An exceptional group of judges is getting set to evaluate the photos entered in NANPA’s 2022 Showcase nature photography competition. Being chosen for recognition by this panel will be a real mark of distinction, not to mention the prizes and other benefits of entering this competition. Remember, all entries are due no later than 11 p.m. EDT on Monday, September 20, 2021. So, don’t delay! Get your images ready now! Find the rules and full details on NANPA’s Showcase pages.
Charles Needle is an award-winning, Colorado-based fine art photographer, author, speaker and workshop leader with a unique eye for design and artistic interpretation. His popular “Art of Nature” creative macro workshops have attracted students nationwide.
In 2018 and 2021, Charles earned honorable mentions in the Macro and Visual FX categories of the prestigious Annual International Mobile Photography Awards Contest. He was also a semi-finalist in the 2014 Nature’s Best Photography Windland Smith Rice International Awards photo contest. In 2011, Charles was selected as a finalist, among 15,000 entries worldwide, in the International Garden Photographer of the Year photography contest, sponsored by The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (London, England). This exhibition traveled throughout the United Kingdom.
A popular conference and camera club speaker for more than two decades, Charles has authored three cutting-edge instructional books: Tiny Worlds: Creative Macro Photography Skills (Amherst Media, January 2015), Impressionistic Photography: A Field Guide to Using Your Camera as a Paintbrush (March 2014), and Creative Macro Photography: Professional Tips & Techniques (2011).
An accomplished speaker, photography juror and teacher with international workshops in Monet’s Garden (Giverny, France for 20 years in a row, with exclusive private access), Keukenhof Gardens (Holland) and The Butchart Gardens (Canada), Charles is a FujiFilm USA Talent Team member and North American Nature Photography Association (NANPA) Showcase Award winner for 14 years.
Charles’ photographs have selected for publication in Nature’s Best, Outdoor Photographer magazine, Nature Photographer magazine, Inner Reflections Engagement Calendar, The Chicago Tribune, SELF Magazine and are in private and public collections nationwide and abroad. Learn more at www.charlesneedlephoto.com.
Darrell Gulin has been photographing and marketing his work for the last 33 years, 28 of which as a full time nature/travel photographer. He travels the world capturing special moments to share with others and markets his work through stock agencies (GettyImages, Danita Delimont) and editorial/paper product markets. conducts photography workshops, tours, seminars and speaking engagements.
Gulin is one of Canon’s Explorer’s of Light and is a past-president of North American Nature Photography Association. His work has been published in Outdoor Photographer, Newsweek, Audubon, National Wildlife, Popular Photography, Our Daily Bread, Natures Best and in many top nature and wildlife calendars. He is an accomplished speaker and teacher, leading workshops for Joe Van Os and has been featured on the Canon Photo Safaris television program. Learn more at https://gulinphoto.com/
Morgan (Mo) Heim raises a camera for one purpose – to capture moments in an animal’s life that will make us consider what that life means. Inevitably, those stories involve people as much as wildlife. How we treat them. Why we need them. What we love, or hate about them.
Mo used to work as a wildlife ecologist for NOAA on things like killer whale surveys and the Elwha Dam Removal project. She later earned a Master’s in environmental journalism and is a senior fellow of the International League of Conservation Photographers (iLCP). She has covered endangered fishing cats and shrimp farm development, and the environmental impacts of marijuana grows in our nation’s forests. In 2016, she became a National Geographic grantee for her collaboration on urban coyotes. Her work has appeared in outlets such as World Wildlife Fund, Smithsonian, Discover, NationalGeographic.com, Nature Conservancy Magazine, and bioGraphic.com. Her films have premiered at Banff Mountain Film, Telluride Mountain Film, Adventure Film, DC Environmental Film Fest, the International Wildlife Film Festival, and COP 23.
She is always looking to build relationships between viewers and the natural world, and loves to foster new generations (regardless of age) who wish to do the same. Learn more at morganheim.com
Conservation
A separate panel with significant expertise in conservation photography will evaluate images entered in that category.
Since 1985, conservation photographer Alison M. Jones has documented indigenous cultures, wildlife, ecosystems, and development projects in Africa, North and South America, and India. In 2000, she helped establish Kenya’s Mara Conservancy, a model for 120 new African conservancies. In 2006, she studied watershed science at Columbia University and wrote a Management Plan for Ethiopia’s Nech Sar National Park. In 2007, after flying over 2,000 miles of African waterways, Alison founded No Water No Life.® For this global nonprofit that merges photography and science to highlight freshwater threats and solutions, Alison’s led 70 documentary expeditions to Africa, North America, and India and interviewed over 450 watershed scientists and stewards. Learn more at https://www.alisonjonesphoto.com/
Clay Bolt is a natural history and conservation photographer specializing in the world’s smaller creatures who regularly partners with organizations such as the National Geographic Society and the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation. His current major focus is on North American bumble bees. He was a leading voice in the fight to protect the rusty-patched bumble bee under the Endangered Species Act, which became North America’s first federally protected native bee in 2017. In 2019, Bolt became the first photographer to document a living Wallace’s Giant Bee—the world’s largest bee—as a part of a four person exploration team to rediscover the species in the Indonesian islands of North Maluku. After the rediscovery he worked closely with Indonesian authorities and TRAFFIC to prohibit online sales of the insect across all major online sales and social media sites, as well as measures to prohibit non-scientific collection of the species across Indonesia.
In his current role as Communications Lead for World Wildlife Fund’s Northern Great Plains Program he develops communications strategies to fight grasslands biodiversity loss. Clay is a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London, Associate Fellow in the International League of Conservation Photographers (iLCP),past president of the North American Nature Photography Association (NANPA) and a member of the Livingston, Montana Parks and Trails Committee. Learn more at www.claybolt.com.
Conservation photographer and author Dave Showalter is based in Colorado and focused on the American West. Dave has published two books – Sage Spirit, The American West at A Crossroads by Braided River (2015); and Prairie Thunder by Skyline Press (2007). Dave’s photographs and articles have appeared in numerous publications, including Audubon, Conservation Biology, Outside, Outdoor Photographer, High Country News, Wilderness, Colorado Life and elsewhere. In partnership with Braided River, Dave’s exhibit “Colorado: Sage Spirit and Roaring Rivers” was displayed at Denver International Airport 2018/2019 and viewed by over 2 million people. Dave is a faculty member with the Summit Series of Photo Workshops, a Senior Fellow Photographer in the International League of Conservation Photographers (iLCP), and works in partnership with numerous conservation groups, including Audubon Rockies, The Wilderness Society, The Nature Conservancy, and Sierra Club of Wyoming. Learn more at https://www.daveshowalter.com/
