Opening today on the 2nd Floor the National Museum of Natural History Presents the Annual Nature’s Best Photography Windland Smith Rice International Awards Exhibition.
Within a 4,000 square foot exhibition hall, 60 large-format prints are displayed—some at nearly life-sized proportions—with two accompanying HD videos. Museum visitors are taken along on a virtual global safari and are introduced to the image-makers and their stories from behind the camera lens.
Art is featured as the Photographer of the Year in recognition of his extraordinary body of
work over the past 40 years and the contributions he has made to natural history awareness. “Photographers everywhere are making a difference in the way we see the world and our place in it,” says Wolfe. “Never stop looking: no matter where you are,
there are good photographs to be made.”
Art will be doing a book signing of Earth Is My Witness on November 13, as well as attending the awards presentations that night.
Some of you may have seen my July 8th post about the tiny hummingbird nest I discovered clinging to a branch on one of my Japanese maples. I was able to get a few more photos before the last of the fledgelings flew the nest. He was a fat little guy and very demanding on his parents!
If you create a natural habitat you soon get wild animals to share the space. I invite you to see my garden up close on July 20th during the West Seattle Garden Tour (WSGT). I will be on hand to greet visitors and sell and sign books as a benefit for WSGT
Click on their logo for information and tickets:
The WSGT donates net proceeds of the event to support Seattle-based community gardens and other non-profits that promote horticulture, education, or the arts.
Look what I discovered in one of my trees when I was pruning with my friend!
If you create a natural habitat you soon get wild animals to share the space with. I unfortunately left for a trip right after discovering these cute little guys and figured they would fly the nest before my return. I sent requests to several of my friends to go photograph them while I was away. My assistant Libby Pfeiffer made it up there over the weekend and got some nice shots. She reported the mother was vary concerned about her presence, and would only land on the opposite side from her camera. You can see how much they grew in a few short days! Also, I want to mention to those near Seattle, if you want to check out my garden, it will be part of the West Seattle Garden Tour on July 20th. I will be there to greet visitors and sign books.
Rufous hummingbird chicks in nest, Seattle, Washington by Libby PfeifferRufous hummingbird chicks in nest, Seattle, Washington by Libby Pfeiffer
Award-winning author and photographer David FitzSimmons has a unique approach to animal portraiture, and he loves sharing it with kids. Instead of seeking rare animals in exotic locations, David photographs common animals—many found in your own backyard—against plain, white backgrounds, producing detailed close-up images that motivate children and their families to appreciate and explore nature. The striking images are the visual foundation of his Curious Critters children’s picture book series. Volume one (2011) won five national book awards and sold over 100,000 copies. Curious Critters Volume Two, featuring amazing animals from across North America, will be released in February.
David FitzSimmons is an award-winning freelance photographer and writer. His first book in the Curious Critters series won the coveted IBPA Bill Fisher Award for best first book (children’s/young adult). A Sigma Pro photographer, David has exhibited works at the Roger Tory Peterson Institute, the National Center for Nature Photography, and the Telluride Photo Festival. He is a life-long educator, teaching students from kindergarten to college. Currently David is an Associate Professor at Ashland University. He has appeared on ABC, CBS, and NBC-TV. You can see more of David’s photography at www.fitzsimmonsphotography.com.
FitzSimmons’ unconventional approach to wildlife photography allows animals’ colors, textures, shapes, and seeming “personalities” to shine through. “Kids focus on the animals. That’s when the learning begins,” David explains. “They focus on and notice clues about animals’ behaviors, diets, life cycles, and habitats.” The first image in Curious Critters Volume Two is a monarch butterfly preparing for its 2,000 mile flight from Milkweed, Minnesota, to Oyamel Fir Forest, Mexico.
In writing the Curious Critters children’s picture books, David imagined that each critter talked to him during its portrait session and that he just wrote down what was said. The audiobooks for Curious Critters Volumes One and Two capture the sometimes calm, other times excited, and occasionally irascible personalities David envisioned. For the audiobook version of the conversation among four recently-born Eastern cottontail rabbits, David cast his two oldest daughters and two nieces for the voiceovers.
Besides the extraordinary photography, each of the twenty animals in Curious Critters Volume Two gets a chance to tell its story. The indigo bunting talks about calls in his “song neighborhood.” The indigo bunting reports that some “songbirds complain because I repeat myself, but I enjoy saying things twice, sometimes in very long songs. Sweet! Sweet! Chew! Chew! Where? Where? Here! Here! Sweeter! Sweeter! Chew! Chew! What! What! Sweet! Sweet!”
