California Wild Summer 2003

The Magazine of the CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

feature

Glimpses of the Golden State

The Winners of California Wild's Second Biennial Photo Contest

The quality of submissions to our second bi-annual photo competition continued the impressive standard set by the first, and made it difficult to select the prizewinners. As you can see from the following pages, these images are well deserving of publication. The macro photography was particularly striking, creating tantalizing and beautifully colored views of everyday scenes and experiences. Perhaps we are too hidebound here at the Academy, but there was some comfort in discovering that, although a number of submissions were taken with digital cameras, all the winning images were taken the old-fashioned way—with film. Whether that is a reflection of the equipment, the photographers, or the judges, only time will determine. Congratulations to all the winners!

Best Overall: Deanne Edwards captured this image of the back of a sunstar near Point Bennet, San Miguel Island. The white pincers are pedicellaria, which keep the animals' delicate skin gills free of algae and other hangers-on. Even tinier pedicellaria sprout in purple clusters amid clumps of translucent spines.

Nikon N90 in Nexus housing with 105mm lens and two strobes. Velvia film.

First prize, Ocean Realm. Rob Spivack. Fish hiding in a bryozoan colony. Kelp bed off Pacific Grove.

Nikonos II with 1;1 extension tube and Ikelite SubStrobe 150, f16. Kodachrome /64.

First Prize, Wildlife. Bruce Finocchio. A California Tent Moth rests overnight on a purple lupine at Little Sand Creek, Monterey County. The moth's dusty raspberry fuzz blends with the subtle blush of the flower's tip.

Minolta Maxim 9 on tripod with 100mm macro lens, 2X converter.

Second Prize, California Plants. Stacy Boorn. Early morning poppies at Kehoe Beach, Point Reyes National Seashore.

Canon EOS A2, on tripod with 100mm macro lens, diffusion disk, and reflector. Velvia film, ISO 50.

Third Prize, California Plants. Timothy Moen. Mendocino County oaks in winter fog.

Nikormat with 28mm lens, f11, 1/125th sec.

Third Prize, Wildlife. Erik Loza. Salamanders beneath a log obligingly held their pose despite a quick rinse from a water bottle.

Nikon F90 with 105mm macro lens, f22, 10 sec. Provia F film.

Third Prize, Ocean Realm. Deanne Edwards. Brittlestars at Brittlestar Bonanza, Santa Barbara Island.

Nikon N90 in Nexus housing, with 60mm lens and two strobes. Velvia film.

First Prize, California Plants. Stacy Boorn. Poppy fields at Mitchell Canyon, Mt. Diablo.

Canon EOS A2 with 17mm lens, f/22. Velvia film, ISO 50.

Second Prize, Wildlife. Robert Parks. Cactus bee, Diadasia sp. inside an Echinocerus engelmanii cactus. Male bees often wait inside flowers for females.

Nikon F5 with 200mm Micro lens, two Sunpack 433 D flashes, f32, 1/250th sec. Velvia film, ASA 40.

Second Prize, Ocean Realm. Josh Schacter. The flame of an ocean sunset silhouettes a waveworn pebble at ocean's edge.

Nikon F100, f4, 1/60th. Velvia film.