Evan Barrientos Photography

05/07/2026

I returned to check on the Wood Frogs tadpoles in the vernal pool near me. They were busy gobbling up the remains of their eggs, as well as the eggs of their siblings that failed to hatch. In the following weeks, there was very little rain, so I stopped by to check on them. The water was frighteningly low. It finally rained the next weekend. I hope they made it.

March 30, 2026
Jefferson National Forest
Montgomery County, Virginia

05/06/2026

In 2023 I started working on a film about the Snowy Plovers at Great Salt Lake for the National Audubon Society. Now, I’m delighted to share its trailer and invite you to its premiere. Three years ago, when my coworker, Heidi Hoven, described seeing these overlooked birds trying to nest between people picnicking and partying on the beach, I knew there was a story to tell. That year, Audubon and Tracy Aviary started a project to monitor how recreation is impacting the birds’ nesting success. I proposed making a film that introduces people to Snowy Plovers through the experiences of these devoted conservationists. After several hot days of filming at the lake and a year of editing, that film, “Shoreline Sentinels of Great Salt Lake,” is now ready to share! By creating it, I hope to foster empathy for the Snowy Plovers nesting at Great Salt Lake, and for shorebirds sharing beaches with humans everywhere.

Audubon and Tracy Aviary will host the premiere screening at the Utah Film Center in Salt Lake City on May 30. Project staff and I will participate in a panel Q&A afterwards (I’ll be attending remotely). If you live nearby, I hope you'll get your tickets: https://utahfilmcenter.eventive.org/schedule/69e925c0d764f64896e694ad

Thank you to the staff at Audubon and Tracy Aviary for continuously supporting and funding this project, and to the anonymous donor who also helped fund it.

04/19/2026

I recently learned that TikTok puts a sensitive content warning before this video! 😂 Apparently, "Some people may find this video disturbing." Since it's sage-grouse mating season once again, I thought I'd share it here. Watch at your own risk!

For those unfamiliar, this is a male Greater Sage-Grouse performing a courtship display for females in southern Wyoming. He inflates two air sacs in his chest to produce a unique booming sound. Sage-grouse live only in the sagebrush steppe ecosystem across much of the western United States. Their population has declined drastically in the last 50 years due to habitat disturbance from oil and gas development, invasive species, and other causes.

04/03/2026

I had a great time exploring vernal pools at Maple Flats a couple weeks ago. I’ve never been to a place with so many amphibians! The Northern Cricket Frogs were exceptionally abundant and cooperative. Many thanks to Steven David Johnson Photography for showing me this place. I highly recommend checking out his amazing photography.

March 22, 2026
Jefferson National Forest
Augusta County, Virginia

03/30/2026

I had a mesmerizing experience photographing Wood Frog eggs for the first time earlier this month in a vernal pool. It was like photographing another world, full of things I had never seen in my viewfinder before. The suspended bubbles were especially alluring to me. It was hard to photograph such a complex scene well, and I’m only marginally happy with this photo. I’m looking forward to having more opportunities to work on this kind of image.

March 11, 2026
Jefferson National Forest
Montgomery County, Virginia

03/19/2026

High Country News published a story about Wyoming’s “Golden Triangle” in their March issue that features photos I took for the National Audubon Society/Audubon Rockies. This place is considered the best remaining sagebrush steppe habitat left in the world. It is one of the few places where I have felt the sublime: the overwhelming power and beauty of nature.

But the Trump administration has put the Triangle under threat of oil and gas development.

Christine Peterson writes in the article, “The current plan for the Rock Springs area was finalized in late 2024, after more than 13 years of deliberation. But the BLM announced in October that it will spend one year overhauling portions of it. … A BLM news release said the possible changes are a response to President Donald Trump’s ‘Unleashing American Energy’ executive order, which, it says, directs ‘federal agencies to reassess policies that may unnecessarily restrict access to domestic energy and mineral resources.’ The release specifically called for reexamining areas of critical environmental concern — such as the Golden Triangle — to see if protections are still warranted.’

Does the Golden Triangle—the best remaining sagebrush steppe—deserve to be protected from oil and gas? I sure think so. How about you? Learn more at https://www.hcn.org/issues/58-3/how-trumps-oil-and-gas-agenda-threatens-critical-wyoming-wildlife-habitat/.

03/18/2026

Honored to have some of my photos of Wyoming's Golden Triangle featured in High Country News. I hope you'll learn about this important place:

Wyoming’s Golden Triangle is an ecological wonder, but the management plan protecting it from oil and gas development faces unprecedented attacks.

03/17/2026

Spring has returned to the forests of western Virginia. On a walk in Ellett Valley, I found these Rue Anemone emerging from the dry leaf litter, along with a Red-backed Salamander, which are becoming easy to find underneath logs again. Stink bugs, which I never associated with early spring, seem to be among the first insects to emerge.

March 9, 2026
Ellett Valley Recreational Area
Blacksburg, Virginia

02/20/2026

I found a pond where Wood Frogs and Spring Peepers were breeding. Unfortunately, they had to cross a road to get there, and it wasn't going well for them. Town of Blacksburg Government, can we get a sign here please?

02/17/2026

Fragments of a shell cracked open by a squirrel scattered across a burnt log, infinite tunnels of beetle larvae carving the inner wood of a fallen tree, green pine needles embedded within the brown, and raw hickory nuts sheltered by their husks. These were some of the details that caught my eye yesterday as I explored a patch of forest where the US Forest Service conducted a prescribed burn a few weeks ago. The familiar smell of prescribed fire woke memories within me of burns I participated in in Florida, Nebraska, Oregon, and Colorado. It amazes me that despite how different the ecosystems are, the burns smell the same.

Jefferson National Forest
Montgomery County, Virginia