“Another World” wins DJI Skypixel 10th Annual Top 10 Photos in the World Award
I am super pleased to announce, “Another World” has recieved a Top 10 Photo Award in the DJI Skypixel 10th Annual Photo Contest. With over 130,000 submissions it is considered the most competive drone photography contest in the world. I dedicated months on this edit to get it exactly how I envisioned.
“Another World” is a top-down aerial photo of a fever of cownose rays approaching a school of menhaden fish taken approximated 100 yards from the coast of Southampton, NY USA. It is the direct result of the greatest conservation gain I will witness in my lifetime.
As a drone pilot, artist, and conservationist, I have spent my past seven summers documenting and capturing the intense increase in marine life in the North Atlantic off the coast of New York. On this day, which also happened to be my 50th birthday I was marveled to see so many cownose rays. We had just experienced a westerly swell which often makes the ocean much clearer than normal. The wind was from the south which created very calm conditions. The sun was bright, and the skies were clear which allowed light rays to diffuse through the water and light up the bursting sand clouds below. Conditions could not have been more perfect and with my beach chair and umbrella I was set for shooting all day.
I had only spotted one or two of these cownose rays in this region within the prior 3 years. With great excitement to see a fever of rays, I carefully watched them traverse the shoreline for hours. When they crossed paths with a large school of menhaden, the fish scattered in a uniform manner creating an incredible visual tale, which I was ever so ready to capture.
Menhaden fish are often called the most important fish in the sea. A small, plankton eating oily fish, which are rarely eaten by humans. They are omnivorous filter feeders, feeding on plankton and algae which also makes them an essential part of the Atlantic ecosystem.
In 2012, in response to menhaden’s numbers having fallen about 90% in three decades, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission enacted the first large coastwide catch limits on the fish. The fish stock soon rebounded dramatically, and brought increasing numbers of sharks, whales, rays, seals, dolphins and other marine life closer to the coast than they’ve been since the middle of the last century. Just ten years ago we never saw such a show from the beach, now it is a daily occurrence to see whales breaching and lunge feeding, massive schools of fish, sharks and dolphins jumping, often literally just 300ft from the breakers. This is by far the greatest visible conservation gain I have seen in my lifetime, and it is more clear each year that the commission’s action is achieving it’s ambitious conservation objectives.
Mother Nature and the Animal Kingdom gifted me this moment to share with you and I hope you enjoy the view!