One of my favorite hobbies, though not seriously pursued in recent years, is travel and wildlife photography. It requires lugging the heavy gear, getting up before daylight to be in the right place at the right time, and great patience waiting for the miracle to happen. More often than not, the moment doesn’t come or, worse yet, we miss it when it does. But every once in a while, everything seems to fall into place and we get a really great image. And that’s what keeps us going back for more.

Here’s one example, not one of mine I’m sorry to say, but a finalist in the 36th annual National Wildlife Photo Contest, the results for which were published in the Dec-Jan 2007 issue of National Wildlife Magazine.

Amateur photographer Steve Irving photographed a male calliope hummingbird (left) attempting to chase a female rufous hummingbird away from a feeding flower while he was attending a photography workshop last year in British Columbia. “I’ve taken many photos of fighting hummingbirds,” Steve says. “Usually all I get is wings or a blur, or nothing at all.” This great shot earned him First Place in the “Birds, Amateur” category.

More than 12,000 images were submitted in eight categories during the past year to the contest. Selected by the editors on the basis of originality and execution, the winners appear in the linked article. They are amazing and include captions by the photographers describing how they captured each image. Nice work all!