Nature's Best Honored Photographers on the CES Southern Ocean Expedition

“Hair Wash,” male African Lion: Highly Honored in African Wildlife. Canon EOS 1D Mark IV, Canon EF 600mm f4 L USM IS +1.4x TC, 1/125 sec, f.5.6, ISO 4,000, bean bag. Image copyright and courtesy of Paul Mckenzie. ISO 4,000 is not a typo.

Nature’s Best Honored Photographers on the CES Southern Oceans Expedition

Amazingly, with about 70 folks on the Cheesemans’ Southern Ocean Expedition, there were four photographers (including yours truly) with a total of five images honored in the 2012 Nature’s Best Windland Smith Rice International Awards Contest. The winning and honored images were selected from nearly 20,000 images submitted by photographers in 46 countries.

Enjoy the images and feel free to leave a comment.

Black-Footed Albatrosses interacting, Highly Honored in Endangered Species category. Canon EOS-1D Mark IV, Canon EF 300mm f2.8 L IS USM + 1.4x TC, ISO 2,000. 1/640sec, f9, Canon 550 EX speedlight fill flash at -2ev, hand held, lying on the ground. Image copyright and courtesy of Paul Mckenzie.

Good friend and mutliple IPT particpant Paul Mckenzie led the way with the two honored images above. You can see more of his amazing work here.

Coastal Brown Bear family: Highly Honored in Wildlife. Canon EOS 5D, Canon EF 600mm f4 L USM IS +1.4x TC, 1/500 sec, f.8 in Program mode. Image copyright and courtesy of Hank Perry.

It was nice meeting new friends Hank and Karen Perry on the South Georgia/Falklands trip; they were always smiling. You can see more of Hank’s fine work here.

Coastal Brown Bear relaxing: Highly Honored in Animal Antics. Canon EOS-1D MkIV, EF 800mm f5.6, Gitzo L3541xls, Mongoose 3.6 head: 1/500 sec at f5.6, ISO 1250. Kukak Bay, Katmai National Park, Alaska. Image courtesy of and copyright 2012: Clemens van der Werf.

Regular readers are familiar with Clemens’ wonderful imagery. Photographing nature only for about two years, Clemens has attended most IPTs during that time. You can see more of his excellent work here.

Red-crowned Cranes courtship squabbling. Highly Honored in Endangered Species. Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS with the EOS-1D Mark IV. ISO 400: 1/1600 sec. at f/5.6. Tsurui Itoh Sanctuary, Hokkaido, Japan. Image copyright 2012 Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART.

If you are interested in photographing Japan in winter in February 2012, please shoot me an e-mail.

Harlequin Duck, drake, Barnegat Jetty, NJ. Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS with the 1.4X II TC and the EOS-1D Mark IV. ISO 800: 1/250 sec. at f/8. Image copyright 2012 Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART. This is one of the target species on the Barnegat Jetty IPT. Just two sign-upz so far so consider joining denise and me for practically private instruction.

BIRDS AS ART/A Creative Adventure Barnegat Jetty IPT, Barnegat Light, NJ: 2 1/2 DAYS. DEC 20 (1:30pm), 21, and 22, 2012: $999. Limit 6/Openings 5. Includes 5 photo-sessions, both lunches, introductory slide program (DEC 20), Photoshop session (DEC 21), and image sharing at lunch DEC 22.

Join Arthur Morris and Denise Ippolito for a 2 1/2 Day Instructional Photo-Tour at the infamous Barnegat Jetty in Barnegat Light, New Jersey. Artie and Denise will teach you how to get close to the ducks and shorebirds that frequent this famed winter birding and photography hotspot, how to get the right exposure every time, and how to see, understand, and tackle a variety of photographic situations. Each will conduct a killer Photoshop session. We should have some excellent chances with Harlequin Duck and Purple Sandpiper, the two headliner species. With any luck we should get to photograph most of these species: Long-tailed Duck (formerly Oldsquaw), Common Loon, Red-throated Loon, Red-breasted Merganser, Surf Scoter, Black Scoter, Common Eider, Brant, Dunlin, Ruddy Turnstone, Black-bellied Plover, and Sanderling . Great Black-backed, Herring, and Ring-billed Gulls are also likely. Sunning Harbor Seals are possible. With the right winds we may have some good flight photography also.

Having at least a 500mm f/4 lens with a 1.4X teleconverter is recommended. Participants should be in good physical condition with a good sense of balance. Payment in full is due now.

NYC Seminar & Door Prize Info

Do consider joining Denise Ippolito and me in Staten Island in December for a great weekend filled with learning, fun, and great door prizes.

NYC Seminar Door Prize Info

Wow! We have put together a killer collection of door prizes for the NYC Seminar. If you live in the northeast and are not yet registered click here to join us and have a chance at winning some of the great and valuable loot below.

From ThinkTank: an Airport AirStream™ Rolling Camera Bag; meets all International carry- on regulations. A $324.75 value.
From LensCoat: a Standard LensCoat® RainCoat. A $79.99 value.
Manfrotto/Gitzo will be contributing one or more items.
From Delkin: a 32 gb 700X Compact Flash Card plus give-aways. The card is a $134.99 value.
NIK has sent a gift certificate for one copy of NIK Color Efex Pro, the Photoshop filter plug-in that has changed my digital workflow. Enter the code BAA at checkout to save 15%.
Topaz is sending a gift certificate for their black and white effects filter program.
Micheal Tapes at RAW Workflow has chipped in with a Lens Align Mark II. A $79.95 value.
You might also win a copy of The Art of Bird Photography II by Arthur Morris or a copy of A Guide to Pleasing Blurs by Arthur Morris and Denise Ipplito.

Thanks a stack to all of our generous sponsors.

Join denise (images above) and artie (below) in Staten Island to learn get inspired, give your creativity a big boost, and improve both your in-the-field techniques and your image optimization skills.

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