Yellowstone in Winter tour, high-key capture of a stand of trees.

My Year's Top Photos

December 22, 2022

December has always been a time of reflection for me. Perhaps because I grow a year older, or because the year that just passed me by—really just passed me by. I never set any goals for the new year because I have so many goals set throughout the year that piling on is not a good thing… The most important thing for me is family. I love and adore my family; without them I would be lost, they are my reason for everything.

So, as I spend time reflecting on my work and my many travels, I can’t help but feel blessed. Blessed that I am able to do so much. Blessed that I have such wonderful friends/clients to travel with. Blessed that I am healthy, not quite wealthy but definitely wiser <wink>.

After spending hours sorting through this year’s images and remembering many of the special moments from my travels, I came up with what I believe to be my favorite images of 2022, in no special order.

I won’t be posting again until after the Holidays to respect everyone’s family time. I wish each and every one of you a happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year filled with all the best that life has to offer. Including some award-winning images!

I’d also like to thank everyone that has read my blog or Facebook posts, attended my workshops, Zoom programs, purchased my eBooks or prints. Shopped for gear using my B&H affiliate account or supported my work in any way. It has been so helpful to me over the years. I’ll be running my eBook sale until the first of the year.

My sponsors have been very generous with me over the past year, and I’d like to thank them all. B&H Photo, Delkin Devices, Think Tank, Dickies, Prana, Singh-Ray Filters, Sea to Summit, Columbia, Induro and Mac Group.

From my Alaska Inside Passage trip. There was an Orca pod that gave us quite a show. I was thrilled to capture the spyhop pose of this one in particular.

From my trip to Camargue, the horses were running at sunrise and I loved the perspective.

I’ve been trying for years to get a full frame close-up of a King penguin’s neck with interesting lines. I liked the curved twist of this one. The white in the upper left corner is another penguin’s chest. It took some crazy positioning to get that white in the corner. This guy was so curious, he literally walked right up to me while I was photographing. He got so close to me at one point that I couldn’t even take a shot. I have found with birds, that if you move slowly and quietly and sit among them they usually will come to you.

A high-key capture with a creative edit applied.

I was happy to have gotten the setting sun background for this caracara at first light with a meal. I have so many images of them on the ground or on a fence post. Central Florida

When we left to go to the lake in Florida where this was photographed, I never imagined that the light would be so perfect that morning. It was an unexpected treat.

From my time at Lentorre Lodge, we visited a small Maasai village. I liked the rays of light and the hint of red plaid showing in the garb.

This tusker named Craig was photographed just outside the park in Amboseli. I fear with the recent drought he may not survive.

From my time in the Gobi Desert, Mongolia.

From the Gobi Desert, Mongolia. I could have shot these type of scenes all day long.

Namibia holds a special place in my heart. I adore the sand dunes and the way the light plays on the dunes can keep me engaged for hours.

A high-key shot of a Quiver Tree in Namibia.

Patagonia is one of the most photogenic places on Earth. The soft pastels and never ending beauty of this location make it an all-time favorite.

I adore photographing the Puma in Patagonia. Their markings are so different and some are so beautiful. This is one of Rupestra’s off spring, she is a beauty.

I wanted to capture this shot for 10 years, I finally had my first chance. Mesa Arch at sunrise. I know it has been done to death but not by me <smile>. I think the reason I love this so much is that I had such a wonderful trip to Utah and enjoyed my time hiking and photographing. This image brings all of those memories back to me.

This shot is from my trip to Vietnam. I love the people, the scenery and the entire trip to Vietnam. If you haven’t been you should. It is a rewarding trip in so many ways.

This young woman was very kind and interesting to talk to. I love this photo of her. The back wall looks like an applied texture, but this is straight out of camera.

My first shoot with these amazing Red-shanked doucs. It’s worth another trip to Vietnam just to photograph them.

Yellowstone in Winter….what can I say. It is a magical place and this photo reminds me of that magic.

My favorite Moose shot from my time in Yellowstone.

This is backlit water spray over the colony of cormorants as they came to rest at last light. Falklands.

