Photo: Green-winged Teals, James Fatemi/Audubon Photography Awards
Tom Blackburn
Green-winged Teals, James Fatemi/Audubon Photography Awards
James Fatemi
James Fatemi, a junior at McLean High School, won the Youth Honorable Mention Award in the National Audubon Society’s 2023 Photography Contest. James’s photograph of Green-winged Teals mating during a snowfall at Huntley Meadows Park impressed the judges, one of whom praised his decision to take the photo in adverse weather and stated, “The colors on the male pop beautifully against the overall muted color palette.”
James is no stranger to photo contests. His photo of an American Toad titled “King of His Domain” won first prize in both the Youth and Overall divisions in the 2021 Friends of Huntley Meadows Park photo contest when James was just 14. He also won first prize in the Youth category for the Friends’ 2020 contest.
“King of His Domain,” James Fatemi
James learned the basics of photography about four years ago from his father, Fredrik, who said, “It wasn’t long before James began teaching me things.” His first important photo was of a Scarlet Tanager that he took for his grandmother, who had only ever seen one. James recently has developed an interest in macro photography and enjoys taking pictures of insects as well as birds and other wildlife. You can see more of James’s photos here and here. You can see all of the National Audubon Society’s 2023 award winners here.