If you have ever wanted to nab some of Audubon Magazine’s photos for your home or office, now’s your chance. Six photos taken from Audubon Magazine’s first ever photo awards are featured in a downloadable screensaver. While the grand prize photo is not included, the next three top award winners are. Once the screensaver comes up, the photos cycle through, pausing before switching to the next.
The first place professional photo by Mark B. Bartosik features a great blue heron grabbing a fish out of shallow water. “I snapped at least 50 shots in one to two minutes,” said Bartosik. “Every one was different. I like this one because of the position of the wings.”
The first place amateur photo is a shot of the wings of a brown pelican as it submerges its torso beneath the surface, disturbing the placid waters around it. “As a photographer, you get to see things that other people typically don’t see,” said Adam Felde, the photographer. “With photography you get to relive that moment. At least half the fun is getting to share what you’ve seen.”
Diana Whiting’s photo of two wood ducks skimming the waters of Black Creek in New York took the second place amateur award. For Whiting, knowing how the birds were going to act was an important part of taking her shot. “You have to sit a longtime for wood ducks to do something beside eat. I was really excited to see them chasing each other,” said Whiting.
Also included are two honorable mentions of a snowy plover and her chick crouching over an egg, and a yellow warbler catching drops of water in its mouth. One more photo shows a yellow-billed Oxpecker nibbling on the tail of a zebra perhaps in search of ticks and insects.
The screensaver is free and can be downloaded for both Macs and Windows here: http://www.audubonscreensaver.org/