Dalmatian Pelican , wins Top 250 in Nanpa's Showcase

November 19, 2022

One of my favorite clients/friend just had her Dalmatian pelican image honored in the Nanpa Top 250 Showcase 2023 (North American Nature Photography Association-NANPA). Her words below about the image. Huge congratulations Janice Rosner !!!!! well deserved. I recognized several other photographers that won awards. Craig Elson won Best in Category, mammals from our trip together in Namibia. Congratulations Craig! well deserved. CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THE WINNERS!!

Janice also adopted and brought home the most beautiful stray dog from Greece that she later named Nikos. Nikos continues to do great and he has become a huge part of Janice’s family.

Avian flu has affected these majestic birds and their numbers are even more threatened. This makes this image even more powerful.

In her words….

This image was taken last January at Lake Kerkini during Denise’s workshop in Greece (led by Donna Bourdon). The lake is beautiful and at the time we were there, there was approximately 100 resident pelicans. Our group went to the lake each morning for sunrise and each afternoon for late day shooting. This image was taken from the boat. The pelicans will swim right up next to the boat which allows for many close up and detail photo ops. I had imagined this image ahead of time, but the trick to this front facing portrait was catching his head just in the right position as they constantly turn their heads looking for food. I also wanted the orange of their pouches to show. Consequently, I have many “near misses”.

*If you have an award winning image that was captured during one of my workshops I ‘d love to know about it and feature it here.

Mara - Amboseli Trip Report

November 14, 2022

I just got home late last night from another amazing adventure. I put this blog post together during our journey and tried to work on images that reflected some of the stories. I took a bunch more images and will be posting some on Facebook if you would like to see them follow my work there.

One of our first photos sessions was with a super adorable 4-month-old elephant. This little one was so rambunctious, he kept us entertained for a long while. We watched as he made a face, lifted his trunk, and forcefully backed up into another young Ellie hoping to engage with him. They began to play and roughhouse around. He soon mounted and trumpeted with glee. He (not sure if it was a boy) pestered the heck out of the adults until one of them wrapped its trunk around it and scolded him. I was giggling so much I couldn’t keep my camera steady…so fun!

I used a high-key B&W technique to help clean up the busy background of tall grases.

When I arrived in the Mara, I was told that my favorite leopard named Luluka had a new liter of two and had not brought them out of their makeshift den. I was hoping we’d get a glimpse of them before our time in the Mara was over. Lucky us, we captured her walking with one of the cubs to bring it to the safety of a new den. It was truly a thrill to see Luluka (daughter of Lorian) again and especially with a tiny cub in her mouth— swwweeettt! I also captured her jumping the river with one of the cubs in her mouth. She made a giant leap and did it with ease. The cub stayed rolled up in a ball while she jumped the main part. I guess so none of its limbed hit the water or ground.

The Mara continues to supply endless opportunities for big cats and since that is our main focus I had my fix of lions, cheetah and leopard. Not many servals, I think we saw only one this time.

The fires created this smoke filled fiery sky.

While we were in the Mara there were a series of controlled burns going on. The animals were forced to move from the flames to open areas just outside of the burning grasses. It was sad to see the antelope lined up looking as if they had nowhere to go. I created several images but am sharing just a couple. These fires also created dramatic skies.

After an amazing Mara adventure, we headed to Amboseli. Amboseli was experiencing one of the biggest droughts in 40 years. There were dead Wildebeest everywhere. Along with a few elephants and zebra. It was awful to see the starvation and witness the weak fall to the ground. It was so sad for all of us. On our second day it started to rain, and things were looking up. Hopefully more rain will come. It’s amazing how quickly the grass grows after a couple of days of rain.

Amboseli never disappoints when it comes to backlit and dust filled images.

There we photographed Craig (one of the oldest big tuskers- about 50 years old) who was looking very thin but was feeding on dead branches and underbrush while we were there. Most of the elephants stayed away from the dried lakebed and stayed near the marsh area. The marsh was teaming with birds and had lots of water.

Big tusker “Craig” with some creative edits to the background…

This was another elephant that was dusting itself.

Workshop Listings

October 31, 2022

Here are a few upcoming workshops, just click on the photos for more information….

Mara & Amboseli

September 21- October 1st, 2023

Japan in Winter

February 19- March 2, 2024

MANY MORE WORKSHOPS LISTED ON MY WORKSHOP PAGE - HERE

More news on my Forever Stamp Series…this is the final mock-up.

I was excited to be part of the press release announcing my Forever Stamp Collection.

U.S. Postal Service Reveals Stamps for 2023

“Tulip Blossoms
Close-up photographs of 10 beautiful tulips in a rainbow of colors grace this new booklet of 20 stamps. One blossom fills almost the entire frame of each stamp, with just the top of a stem peeking out from underneath. Since Dutch immigrants brought tulip bulbs to North America hundreds of years ago, the flower has become a dazzling part of our landscape. Art director Greg Breeding designed the stamps with existing photographs by Denise Ippolito.”

