For The Love of Nature

• Prize
  Gold in Special/Digitally Enhanced, 1st Place winner in Special
• Photographer
  Cheryl Medow
• Agency / Studio
  Cheryl Medow
• Technical Info
  All Photographs In Each Image Were Photographed By Me Using Various Nikon Z9, Camera Lenghts
• Photo Date
  various

Through my ongoing Envisioning Habitat series, I work to present the beauty and majesty of birds in landscapes, real and imagined. Over the last two decades I have been photographing nature in search of a combination of images to landscapes that match my excitement about the world around me. The beauty I see in nature is an element in every image I create. I desire to share a sense of awe with the hope that once the magnificence of this planet and its amazing creatures and landscapes are seen, the desire to preserve and protect will find expression.

Santa Barbara artist and nature photographer Cheryl Medow creates images that entice the viewer to enter the natural world and envision her wild birds, in imaginary and real environments. Using classical and contemporary tools, Medow layers her photographs, weaving them together to create visual narratives without the use of AI. Medow hopes that by embracing her hyper-real bird images, her audience will also create more space for birds living on our planet and be mindful of the fragility and beauty of life itself.