ENTRY DESCRIPTION
I was quite astonished the first time I flew a drone over a shallow river bed and discovered the amazing patterns of water flow visible from high above but invisible to a land-based camera. In Iceland, glacial rivers carry finely-ground rock ('flour'), giving the water a milky whitish-blue appearance. When these rivers reach very flat areas, the river divides into many shallow channels, each of which may split apart or rejoin other channels. The details depend on the depth and speed of the water flow. The patterns left behind are nothing less than the history of all recent flows, with all the interactions preserved for the eye (or the camera of a drone) to see. The pale areas are where the water currently flows, while darker areas are more or less-recent sandbars and channels left behind by the receding water. The overall effect is abstract, while the details of texture and tone are endlessly engrossing.

AUTHOR
I have been curious about nature for as long as I can remember (my parents said at
least from the age of 4). My first camera was a small cheap plastic Kodak, but I
delighted in taking pictures of life in our garden. Over time, my equipment has
become fancier and my destinations more distant, but I still revel in the joy of
interacting with the natural world through my camera. I chose a career of studying
the behavior and ecology of animals, mostly primates, as a way of spending as
much time in nature as possible while still getting paid to do so! I used photographs
to document my study animals and their natural history, but had too little time to
develop my photography to the next level. Upon retiring from academia in 2018, I
devoted myself fully to improving my wildlife photography, taking advantage of my
knowledge of animal behavior. The most difficult challenge was to transition from
technical mastery of the camera to being a creative graphic artist. I could not have
succeeded without the mentorship of several outstanding photographers, most
recently Tin Man Lee, for whose inspiration and insights I am deeply grateful.

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