Garbacz Images

02/21/2026

Always love me some frosty trees, and these had just a touch of sun shining on them through the lifting fog. The days were super warm, but fortunately the temps dipped low enough during the nights. Stage was set, but no actors, alas.

02/19/2026

I think everyone knows I just LOVE trees!!! Each season showcases a different aspect of their magnificence - throughout the year they get to shine - just like each of us as we move through our lives. Each season has a purpose and brings with it certain gifts, if we are paying attention. Spring is beautiful with blossoms, the air is filled with amazing scents, and they show us the promise of renewal. Summer provides shade and the growth of fruits to nourish us. Fall color is stunning, and magical, and teaches us about being brilliant while also letting go. For me, there is something uniquely special about the trees in winter. The leaves have all fallen. They stand as sentinels baring their souls, in stillness, resting, withstanding whatever nature decides to throw at them. Perseverance! Strength! Determination in the toughest of conditions- they stand upright, with their branches showcasing their innate beauty, in all their quiet grace. No matter how hard it gets - they are still there! Witnessing! Tater is at the cottage this week and called to say that there are a number of hemlocks on the property that are dead, or sick and in the process of dying. Sigh, I will be sad to see them go. We will plant new ones and watch them grow year after year. During my trip to Yellowstone National Park, there were AMAZING trees - seemingly everywhere I looked. And then, on my last morning, stood this siren - standing guard over the hot springs steps away from our hotel. SWOON!!!

02/07/2026

I'm back in Salt Lake after a lovely week in Yellowstone National Park with friends. This was my first time visiting in "Winter", and I clearly over-packed (although it’s always good to be prepared). What is typically a cold and snowy landscape, (imagine temps well below zero, frosted Bison trudging through deep snow...), was anything but for this trip. Like what is occurring elsewhere throughout the Rockies, snow and water is sparse! Yellowstone is being impacted by a major shift in weather patterns this year, and one wonders what the summer holds for these places which are already SO dry. Friends of mine in North Carolina just had over a foot of snow, compared to the ground in the park which is becoming increasingly bare day by day (except in a few places), with temps in the mid to upper 40's by day. As for the wildlife, it was a quiet week as they have plenty to forage on throughout the park and so are not needing to congregate down on the valley floor searching for their next meal. Even though the conditions were "atypical" for this time of year with the weather more like March or April (or even May!) than the throes of Winter, time spent in our incredible national parks is a magical gift. No trip, much less the wildlife photography ones, are a guarantee of anything. It IS about being present, and bearing witness to what does come your way, and being with people you enjoy. One of the many highlights was spotting from our snow coach, this tiny Northern Pygmy Owl sitting up high in a pine tree. Averaging about 6-1/2" inches tall and weighing in at about 2 ounces, they are a challenge to find.

12/13/2025

The winds and waves here on Saunders Island are building even more today and most of the penguins are hunkered down. This Rockhopper successfully navigated yesterday's waves to get back to shore and up the cliff to its colony.

12/12/2025

Early morning sunrise at The Neck on Saunders Island - was a bit on the breezy side.🤣 The "Big" winds are expected tomorrow.

11/26/2025

There are 2 Snowy Owls that arrived in Chicago about a week ago. I was finally able to get down to the lakefront yesterday afternoon to spend some time sitting and watching them (and yes, of course, take “a few” Photos. Chatted with a guy for a bit as the light faded - turns out he was with the Chicago Sun Times Newspaper. Some of our conversation made it into his article 😎. (Link to article is posted in comments below)

Two owls that landed on a pier near Montrose’s bird sanctuary have drawn hundreds hoping for a glimpse of the majestic species in an urban landscape. Word of the birds' arrival circulated on birder forums for a week.