Falkland Islands Photo Tour, December 2023 -Announced!

December 20, 2022

This two week photo tour is limited to 7 participants.

Join A Creative Adventure tour leader, Donna Bourdon for a two week adventure at one of the most natural, photo-rich environments on earth. Donna has been to the Falklands several times now and accompanied me on my last trip. Some of the tack sharp flight shots and creative blurs she captured are award winners!

During this photo workshop we will visit several of the Falkland Islands via small aircraft. “The Neck”, known as the crown jewel of the Falklands, will be one of our featured locations. At the Neck there is a large Black-browed Albatross colony, a King penguin colony, Rockhopper, Gentoo and Magellanic penguin colonies. In addition to The Neck, we will visit Sea Lion; Sea Lion Island is the only location in the Falklands where killer whale pods routinely patrol. In addition to these whale pods it is the best place to see and photograph Elephant Seal and Sea Lions. Next on our top locations will be Bleaker Island, notably, the best place in the Falklands to capture Gentoo penguins shooting out of the surf. Also, at Bleaker we will spend time at one of the largest Imperial Cormorant (aka Blue-eyed Shag) colonies with over 8,000 nesting pair.

We will spend some time in Stanley to afford us (two) day trips to Volunteer Point. Some tour leaders boast loads of different islands but that just means you spend time packing-unpacking, waiting for flights and traveling, I have minimized this in an effort to maximize our photo time in-the-field at the very best locations that the Falklands has to offer.

Price: $8995.00 USD

Includes: All inter-island flights, all lodging, all meals, and all transfers.

Does not include: Flight to Stanley MNP, any hotel nights in Santiago, alcoholic beverages. evacuation travel insurance, I highly recommend trip insurance. Tips and all items of a personal nature and any extra baggage charges for inter-island flights, internet cards, departure tax of £26 per person.

TO SIGN UP for this workshop CLICK HERE.

Itinerary:

Fly from Santiago to (MNP) Mount Pleasant Falkland Islands

SEA LION

4 nights

BLEAKER

4 nights

SAUNDERS – NECK

3 nights- sleeping conditions are all shared bunk beds with a shared bathroom for this portion of the trip.

STANLEY – 2 day trips to Volunteer Point

3 nights

Departure - from Stanley MNP back to Santiago, Chile.

Note: You should plan to arrive in Santiago, Chile at least one day before the workshop starts.

Credit cards are widely accepted on the islands so is the US dollar, but you should bring some pounds with you. A detailed information file will be sent at sign up.

* Single supplements are NOT available. Price subject to change slightly, due to increase in fuel or accommodations-this is probably not going to happen.

Deposit Information:
A non-refundable deposit of $2,000 due at sign up to hold your spot. Final payments are due May 30, 2023 via check or wire transfer only, fees on both ends are the responsibility of the participant. No credit cards accepted for any payment except deposit-thank you. Full payments are always welcomed via check or wire transfer made payable to: Denise Ippolito LLC. All participants must purchase or have evacuation insurance. I use Global Rescue.

Please be sure to check your calendar carefully and to check out my Workshop Policy Page.

**Everyone will be weighed as well as there gear bag once we begin the journey via internal flights. This is necessary for the pilots to arrange our weight according to his best calculations.

Weight restrictions for gear/baggage per person- The allowance is 20kg per person and any overage or excess baggage/gear will be charged @ £1.59 per kilo for each flight (there are several). Cameras and binoculars can be strapped around your neck.

** Our accommodations on most of the islands is very nice, similar to a hotel. However, at the “Neck” there is only one shipping container that has been transformed into an accommodation housing 8 people-with a kitchen/living room combo, 2 bedrooms with 4 bunkbeds. One bathroom. It is in a very remote location, that happens to be in one of the very best wildlife locations on Earth. During our 3 nights at the “Neck” we will have prepared meals brought in and we can also prepare our own meals.

*This itinerary is subject to change due to local conditions and availability. The price of this tour is subject to change slightly due to fuel increase or other factors, so far it never has….

Above images copyright Donna Bourdon.