— USPS

Italian Dolomites, UNESCO - Trip Report

October 25, 2022

October 15th——

I’m on the plane and ready for take- off. The anticipation of this trip has kept a smile on my face for months. I am finally heading there. I have a direct flight to Munich and will meet my group tomorrow morning. We’ll drive 4 hours to our first stop along the way. We hope to have an incredible sunset shoot— fingers crossed…

Ok, we made it to our first stop after checking into our quaint mountain lodge in the heart of the Italian Dolomites. Our first photo session was a sunset shoot at the Church of St. John of Nepomuk in Ranui. The old-world church is situated in the very center of the valley with a backdrop of mountain peaks and trees. We waited and almost missed the pink sky at sunset.

In the morning we did a three-mile hike (one way—but this was an add-on and it was also an optional shoot, some of the group went to a different location that required no hiking) into the alpine meadows of the incredible Alpe di Siusi. This is Europe’s largest, high-altitude plateau. The imposing peaks of the Sassolungo and Sasso Piatto tower over the rolling hills below which are dotted with small wooden huts and yellow and green larch trees.

Evening shoot at the Church of St. Magdalena. This church is up on top of the hillside with layers and layers of trees and mountains behind it. We enjoyed our view of the majestic mountains with glorious light on the church as the sound of chapel bells and cow bells filled the air. It was a wonderful evening.

In the morning, our group visited the Passo Sella (Italian). The Sella Pass is a high mountain pass between the provinces of Trentino and South Tyrol in Italy. It connects the Val Gherdëina in South Tyrol and Canazei in the Fascia Valley in Trentino. There are 360-degree shots from the top and it’s hard to decide where to point your lens when you first arrive. However, the mountains become illuminated, and you can’t help but follow the light. I wanted a foreground element, and, in my search, I came across this tiny orange Charlie Brown tree that caught my eye. I used the pink sunrise colors and golden tipped peaks to frame my shot.

Next, we went to Baita Segantini in the early morning. Here we photographed a famous mountain hut at the foot of the Pale di San Martino. A nearby pond allowed us a beautiful reflection of the peaks of the Pale di San Martino. The weather forecast was for cloudy conditions, so we were hopeful for some color. Predicting sunrises is not a job I want…. you just never know until you get there. As we parked the car, we feared the worse- a sunny bright sunrise with the light directly behind our mountains. Ugh…Lucky for us, our patience paid off a bit with no wind, a touch of color and a wisp of clouds (we returned the next morning for a second chance). On our way back to the hotel we stopped to photograph some stands of trees that adorn the mountainsides. I captured the image below which is one of my favorites from the trip. In post processing, I softened it up a touch and desaturated it…

In the morning we took the Seceda cable car to the very top where we had a panoramic view with a stormy sky— yippee! Afterwards, we headed to Cortina and stopped at a quaint little mountain cafe on the way. During our stay in Cortina, it rained and there was quite a bit of fog for our first evening shoot at Lago Antorno. It’s crazy because we’ve been hoping for fog…. be careful what you wish for.

Our second photo shoot in Cortina was beautiful. We went to the top of Auronzo di Cadore for some “mountain peaks in fog” shots. We finished the evening session with a reflection at Lago di Misurina, the light was blah, but we had some nice blue tones on the mountains at last light.

Our early morning photo session was at Lago di Braise. This is the place that I most wanted to go to. Unfortunately, the water level in the lake was very low (hopefully on my next visit it will be back to normal) and the shot I wanted to capture was not so good… plan B- stand by the beautiful lake and reflection and shoot the mountains and boats with the reflection.

The tour ended with one last shooting session at Passo Giau, it connects Cortina d'Ampezzo with Colle Santa Lucia and Selva di Cadore. It was a lovely ending to a fantastic trip that I cannot wait to repeat!

A second photo tour has just been posted for anyone that would like to sign up, only 8 spots available— 15-22 October 2024.

Mirthless

October 15, 2022

One of my first abandoned building shots, captured at the Lonaconing Silk Mill many years ago. I sold many copies of this print to folks from all over the country and it continues to garner interest. I titled the piece ‘Mirthless” as it had a melancholy feel to me and I didn't like melancholy as a title for this. I recently sold another copy and the buyer asked me to share my thoughts about the image and the title so I thought I would do so here. This image is part of my Urbex gallery.

My thoughts as I composed it—I wanted a taller than usual shot to accentuate the windows. I included some of the ceiling to give the image more “visual height” which also added some dimension. I wanted to frame the shot, putting the windows off-center a bit, I felt it added a slightly off-balanced look, which would create some tension within the image, and hold the viewers’ attention.

I also chose the location of the chair carefully so that it would catch the light and shadows on the top of the chair. I used all-natural lighting for this photo. I liked the way the filthy windows diffused the light. The softer light helped to create a somber feeling. The tree shadows added to the mood as well.

The faded brick wall, the dead leaves on the floor, the industrial equipment all added to the overall expression of this shot. A shot that represented a time capsule of days gone by, feelings of lives interrupted, lost, deserted. Ruminative thoughts, solemn moments. Isolation and despair…mirthless.