{"id":6083,"date":"2016-02-03T15:37:57","date_gmt":"2016-02-03T20:37:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/?post_type=news&p=6083"},"modified":"2016-02-03T15:37:57","modified_gmt":"2016-02-03T20:37:57","slug":"museum-displays-winning-images-from-wildlife-in-north-carolina-photo-competition","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/news\/museum-displays-winning-images-from-wildlife-in-north-carolina-photo-competition\/","title":{"rendered":"Museum displays winning images from Wildlife in North Carolina Photo Competition"},"content":{"rendered":"
\""Snail

Snail on a post<\/strong> by Timothy Faulkner, Kinston. Invertebrates, First Place.<\/p><\/div>\n

RALEIGH \u2014 For someone who has only been practicing serious photography for about eight years, Frank Ellison has done pretty well for himself. Ellison, 53, took \ufb01rst place in the Invertebrate category in the 2014 Photo Competition and now earned the top prize in the 2015 Wildlife in North Carolina Photo Competition. His photo and 30 other winning shots in 10 categories are on display at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences beginning Saturday, February 6 and through the end of July 2016.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt gives me something to do,\u201d Ellison said of his photography hobby. \u201cI actually don\u2019t like to shoot people. I like nature better. I like shooting micro. On that winning picture the \ufb02ower is actually touch\u00ading the lens.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ellison, who is head of maintenance at Industries for the Blind in Winston-Salem, lives in Clemmons with his wife Julie and sons Taylor, 10, and Austin, 12. A small garden planted next to his house is a favorite haunt for Ellison and the bugs he likes to shoot.<\/p>\n

\u201cI usually come out early in the morning and look for micro shots,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have tomato, squash and butter\ufb02y bushes next to the house. I saw a dark object in the yellow bloom and looked in and saw he was looking right back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ellison shot about seven frames and went on with his morning. He has had several images pub\u00adlished online at National Geographic\u2019s Your Shot picture gallery, but didn\u2019t think he had a winner with the assassin \ufb02y when he \ufb01rst saw it on his computer monitor. So, it\u2019s taken a while for the reality of winning to sink in. \u201cI don\u2019t have anything to compare it to,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s the \ufb01rst major photo competition that I\u2019ve won.\u201d<\/p>\n

If Ellison has a \u201csecret weapon\u201d it might not be his Nikon D700, but perhaps his little garden next to his house. He said the winning shot he got for the 2015 contest was taken 10 feet from the spot he shot an assassin \ufb02y to win the Invertebrate category last year. It\u2019s proving to be a very fertile garden.<\/p>\n

Marsha Tillett, the art director at Wildlife in North Carolina<\/em> magazine and one of the judges, commented on this year\u2019s contest, including Ellison\u2019s assassin \ufb02y image. \u201cThe Wildlife in North Carolina<\/em> staff really enjoys the photo competition issue. We like seeing what our readers are experiencing, and once again the submis\u00adsions for this year\u2019s contest were \ufb01lled with many beautiful images. But the remarkable eyes of this \ufb02y, and the striking contrast of colors in this photograph stood out to all the judges and was easily chosen as our grand prize winner.\u201d<\/p>\n

The other four judges for this year\u2019s contest were staff graphic designers Amy Friend and Bryant Cole and staff photographer Melissa McGaw. Mike Dunn, retired senior manager of outreach at the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences, was also a judge and is a veteran photographer in his own right.<\/p>\n

This year there was an uptick in entries with almost 1,500 images uploaded. All winning photo\u00adgraphs may be seen on exhibit at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences as well as online at ncwildlife.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences<\/strong> (11 W. Jones St. and 121 W. Jones St.) in downtown Raleigh is an active research institution that engages visitors of every age and stage of learning in the wonders of science and the natural world, drawing them into the intriguing fields of study that are critical to the future of North Carolina. Hours: Mon.- Sat., 9 a.m.-5 p.m., and Sun., noon-5 p.m. Visit the Museum online at www.naturalsciences.org<\/a>. Emlyn Koster, PhD, Museum Director; Susan Kluttz, Secretary, N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources; Pat McCrory, Governor.<\/em><\/p>\n

The N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources<\/strong> (NCDNCR) is the state agency with a vision to be the leader in using the state’s natural and cultural resources to build the social, cultural, educational and economic future of North Carolina. Led by Secretary Susan Kluttz, NCDNCR’s mission is to improve the quality of life in our state by creating opportunities to experience excellence in the arts, history, libraries and nature in North Carolina by stimulating learning, inspiring creativity, preserving the state’s history, conserving the state’s natural heritage, encouraging recreation and cultural tourism, and promoting economic development. NCDNCR includes 27 historic sites, seven history museums, two art museums, two science museums, three aquariums and Jennette’s Pier, 39 state parks and recreation areas, the N.C. Zoo, the nation’s first state-supported Symphony Orchestra, the State Library, the State Archives, the N.C. Arts Council, State Preservation Office and the Office of State Archaeology, along with the Division of Land and Water Stewardship. For more information, please call (919) 807-7300 or visit www.ncdcr.gov<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6084,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/6083"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/6083\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6084"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6083"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}