“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” (Marcel Proust)
Photography has taken Polich to another level of consciousness where a new world has been created along with a greater self awareness and a deeper appreciation for the natural world. Keeping these thoughts in mind along with a “thirst and hunger” for new discoveries as well as returning to old “haunts”, Carol Polich’s nature photography has taken her to the African and Asian continents and throughout the western USA where she has captured not only the “big” things in nature, but the little things as well.
But, it has been the “big” panoramics, a desert dune scene from Namibia, that won, for her, the National Geographic Traveler Photo contest in 1996. With that award came a trip to Nepal where she captured scenes with high mountain country and wildlife while riding elephants in Chitwan and Royal Bardia National Parks. All of this was “out of the norm” from photographing the big game of southern Africa where she has traveled and photographed since 1987.
Facing the challenge of the natural elements, whether in searing heat or well below zero in temperatures, and photographing with nature’s seasons, Polich’s photographic eye goes beyond the surface along with her creative writing. She has published stories and photos in South African and American nature and photo magazines. Her work has appeared in: TRAVEL AFRICA(UK), AFRICA GEOGRAPHIC (CapeTown), CUSTOS ( the former South African National Parks magazine), DIVERSIONS (Johannesburg), SWARA (Nairobi), and the American magazines: OUTDOOR PHOTOGRAPHER, OUTDOOR CALIFORNIA, PETERSEN’S PHOTOGRAPHY, SHUTTERBUG, NATURE’S BEST PHOTO MAGAZINE, WOMEN IN THE OUTDOORS, BIG SKY JOURNAL, MONTANA and MONTANA OUTDOORS, and THE QUILTER magazine. Within Montana and the western USA, her images are found in several of the state regional guides and in her first book, “Portrait of Paradise” published by Far Country Press, 2007, which covers the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem..
Living less than 2 hours from Yellowstone National Park in Bozeman, Montana, Polich’s images from this park plus several other western USA national parks have been printed in postcard, poster, and calendar formats. Book publishers such as TEHABI BOOKS, SIERRA PRESS, FALCON PRESS, SOUTHWEST PARKS AND MONUMENTS, and STRUIK/NEW HOLLAND PUBLISHERS (South Africa) continually use her scenics and wildlife images. Her images have been found in a variety of calendar publishers in the USA, Canada, and South Africa, ranging from the NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC calendars, BROWNTROUT, AVALANCHE, THE TIME FACTORY, MEAD WESTVACO, SMITH-SOUTHWESTERN and ORANGE TREE PRODUCTIONS.
Being the adventure traveler that she is, sooner or later, Polich needed to further diversify with her “eye” and learn this form of photography. From A to Z, she has covered some of the ancient civilizations from the Anasazi ruins in the western USA and Angkor Wat in Cambodia to the Great Zimbabwe Ruins in Zimbabwe. Some of her travel photography images have appeared in well known travel catalogues such as OVERSEAS ADVENTURE TRAVEL (OAT), GEOGRAPHIC EXPEDITIONS, BACKROADS, MOUNTAIN TRAVEL SOBEK, and WILDERNESS TRAVEL while clothing catalogues such as RAILRIDERS(Boston),COLDWATER CREEK, TRAVEL SMITH and THE TERRITORY AHEAD have also used her imagery.
Self taught, Polich uses a digital SLR with a variety of Sigma lenses and rarely goes anywhere without a Bogen tripod or a Kirk bean bag for shooting out the car window.
Website:
http://www.sigmaphoto.com/photographers/carol-polich
Upcoming Tours
Cabrillo National Monument and Tidal Pools Field Workshop – November 15th, 2010
