Bringing Back the Butterflies

Posted on March 1, 2013 by Lech

Restoration is a favorite activity of mine. There’s an intrinsic healing that happens within oneself when your hands get dirty, plants comes to life, caterpillars become butterflies, and you generally work as a hand that protects and celebrates nature. It’s kind of like gardening, but way cooler!

In this month, my field work has ramped up and there are lots of amazing flowers and creatures that have come to enjoy their rebirth in spring. This desktop calendar celebrates an almost 30 year effort to understand and save one species in particular, the Bay Checkerspot Butterfly.

Here’s my desktop calendar March – free for all who want to use it as such. I wanted to celebrate the work of Dr. Stuart Weiss (see this wacky character, mentor, revolutionary above) and his associates (okay, fine, I’m one of them) in restoring habitat before a species becomes extinct. More info about the Creekside Center for Earth Observation here. Click on the photo, then right click and save the image, or see the link below.

Here’s the download to the full size picture for your desktop – Please enjoy!

Rhythm of the Lodgepoles

Posted on February 1, 2013 by Lech

My February calendar download pays tribute to a wonderfully, snowy lodgepole pine stand. I warn you, it’s abstract. In that, I think this sweeping long exposure provides a lot of ecological information on the stand. From this abstract you get a sense of openness and light in the forest stand – this has shown to decrease pine bark beetle invasion and help maintain larger trees for longer. Yes, this is reason to go hug your favorite forester.

The openings, the hand of humankind in its management have created the rhythm of our lodgepoles.

This photo hails from a lodgepole stand in Whitefish, Montana.

I hope you enjoy the still sleepy, cool tones of the end of winter. Please feel free to click on the image and save it as your desktop calendar for the month of February. Or you can click here for the direct link.

Enjoy!

PS Why is rhythm such a hard word to spell if its just so important in life?

2012: A Year in Review – An ebook look into Lech Naumovich Photography

Posted on January 30, 2013 by Lech

I’ve been working on trying to recap and learn from my past year of photography. This year, for the first time, I’ve taken on creating an ebook with my 16 favorite images, and offering it as a sort of brief, updated portfolio. Continue reading →

Warmth and Hope in the Chiliest of Times: January 2013 Desktop Calendar

Posted on January 2, 2013 by Lech

Happy New Year!

I must say that I’m very sad to see 2012 go (but still excited for 2013 at the same time). It was a thrilling year with many great happenings. There were also trying times when it seemed like this place we celebrate as home is aching. The winter is just the season to allow for rest, regeneration, slow days, and cold cuddle-up-with-someone nights. More to come on recapping 2012 and looking forward to 2013.

Here’s my desktop calendar January – free for all who want to use it as such. I wanted to celebrate the cold, quiet, slow times and know that they are as important as peak growing season. Here’s a photo from Yosemite valley celebrating just that. Click on the photo, then right click and save the image, or see the link below.

Here’s the download to the full size picture for your desktop – Please enjoy!

December Calendar Release – Kicking off a New Project

Posted on December 2, 2012 by Lech

I’m very excited to start a new mini-project celebrating unique landscapes and people’s connection to them. I will create a file that includes a bit of a description of the place, a photo of the place (of course), and a monthly calendar!

The first one, December 2012, is a celebration of quiet and peaceful places among a matrix of urban areas. The Mt. Hamilton Range, east of San Jose, is just that place. A number of private landowners have helped preserve this dramatic landscape filled with true wild-ness, aka wilderness!

Continue reading →

Humans Required Slideshow for the Bay Area Open Space Council

Posted on November 14, 2012 by Lech

I’m excited to be offering 13 slides from the Conservation:Humans Required project that I’ve been working on over the years. This set of slides is particularly exciting to present to the Bay Area conservation professionals who will be attending a sold out seasonal gathering by the Bay Area Open Space Council at the David Brower Center in Berkeley. The BAOSC is a fantastic organization that makes great things happen in the conservation world. Thanks to Annie and Ryan for this opportunity.

These slides come from the heart as I want to inspire a new wave of conservation minded humans who see knowledge and commitment as an answer to habitat degradation. Many of these photos depict places I am attached to as an ecologist, hiker, photographer, or just a philosopher. All scenes are less than 150 miles from home. All scenes feel like home…

Here’s a one slide of the show. It should be fun and I hope to make some strong connections with new friends.

Conserving Natives – Both Plants and Knowledge

Posted on October 25, 2012 by Lech

I was recently approached by a naturopathic physician about art for her healing space. I was immediately excited about the idea since she was also very interested in my ties to local botany and ecology. A match made in heaven – healing, botany, conservation. Yeah, sign me up!

Continue reading →

The Walls of Glacier at 50mm

Posted on August 3, 2012 by Lech

Here’s a little snapshot I took of the eroding walls directly above Siyeh Creek in Glacier National Park. I’ve bought into the “as seen by our human eyes” landscape shots more and more. Don’t automatically put your wide-angle lens (24mm, 17mm) on in the great outdoors. Take in what your eyes see at 50mm. Yup – 50mm is about equal to the field of vision of a human eye. That’s why many people just love the “feel” of a 50. I personally love the way the Glacier wall is prominent, and huge, while it is accented with the coniferous trees below, and not a touch of sky above. And yes, these are BIG walls, but they seem even bigger if they can’t fit into a camera frame! [click on image to enlarge any picture] Continue reading →

Published in Bay Nature

Posted on July 18, 2012 by Lech

If there’s a magazine in the Bay Area that seems to sing to my skill set and interests, it is Bay Nature. Bay Nature is an organic journey into all things natural that shape our landscapes and inspire the people who live in them. Everything from redwoods, to tiny rare annual plants to mushrooms to the people who help conserve the resources live in this regional magazine. Its the whole ecosystem, the anthropocene at its finest. (I just learned to embrace this word at the 1st ever Society for Conservation Biology Congress in Oakland at which I spoke on some of my ecological work in the Oakland Hills and beyond)