Craig Elson's Trifecta

December 18, 2022

Huge congratulations to client/friend Craig Elson. His aerial photo of gemsbok in the dunes has garnered several awards and I could not be happier for him. He joined my Namibia tour in 2020, after several Covid postponements we finally were able to go this year. Needless to say, he made the most of his adventure.

So far this image has won-

NPOTY 2022: Runner Up, Black & White Category
Nature's Best - Mkapa Awards 2022: Highly Honored, Art in Nature Category
NANPA Showcase 2023: Best in Category, Mammals

From Craig-

I returned to Namibia in May of this year for the first time since 1998 after twice having the trip with Denise canceled due to the pandemic. Needless to say, I was beyond excited to finally return to this magical land, this time armed with much better camera gear and the knowledge of how to use it! One of the images I wanted most from the trip was a "small in the frame" aerial shot of gemsbok in the vast dunes of Sossusvlei and/or the Skeleton Coast. I love small in the frame wildlife shots, and I thought the juxtaposition of the gemsbok and the massive dunes would show environmental context and a sense of place. I had already taken two extended helicopter flights over both areas and was able to capture several good shots of the gemsbok in the dunes, but something told me to go up one last time on our final day. We were returning from Sandwich Harbor in the late afternoon when we found several oryx cresting the highest dune in the area, just inland from the Skeleton Coast and south of Walvis Bay. I felt confident that they would continue their journey inland as evening approached, descending hundreds of feet in the process. The dunes were pristine which made the tracks the gemsbok were making that much more distinct, something I knew would be a visual element to my image. Our pilot made a few passes, circling at a distance where we were sure not to disturb the gemsbok, and I waited for them to make their way into the area still lit by the sun, in between the diagonal bands of shadows. The scene set up perfectly for a B&W photo with the different textures from the sand, the chiaroscuro, and the gemsbok silhouetted – it was just a matter of getting the composition “right.” I had to wait for them to make their way far enough into the light, pause, look up at me with head angles where you could distinguish all their horns, and while they had good separation from one another and their shadows. Nature – the light, lines, and texture – took care of everything else. I knew I had something special the moment I pressed the shutter

https://naturephotographeroftheyear.com/previous-editions/npoty-2022-results/craig-elson-gemsbok-in-light-the-descent-runner-up-category-black-and-white/

Craig A. Elson

Instagram: @craigelsonphotography

Website: Craig Elson Photography

Falkland Islands Trip Report

December 11, 2022

During our stay at the first two islands-Bleaker and Sea Lion, we saw five penguin species and we had the opportunity to see lots of chicks- mostly Gentoo chicks and most were recently hatched as few were standing steady yet. We did see loads and loads of eggs at both the Rockhopper and Gentoo colonies on those islands. Here is the count of chicks on Bleaker and Sea Lion during our stay. I also included any rare sightings.

Rockhopper chicks- over two dozen, we saw one hatching.

Gentoo chicks - well over one hundred (we could not see all, especially the ones in the interior of the colonies.

One King penguin adult on Beaker, one molting adult on Sea Lion

One Macaroni (hold the cheese) penguin, adult on Bleaker. It was said to be with a female Rockhopper on an egg. We did not see either of them on an egg. We did see a broken egg just outside of their nesting site. The owner of the island said that these mixed species look more like Rockhoppers than Macaronis in case you were wondering.

Magellanic penguins- no count on chicks as they are in burrows and none have peeked out, but plenty of adults.

My group and I spent most of our time on Bleaker between the beach and the gulch. We also visited the Gentoo penguin colonies, Imperial cormorant colony- now officially referred to as the Falklands cormorant but we never made it to the sea lions or the pond areas for ducks. On my last visit to Bleaker (2019- pre-Covid) the cormorant colony that used to be extremely large with over eight thousand breeding pair had been dwindled down significantly. The island underwent a rat eradication, and the colony has now bounced back— it is impressive to see.

