Lions & Tigers & Bears & Oh My!

When I went to see finalists and winners of the 2007 Nature’s Best Photography International Awards, I expected to see those lions and tigers and bears, but what was on display there was a whole lot more than that.

I saw the award winners of this competition last year, and since I’m a big fan of animals, whether live or captured on film, I was looking forward to seeing again this year. It’s always fun to see if the winners I would have chosen match up with what the judges have chosen.

Since I’m still struggling to master the most basic of photography skills, I found myself standing in front of these photos for quite some time.  Some of the photos made me smile or laugh, others made be ask “how did they do that?” while others slapped me up the head with the grandeur of nature.

The Overall Winner was an overhead photo of a herd of zebras.  It was interesting, but neither captured nor held my attention.  Take a look at it and see if you agree.

So what were my personal favorites?

My favorite, the one I chose as MY Overall Winner, was “Green Iguana,” the winner of the winner of the Digital Creative category (photo above).

A couple of my other favorites are below.  “Red Fox”  was the winner of the Animal Antics category (how fun does playing in the snow look?) and “Snowy Egrets” winner of the Birds category (it almost looked liked a painting or drawing).

The photography exhibit runs through April 27th, 2008.

The National Museum of Natural History is located at 10th Street & Constitution Avenue, and is open daily 10 am ““ 5:30 pm.  The closest Metro stop is the Smithsonian Station on the Blue and Orange line.   There is no admission charge at any of the Smithsonian museums.

NOTE:  If you’d like another perspective on this exhibit check out what Jon at The DC Traveler has to say about it. 

Photo credit:  Smithsonian Institute, © by the photographer(s)

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