Photo of the Month Awards
Carla Conway and Jim Haas are the latest winners of the Eastside Audubon Association photographer of the month contest.
White tern by Carla Conway: Shot with a 24-120mm f/4 G lens. The shutter speed was 1/600 of a second, ISO 280, and aperture setting of f/8.
Carla Conway was selected the Eastside Audubon Society Photographer of the Month in December for her series of bird photos taken at the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge and Battle of Midway National Memorial, about 1,300 miles northwest of Honolulu.
Carla spent last December and January on the restricted atoll participating in an albatross census for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and took thousands of photos during the project.
“As a native Hawaiian with a passion for Hawaiian wildlife conservation, I was thrilled to help conduct the 2021-22 Nesting Albatross Census,” she said. “Midway Atoll is the site of the world’s largest nesting albatross colony and the annual census has provided essential data on the number of nesting pairs of Laysan and black-footed albatrosses since 1991.”
She started photographing birds three years ago, beginning in her Fall City backyard. “The most enjoyable aspects about birds and nature are the opportunities to learn about a wide variety of subjects and participate in community science projects”, she says.
In addition to taking courses in bird identification and natural history through Eastside Audubon and the Seattle Mountaineers, she has volunteered for the Puget Sound Seabird Survey (Seattle Audubon), Winter Raptor Survey Project (East Cascades Audubon), and Wetland Secretive Bird Monitoring Project (Puget Sound Bird Observatory).
Photo Details:
The following photos were taken with a Nikon D500 camera on Sand Island, the largest of the atoll’s three islands.
Laysan albatross in flight by Carla Conway: Shot with a 500mm f/5.6 PF ED lens. Shutter speed was 1/3200 of a second, ISO 359, and aperture setting of f/8.
Black-footed albatrosses with chick by Carla Conway: Shot with a 500mm f/5.6 PF ED lens. The shutter speed was 1/800 of a second, ISO 250, and aperture setting of f/8.
Northern Gannet by Jim Haas
Jim Haas was selected as the Eastside Audubon Society Photographer of the Month in February for a series of photos he took of a Northern Gannet fishing in Florida. He shot the photos during a recent trip from a pier near Vero Beach, Florida as the Gannets dived into the ocean after a school of fish.
“While visiting Florida, I was able to photograph Northern Gannets diving into the ocean to catch fish,” he says. “The Northern Gannet is a large seabird with a 6-foot wingspan and a unique fishing style. When a Gannet locates a fish, it folds its wings back and dives into the water at high speed. It will then “fly” underwater to chase down its catch.”
For more about this bird’s fishing technique, see the Smithsonian Channel.
Photo details
He shot the photos with a Sony A7iv using a 600mm lens, shutter speed of 1/4000 second. and an aperture setting of f/7.1
Northern Gannet by Jim Haas
The Photo of the Month award was instituted to recognize the work of the Photo Group Members. The group members meet monthly to show their latest photos and videos as well as share their knowledge of photography and wildlife. To attend the meeting, please join the group’s announcement list.