Wildlife / Animals nominee

Blue is one the rarest colors made as a pigment. Most animals can't produce blue pigments. How it's possible that the Morpho butterfly's wings appear to be blue, despite their containing no blue pigment at all? The secret: Each of the wing's scales is a “huge” cell that can bend and reflect light. Blue land animals are rare; there are no blue land mammals and very few blue birds. Blue is in fact so rare in nature.

Monika Schneider is a professional photographer based in Germany. With a subtle minimalistic approach, she strive to create work that is clear and uncompromising. She make color the central element of her Photography and to provoke an emotional response or longing from the viewer when a certain color penetrates of soul. Each floral portrait on her website is a digital photo composite created by merging several images together.This technique involves taking photos at different focal lengths in order to capture all the unique details that cannot be captured with one shot.