Wildlife/Animals 1st place winner

Each Spring, many nesting pairs of Great Egrets gather at Kraft Azalea Garden in Central Florida, United States to begin their nesting rituals. I was inspired to share with the world the beauty of the Great Egrets. I made countless trips to the location in order to capture the most beautiful moments. Their true beauty is best reflected with their natural living environment. I wanted to fully utilize their enchanting surroundings to better obtain unique compositions. I carefully selected the camera positions and patiently waited for the best opportunities. During post-processing for some of these photos, I selected the sky to make it darker, and then I painted the light using the soft-brush tool to create a more dreamy and artistic impression. Over a period of two Spring seasons, I finally finished the series to display the beauty of wildlife in real Florida.

Fenqiang Frank Liu began studying drawing while attending middle school in China. During college, he took interest in photography. After finishing his undergraduate degree in Chinese literature, he worked at the Audio-visual education center of the college as a cameraman for geographic educational videos and documentaries in the Minority Autonomous Region of China. He later came to the United States to obtain his MFA degree in Cinema and Photography in Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. After graduation, he worked as a computer animator and motion graphic designer. He and his wife later opened a business that provides behavior analysis services for children with autism. In the recent years, he has been devoting his time to wildlife and nature photography and won multiple awards from international photo contests, including a 1st Place at the Chromatic Awards, 1st Place at the Monochrome Awards, 2nd Place at the International Photography Awards, Silver award at Tokyo International Foto Awards, and Bronze award at Budapest International Foto Awards.

Frank’s educational and cultural influence from both the East and the West, his artistic background, and his mastery of photography allow him to express his thoughts and emotions in a unique style.