10/23/2025

I've been logging some late night hours putting the final spit and polish on the 2026 Garbacz Images Calendar and it is ready to head off to the printer! This year marks my 11th year producing my nature & wildlife calendars.
The holidays will be here in a flash - and the calendars will be packaged up and ready to ship out mid-November to fulfill all your gift giving needs !☃️
This year's Calendar is filled with over 50 of my wildlife and landscape images from around the world, including the Whooper Swans, Snow Monkeys, and Red-Crowned Cranes of Japan, the Puffins of Iceland's Grimsey Island, Bears of British Columbia, and from Brazil there is the magnificent Igauzu falls and the Jaguars! These make FABULOUS gifts for your friends, family, neighbors, clients, co-workers, etc! so be sure to RESERVE for yourself AND... don’t forget, to order extras! I know you, and your gift-ees, will enjoy these 12 months of adventure and wonder!

🗓 Calendars are 11x14 in size
💲 Are priced (same as last year) at $28 each (+S/H if not local to Chicago area).
🎁 These make SUPER gifts for EVERYONE on your holiday list
🙋🏻‍♀️ Help support a local artist / small business
🇺🇸 They are printed in the USA!
The pre-order email has been sent out and over #200 are already spoken for - so be sure to comment below or message me to secure yours ASAP before they’re sold out!

10/20/2025

Been putting in a few late night editing sessions recently & came across this lovely little image of Iguazu Falls this evening. This one was an intentional underexposure shot from an early morning walk along the lower circuit on the Argentina side.

09/27/2025

Geez the last month has just flown by at lightning speed that I've barely had a moment to start sorting through the 15K images I came home with. SO - where to begin... Well, ...after spending a few days exploring both the Argentinian and Brazilian sides of Igauzu Falls, we met up with the rest of the gang back in Sao Paulo and flew off to the Pantanal area of Brazil for 10 incredible days.

The Pantanal is the world's largest tropical wetland, has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site, spans an area estimated at between 54,000 and 75,000 sq mi throughout areas of Brazil, Bolivia, and Paraguay, and is all that remains of an ancient inland sea. The area is famous for its incredible biodiversity and high density of wildlife and is one of the most biologically rich environments on the planet, with more than 4,700 plant and animal species.

During our 10 days we were incredibly lucky with our photo opportunites which included tapirs, giant otters, caimans, capybaras, coati, capuchin, howler monkeys, anteaters, porcupines, an astonishing array of birdlife, and yes JAGUARS - THE Apex Predator of the area.

The spot pattern of a Jaguar is unique to each one, like a fingerprint is to us. According to the Jaguar ID Project - "The jaguar (Panthera onca) is the largest cat native to the Americas and the third largest cat in the world, after their lion and tiger cousins. The Pantanal holds the densest population of jaguars, estimating between 4,000-7,000 in the Pantanal alone." Their 9th ed of the Jaguar Field Guide keeps a yearly track of the most commonly seen in the area we explored, and since 2013 they have documented 412 different jaguars.

During our 5 days staying at a floating lodge on the river in jaguar country, I think we had 18 jaguar encounters. Bagua, a young male, was our very first Jaguar siting on our very first afternoon. He did not disappoint.

06/30/2025

The sand eel is the favorite food of choice for puffins, and puffins can dive down to depths of nearly 200 feet at incredibly fast speeds. Puffins have a rough, textured tongue that can grip the fish. The upper part of the beak has small, spiny projections that point towards the throat. When a puffin catches a fish, it pushes it against these spines with its tongue, securing the fish in place. This allows puffins to catch and hold multiple fish without losing their catch while continuing to hunt. They tend to carry an average of 10 sand eels at a time. Puffin breeding rates and success are keenly tied to the availability of this food source. When sand eels are overfished (as they are a popular harvest for the making of fish meal and fish oils) puffin breeding fails as the pufflings starve.

06/27/2025

So I came home from Canada with about 12k Bear photos, which I’ll hopefully get back to sharing more of come July, but now for something completely different. 😎 Iceland is home to roughly 60% of the Atlantic Puffins, who come ashore for just a few months a year to breed and raise their pufflings. Grimsey is a 5 square km island about 40km off the north coast of Iceland along the southern edge of the Arctic Circle. There are on average about 1 million birds who call Grimsey home in the summer along with an estimated 90,000 breeding pairs of puffins. And yes, they are as totally adorable as they seem and I’m madly shooting away to try and capture all their cuteness!