NATJA photographer of the year and her runner-up husband share photos
A peek behind the making of award-winning photos
It has been a very good year for Therese Iknoian. Shortly after having a photo accepted into a prestigious gallery exhibit in Sacramento, California, Therese learned she had been named "Photographer of the Year" in the 32nd Annual North American Travel Journalists Association Travel Media Awards Competition. After some of their own calculations, they realized her partner in photography, business, and life, Michael Hodgson, came in second, only one point behind. It seems Michael is already plotting ways to hide Therese's camera gear on upcoming trips.
Although it is the inaugural year for NATJA's recognition of Photographer of the Year, this is the second consecutive year that Therese and Michael have taken home multiple gold and silver photography medals – honors they are humbled and honored to earn that acknowledge their photojournalism passion and skills.
Take a look at their winning photos this year by their category, with a quick peek behind the scenes to reveal a bit more about the photograph and the thought process behind the making of each image.
Landscape and Nature Photography
Silent Dunes by Therese Iknoian – gold medal
I had hiked out to the Mesquite Flat Dunes in Death Valley National Park one November evening with a night photographer buddy. Our goal had been stars, but the clouds didn’t play nice with that goal on that evening. So I pivoted and went with a slightly longer exposure to allow the effect I call “smooshy clouds.” I had to play with the right composition with the lines in the dunes that created shadows and reflected moonlight, as well as with the length of exposure. When it comes to creating smooshy clouds, a.k.a. cloud trails, too long and you just get a milky mess, too short and they are not delightfully smooshy enough. I had not upgraded to a full frame camera yet, so my 16 mm lens was equivalent to 24 mm, with the camera set to a fast f/2.8 to capture more light. I let the shutter remain open for this shot for 90 seconds. Try hiking in Death Valley at night. You will likely too enjoy the silence and solitude of the darkness.
Eye on the Prize by Michael Hodgson – silver medal
I was sitting quietly on a rocky beach in Geographic Harbor, Alaska, camera in hand, watching a large male brown bear hunt for salmon. I had been watching his patterns of wading and charging through the water. Realizing his next charge was likely going to be in my direction, I readied my camera settings and prepared. I lay down and positioned my lens just above the beach, waiting for the charge I expected. When he exploded toward the salmon and directly at my lens, I worked to keep the huge bear, the salmon and splashing water in frame while pressing the shutter. I shot this with a 200-600 mm Sony lens, wide open at f/6.3. By shooting wide open, I got the blurred beach and background I was seeking while keeping the bear and fish in focus. This was handheld, and it was cloudy, so I chose a shutter speed of 1/1250th to ensure the moving bear and splashing water remained sharp.
Action and Adventure Photography
Pedaling Through the Woods by Therese Iknoian – gold medal
Michael and I were riding custom-built electric railbikes along historic railway tracks in the Mendocino County redwood forest. This railbike trek with the Skunk Train, called “Railbikes on the Noyo,” is a four-hour trip, taking you in and out of shadows and light. I wanted to capture the action of pedaling the railbikes on the ride combined with the beauty of the redwoods. This was not easy because I was also controlling the brakes and throttle. I had to lean as far back as possible with my 17 mm lens to get all the action. Finding the balance in shutter speed between slow enough to get movement and fast enough to not blur on the jiggly ride, as well as the right aperture to make sure everything was in focus took me, admittedly, several dozen shots. With our legs moving it was a bit of a game to snag the right composition, too. That meant in the end a shutter speed of 1/60th and an aperture of f/6.3 – and a really steady hold.
Dune Buggy Sand Storm by Michael Hodgson – silver medal
While riding dune buggies in the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area near Coos Bay, Oregon, I knew I wanted an image that conveyed the action and movement of the vehicles over the sand dunes, while also conveying the expanse of the region. At one of the highest dunes, I coordinated with the guide to get out of our dune buggy and position myself where the dune buggies would drive past me, at a close but safe distance, accelerating to spray sand. I was shooting with a 24-70 mm lens and an aperture of f/9.0 to ensure I had sufficient depth of field to keep everything in the frame in focus. I set my shutter speed at 1/1000th to freeze the action sufficiently, but still allowing for a slight blurring of the finer particles of spraying sand.
Cultural Photography
Joy of Dance by Michael Hodgson – gold medal
This image captured the pure joy of seeing Maasai warriors from the Njapit village in Kenya's Ol Chorro Conservancy engaging in a dancing celebration full of chants, yips, rhythm, jumps, and smiles. The moment was extra special as I was one just three citizen scientists who had been patrolling the area outside the Maasai enclosure recording animal tracks when the warriors invited us inside. I was shooting with a 70-200 mm lens and chose an aperture of f/8.0 to ensure sufficient depth of field to keep all the warriors, front to back, in focus. My shutter speed was 1/1000th to freeze the action and capture hair flying and the eyes of the jumping warrior looking at me in sharp focus. I knelt for this shot keeping the lens at waist height to the Maasai, so the image showed the height and energy of the jumps to convey more power and impact to the moment.
Illustrated Story
Visit Basel: a dream travel destination for modern architecture fans by Therese Iknoian – silver medal
Whoever thought an oft-overlooked city like Basel, Switzerland, could be jammed with so much jaw-dropping modern architecture? Angles, curves, crazy lines, modernist, and art nouveau, the styles will not leave architecture fans visiting Basel wanting. That would be me. I am a huge fan of great architecture, and a city like Basel with world-class modern architecture around every corner makes an architecture fan like me drool. I had mapped our way to some key buildings around town, many along a bike tour around town. It was foggy our first time past the Basel Exhibition Center here so we went back in the afternoon after the sky cleared. The trick here was the balance of shadows and light so I ended up using an HDR technique of three shots of different exposures that I then combined for the final image. You can see more of my Basel photos and other architecture shots in my photo gallery.
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