refocus-20211021_8915-enhanced-nr-1730778613

Aerial Mayhem

Vicki Santello

United States of America

refocus-20170202_8066-edit-1699230332

refocus-20230620_6277-2-1699229693

Nominee

The Trophy

refocus-20211120_2672-2-1699231758

Luminosity

refocus-20220726_3629-1709465952

Dawn Walker

refocus-20220726_2377-1709465987

People’s Vote Award

We Are Family!

A crystal clear reflection allowed me to capture a watery scene upside down. I composed the image with the top margin as a benchmark for the actual view. Below the benchmark, the viewer can see reflections of the mountains and sky intermingled with the brash ice floating on the top of the water.

refocus-20240918_8119-edit-1730778495

Top Down

A crystal clear reflection on a windless day allowed my imagination to run wild! I composed the image with the small ice floes surrounded by reflections from the sky and mountains above them.

refocus-20240920_3557-enhanced-nr-edit-1730778499

Inverted

A windless day offered me the creative opportunity to capture nearly exact duplicate reflections of majestically shaped icebergs and mountain views.

refocus-20240920_6472-enhanced-nr-1730778502

Honorable Mention

Mirror Image

Multiple layers of tectonic plates are scored black by gouging of glaciers over hundreds of years. The rock is compressed into sweeping patterns. It is also now host to orange colored lichen that eke out a living on various ledges.  The rock transforms into the sharp cold edges of the iceberg.

refocus-20240921_4650-1730778507

Constructed by Time

A clear reflection at sunset allowed me compose and abstract image to challenge the viewer. I placed the surface brash ice at the top of the frame as a compositional anchor. All the elements below the brash ice are reflections of the iceberg, sunset sky and mountains in the scene.

refocus-20240922_5247-enhanced-nr-1730778517

Bottom Side Up

A line of flamingoes flies over a shallow lake each in a different wing position and each accompanied by its own shadow. I took the image from a fixed wing aircraft.

refocus-20211019_3754-enhanced-nr-2-1730778610

A String of Pearls

Hundreds of lesser and greater flamingoes fly over the shallow water of Lake Bogoria, Kenya. Their shadows come in various shapes and shades depending on their height from the water and wing position.

Silver

Incoming and outgoing tides create an intricate braiding of patterns and textures on this beach in Iceland. Image taken from a small fixed wing aircraft.

refocus-20240913_2298-1730778617

Ebb and Flow

Two monolithic towers of ice face off in the Scoresby Sound, Greenland. The sunset turned the sky to a soft palette of pinks and lavenders. The scene was enhanced by the sharp reflection which doubled the size of the already huge icebergs and filled the frame with soft colors.

refocus-20240923_6946-edit-edit-edit-1730778659

Timeless

Sunset in the High Arctic turned the sky into a delicate palette of pastels. The soft colors were reflected by the still water framing the iceberg.  I placed the electric-blue streaks of the iceberg within the image so they would be strong focal points in the soft hues.

refocus-20240925_8777-1730850689

Cotton Candy Skies

Members of the Wapati pack tumble down a snowy hillside in a playful and intimate manner. They were revisiting an elk carcass killed by the pack the night before to see if there were scraps worth picking over. The carcass was lying between between us so they were facing me directly.

refocus-20201222_9226-1730854797

Elephants with long tusks are highly endangered due to poaching, habitat loss and trophy hunting. IIn this image, Big Tusker Michael walked across a dry lake bed while his friend, a cattle egret, gets a free ride.

refocus-20211006_3301-enhanced-nr-1730854865

Along for the Ride

A male grizzly bears smacks down the water with his giant paw in an attempt to catch a silver salmon swimming upstream to spawn. The salmon escaped by mere inches.