2019 Graduate Recognized by Audubon Magazine
This year’s Audubon magazine photography awards were announced in July, and recent graduate Garrett Sheets (US’19) received an honorable mention in the Youth category for this photograph of a bobolink.
Garrett shared this background story about the shot with Audubon: "At sunset the Dunn Ranch Prairie becomes a field of golden grasses, which provided a perfect setting for this male as he perched briefly for a curious glance at my camera. The robotic tone of his song was echoed by dozens of other Bobolinks as they flew overhead. I was almost too excited to take the photo, but I secured a burst of photos before he took off, flying far out over the grasses."
The contest, now in its 10th year, celebrates birds and their habitats. This year’s winners and honorable mentions were chosen from 2,253 entrants from across the United States and 10 Canadian provinces and territories. The winning photos and honorable mentions are being featured in a variety of ways—in several issues of Audubon, at the organization’s biennial convention, in Nature’s Best Photography magazine (a contest partner), and in an Audubon traveling exhibit.
Garrett’s interest in photography began in the Lower School, when he tagged along on birding trips for his older brother’s Middle School ornithology class. Soon, Garrett's fascination with birds found a perfect match in his love of photography, and he went on to participate in a number of bird-related projects while at the Upper School and as an Eagle Scout. To learn more about how Garrett's hobby has grown into a preprofessional endeavor, see page 54 of the Summer 2019 issue of Principia Purpose. You can also read a recent write-up about Garrett in a photographic lens manufacturer's magazine.