrowing owls had to settle for -- a Good Year Tractor Tire.
Publication also makes a statement and several of these images have already appeared in magazines; others will soon follow.
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THIS TIME LAST YEAR:
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