The winners of the California Academy of Sciences' annual nature photography competition are available to see in an exhibit that opened today in San Francisco.
Now in its sixth year, the BigPicture: Natural World Photography Competition, solicits pro and amateur photography from around the world. The hope is to elevate global images of nature, wildlife, and conservation.
With this year's theme of "Pushing the Limits," the exhibit highlights the edge of nature, and adventure through remote and intense landscapes.
Rhonda Rubinstein, the Academy's creative director and founder of the competition, said that this year's show is different from other years. She sees more personality in the creatures and demonstrations of unusual behavior.
She pointed to "The Human Touch," taken by James Gifford, who captured an orphaned gorilla embracing its human caretaker in Virunga National Park in Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The show includes some ominous images like "Boneyard Waltz" (at the top of the story) by Daniel Dietrich, who photographed three polar bears, their white muzzles stained red with blood from a recent meal, walking past a dark pile of whale bones.
