Gorgeous Photos: On Land and Under Water

June 20, 2018 11:37 PM

2018 Nature Conservancy Photo Contest Winners. Also, here's the link to the 2018 Underwater Photography Contest Winners: Underwater Photos. I see the link says "2017" but the text says "2018"
posted by MovableBookLady (8 comments total)

Thank you, these are really beautiful.

My favorite photo is the one with the pikes "rushing to woo a mate". Because it reminds me of my favorite Finnish song ever:

The pike is a happy fish,
Its head is large and flat.
The pike whispers in the reeds
Just like the crayfish and the frog.
Twilight green,
Large head all the time.
Fish are my friends,
All the flatfishes and three zanders.
…
Hei hoi pike, welcome to Stockholm,
You'll be prized as the best during the National Fish Days.

posted by Vesihiisi at 2:57 AM on June 21, 2018 [1 favorite]

Thank you for sharing. I just loved that photo of the Cayman in Brazil. The composition was just stripped right back to its essentials, gorgeous.
posted by smoke at 3:46 AM on June 21, 2018

Lovely imagery, but it's a shame most of these look so photoshopped. I prefer nature photos to look more... natural.
posted by PhineasGage at 7:43 AM on June 21, 2018

Wait are these photoshopped? I thought they were all real but granted I know nothing about photography.
posted by LizBoBiz at 1:56 PM on June 21, 2018

As to being photoshopped, I guess the contest awarder would have to be aware. I would think that the Nature Conservancy, for instance, would not accept photoshopped images, but there's no way to tell for sure.
posted by MovableBookLady at 3:24 PM on June 21, 2018

Every image we see is "photoshopped" - a photographer makes choices about contrast, saturation, etc. (also true during the days of film and developing, when film and paper stock as well as developing techniques we're always a choice), even when overt image editing (blemish removal, actual cutting and pasting) are prohibited in news images and contests like this. I wasn't saying these are touched up, just that they look extra emphasized.
posted by PhineasGage at 4:32 PM on June 21, 2018 [1 favorite]

Oh ok. I don't mind if the photographer uses their tools and eyes to make a photo, but that's alot different than totally photoshopped, where the picture itself doesn't exist in the real world.
posted by LizBoBiz at 11:52 PM on June 21, 2018 [1 favorite]

Thank you for these. As a metaphor for climate change, that polar bear one is hard to beat.
posted by gwendoleninoz at 12:51 AM on June 24, 2018