Curious Critters Volume Two is not only entertaining but also educational. Before David began composing the short vignettes accompanying the photos, he reviewed national science education standards. Curious Critters Volume Two meets all the life science standards for grades K-4, making the nonfiction picture book appeal to teachers, librarians, and education-minded parents. In the narrative alongside the green frog, the powerful male boasts about his healthy diet, including eating his own shed skin. “Hey! if it’s nutritious, I eat it.”
Adding to children’s enjoyment of the Curious Critters series, David partnered with nature-folksinger Foster Brown, who sings the predaceous diving beetle’s song, “Row, Row, Row Your Legs.” Beginning and ending both audiobooks is Foster’s catchy Curious Critters theme song, rich with the bluegrass sounds of guitar, banjo, mandolin, and upright bass.
David hopes that his Curious Critters picture books—featuring captivating animals like the vivid Northern Cardinal—will inspire children and adults to conserve nature. “To protect our natural world, we first have to care about it. I hope that my animal pictures allow people to see common animals—from frogs and fish to beetles and birds—in a whole new and meaningful way. It’s my goal that the close-up photography and playful prose in Curious Critters will captivate readers’ imaginations and motivate them to get outside and interact with nature.”
Curious Critters Volume Two (Wild Iris Publishing, hardback, 32 pp., ISBN 978-1-936607-70-9, $19.95) is available in bookstores, nature centers, museum stores, and other specialty shops, as well as online retailers Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Copies bought directly from Wild Iris Publishing are signed by and, if desired, dedicated by David FitzSimmons.
Check out other Curious Critters media, as well as games, parent and educator materials, sample flipping book pages, and other fun stuff at www.curious-critters.com. You can like Curious Critters on Facebook. To hear samples from the Curious Critters audiobooks, including tracks from Curious Critters Volume One, or to purchase MP3s or CDs of the audiobooks, visit the Audiobooks page on www.wildirispublishing.com.
What’s up next for David?
David can’t wait to share a variety of sea creatures with children and families. Coming soon is Curious Critters: Marine. Meet fish, birds, crustaceans and other animals from the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, as well as the Gulf of Mexico. Hear what the black sea bass, candy stripe shrimp, pencil urchin, crested puffin, California sea slug, horseshoe crab, roseate spoonbill, blue lobster, and other salty Curious Critters have to say! Available Fall 2014.
The Art of the Photograph helps amateur photographers of all levels break bad habits and shatter common yet incorrect assumptions that hold many photographers back, transforming your photography in the process.
And it is now available in the UK, including on Amazon.
It is still available in the US, including on my store.
2013 was a year of firsts as well as a year of accomplishment. I did a huge amount of traveling, much of it in preparation for my new book Earth Is My Witness coming out Fall 2014. Destinations included Kenya, the South Pacific, the Galapagos, Iceland, southern Africa, my home region of the Pacific Northwest, Brazil, Australia, Borneo, Italy, Chile, Argentina, Japan, Myanmar, and India.
We published two instructional photography books with Amphoto Books: The New Art of Photographing Nature with Martha Hill and Tim Grey and The Art of the Photograph with Rob Sheppard. Find them in the store HERE
I received much-appreciated honorifics, including the Lifetime Achievement Award from the North American Nature Photography Association and the Nature’s Best Photography Award in recognition of Outstanding Achievement in Nature Photography.
The Rotella Gallery opened an exciting new Soho location. You may have seen the dramatic full page ads in the New York Times featuring my image “Spirit Horse.” Find their location information HERE
Teaching workshops is always a pleasure. In April I conducted a Masters of Nature Photography seminar with legendary nature photographers Frans Lanting and Tom Mangelsen. We have another event coming up in February 2014 and I will be posting some additional events soon at www.artwolfeworkshops.com.
If you find yourself in Seattle, please do not hesitate to drop by my gallery. As always, please keep an eye on the blog, Twitter, Facebook and G+ for the latest updates.
If you create a natural habitat you soon get wild animals to share the space with. I unfortunately left for a trip right after discovering these cute little guys and figured they would fly the nest before my return. I sent requests to several of my friends to go photograph them while I was away. My assistant Libby Pfeiffer made it up there over the weekend and got some nice shots. She reported the mother was vary concerned about her presence, and would only land on the opposite side from her camera. You can see how much they grew in a few short days! Also, I want to mention to those near Seattle, if you want to check out my garden, it will be part of the 