On Sea Lion we spent our time between the North Beach area (fondly referred to as North Shore) with porpoising penguins, the over-wash pond just outside of the beach, South Beach, and the Orca pool. On two separate occasions we did see Orcas at a close distance with two coming into the pool. The Orcas we saw were a family unit (not a pod) we spotted around 6-7 but we were told that there are nine in that family unit.

We also photographed the Rockhopper colony one day. There used to be a large colony of cormorants there, but they have moved on, despite the islands efforts to attract them back with life-sized decoys.

On Sea Lion there were several areas with nesting Gentoo penguins. Several years back, the main colony was devastated with avian pox and lots of predation. I saw dead chicks everywhere just lining the colony. This year the colonies were doing good, and I did not spot one dead chick laying on the sidelines. I did see predators and they were picking off the eggs and chicks but not at a higher-than-normal rate.

This reminded me of a scene from South Georgia.

On our last outing at Sea Lion Island, we finally got a chance to photograph Sea Lions. Actually, one male in particular that was bathing in the surf held our attention.

Next, we headed to “The Neck” on Saunders Island. There we saw two King penguins with eggs, two mating pairs of King penguins and about 6-8 Oakum boys (young King penguins with their brown fur-like feathers). We also saw about twenty adult King penguins. The Black-browned albatross colony looked good, numbers are about the same as my last visit, there were no chicks yet but plenty of eggs. Predation seemed a bit higher than normal for the Rockhopper and Gentoo penguins. I’m not sure why. We were told, that at one point the Skuas and Caracara were picking off the rockhopper and gentoo chicks at a rate of eight per day… ugh.

We were treated to a gale-force windstorm while staying in the military container on the beach at Saunders. The sand on the beach was blowin’ hard and we all photographed the penguins trying to walk from the beach area back to their colonies. Everyone loved the experience and their photos.

Our very last outing was at Volunteer Point. I arranged for (two) day trips which worked out well. Our first day was sunny on the cove, we had difficult lighting. The lighting, though challenging, still offered us some good opportunities. Sometimes, you need to work with the available light that you are given. On our second morning we got lucky with a nice mixture of sun and clouds. We also had a lot of King penguins lining up at the beach. There was also a large Sea Lion surfing the waves along the shoreline. It was lots of fun. I spent some time at the main colony doing in-camera motion blurs and pattern shots. I really enjoyed creating some abstracts; one of the images I captured will hang on my wall, soooo happy.

Making the most of tough lighting (above)

A FEW OF THE MANY PENGUIN ABSTRACTS AND BLURS THAT I CAPTURED (ABOVE).

SOME HIGH-KEY SELECTIONS BELOW. CLICK ON THE IMAGES TO SEE A LARGER, SHARPER VIEW.

I am heading home for Christmas with my family and shortly thereafter I will return to the Falklands with another group. Overall, it was a very productive and enjoyable photography trip. So glad I went…

I had a very talented group of photographers with me and in the near future hope to post some of their top images.

Donna Bourdon, who was on the trip, generously shared her knowledge with the group. She also helped some Canon users set up their R5’s for flight shots and creative blurs. She also presented her informative slideshow presentation that she has been giving to local camera clubs. Thank you Donna.

Some miscellaneous images from the trip below. I have 100’s more to sort through and I processed 82 images so far! Please click on the images to see the entire photo. Thanks for viewing.

More Top 250 Nanpa Awards

November 21, 2022

Ann Gillis attended both my Dalmatian Pelican tour in Greece (same trip as Janice Rosner from my previous post) and my Patagonia trip. On both trips she managed to get in Nanpa’s Showcase with two top 250 awards. Huge congratulations Ann! Both images are spectacular. But that puma shot-swwweeettt!!

In Ann’s words:

Pelicans: Lake Kerkini in Greece is one of those special places where Dalmatian Pelicans abound. While there, we had several early morning light opportunities where the lake was like a mirror, and we were able to obtain clear reflections of the pelicans coming in to land on the water.

Pumas: As a veterinarian, I am always fascinated by the similarities between the large cats (cheetahs, lions, leopards, pumas) and their domesticated counterparts. This is such a classic universal behavior of the cub rubbing underneath the chin of the mother.

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