GWC workshop participant Annabel Weiman was surprised when she found out that her photograph was runner-up in New Jersey Monthly magazine’s cover photography contest.
We are very proud of Annabel and encourage all of our participants and followers to enter photographs into local and national contests: you never know what the results might be!
Annabel was a participant in our August workshop in New Jersey. The workshop was taught by Ashleigh Scully and Denise Ippolito. It took place at The Raptor Trust, a wild bird rehabilitation center in Morris County, New Jersey. Workshop participants were allowed to learn about these amazing creatures and photograph them outside of their enclosures. This was a rare treat for our participants: it is not often that we get to see these birds at a close distance. These birds can be dangerous and we were lucky to have Raptor Trust staff present to work with the wild birds. The Raptor Trust captured some great photos from all participants.
Annabel is a sophomore in high school. She’s loved photography since 8th grade because she’s “able to find unique things and capture them.” Her mother encouraged her to develop her skills and Annabel eventually invested in a nicer digital camera.
Annabel uses a digital SLR and zoom lens. Her winning photograph was taken when Raptor Trust handlers took out the Kestrel falcon from its enclosure. The striking aspect of Annabel’s photo is she was able to remove the background through zooming in on the subject while also capturing the falcon’s direct gaze. Capturing an animal’s direct gaze helps the viewer relate to the animal and creates a personal connection — one that can develop into a deep appreciation of nature, even at a young age! Conservation photographers depend on building these relationships between subject and viewer in order to create awareness about conservation.
We got the chance to ask Annabel a few questions after she won big!
What was your favorite moment during the workshop? My favorite moment in the GWC workshop was taking photos of the barred owl. When I used my zoom lens and looked at it, I got really excited because I knew the pictures would come out good. One of them was actually used in a Raptor Trust Facebook post!
Did Denise and Ashleigh teach you anything in particular that helped you improve your photography? Denise and Ashleigh were great teachers; they were nice and they let us work independently yet they were there for us when we needed some advice. Advice they gave me that made my photography more appealing was using the “rule of thirds” guideline in making our compositions.
What did you learn about raptors and conservation at the Raptor Trust? The Raptor Trust is a great place for injured birds of prey. They try to cure them so they can be released back into the wild.
Check out Denise Ippolito’s blog post about Annabel!
