honorable mention
Jay Rush united states
title
A Day in The Masai Mara
Jay enjoys all aspects of photography, and finds the axiom "Get Outside!" to be the best rule to live by as a photographer and human being. His desire is to use his art form as a medium for impactful marketing and peaceful communication, and introducing the creative arts to others. He shoots with Nikon camera bodies and lenses but is carefully watching the developments of mirrorless technology and its travel and video applications.
Jay is married with two dogs. He and his wife Rachel are building there modest dream home on 20 acres in the Rocky Mountains.
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entry description
I wouldn't call myself a wildlife photographer; I think its a hard niche to make a living in. That said, we jumped at the chance to fly in to the Masai Mara/Serengeti ecosystem and watch the pre-historic biome at work, and I took my camera. The only reference I have to the impact this region made on my psyche as we coasted above the savannah was that of a scene from the film Jurassic Park, watching stunning numbers and herds of the most fantastic and exotic animals run and dart below our plane. I've always found zoos depressing, and nature shows frustratingly elitist from a cameraman's perspective. Being in the thick of it was refreshing, no, invigorating. To have a lion saunter next to your vehicle is to experience a visceral understanding of what it means to be a 175-pound human with small teeth and no weapons. Watching a hyena rip the heart from a fallen topi is to gain a new gratitude for an oft-maligned member of the African wildlife dynamic; I have a special appreciation for the hyena's grit and independence. My advice to anyone reading this: buy a ticket to Africa, spend several nights in a canvas tent guarded, ostensibly, by Masai tribesmen with sticks, and listen with baited breath as the lions low in the dusk stillness. It will set your heart on fire.about the photographer
Jay is a Vail, Colorado-based commercial/lifestyle and architectural photographer and, his interests span a larger spectrum. In May 2015, Jay travelled to Kenya, spending several weeks in Nairobi to document the work of the NGO Africa Yoga Project and, shot images during safari in the Masai Mara Wildlife Reserve. In September, he travelled to the island of Java, Indonesia and then to the small island chain to the West, the Mentawais, to document surfing in the Indian Ocean.Jay enjoys all aspects of photography, and finds the axiom "Get Outside!" to be the best rule to live by as a photographer and human being. His desire is to use his art form as a medium for impactful marketing and peaceful communication, and introducing the creative arts to others. He shoots with Nikon camera bodies and lenses but is carefully watching the developments of mirrorless technology and its travel and video applications.
Jay is married with two dogs. He and his wife Rachel are building there modest dream home on 20 acres in the Rocky Mountains.
back to gallery