Greg Shchepanek

 Year of the Snake Wandering Garter Snake ( Thamnophis elegans ssp. vagrans ) Creston Valley Wildlife Management Area, British Columbia, Canada. Ramsar site no. 649. Let go of old patterns and embrace innovation for this year of the snake and see a year of adaptability and renewal, this Wednesday will be when the celebrations come to a head and spring will be welcomed. I always love the Chinese New Year because it is based on the Lunar New Year and the fascinating animals that shape the year ahead. The Snake is the sixth animal in the zodiac cycle. Much like the snake sheds its skin, 2025 marks a year when individuals and communities can let go of old patterns and embrace innovation. The year of the snake serves as a call for thoughtful action and strategic change. 

 Another Week of Competitions and Rankings #1 = American Bullfrog ( Lithobates catesbeianus ) Bill Mason Centre, Dunrobin, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.  My frogs are proving to be my best photographs on the web. I am very fortunate to have a variety of frogs to photograph here in Canada and they are happy to pose for the camera. This week on Photocrowd saw some rankings from Premium Contests that came to fruition and shake up what my popular photos are on the site. I am now in 3,252 position with 155,915 ranking points, up 730 from last week. My two other sites that I participate in are PULSEpx and Viewbug they don't have rankings for my photos and are basically quests and competitions but Viewbug has an awards system where I have acquired 118 awards to date on my photographs that I have uploaded there my Snowshoe Hare photos prove to be most popular.  Viewbug Awards #2 = Ghost Tiger Beetle ( Ellipsoptera lepida ) Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Conservation Status: imperiled (N2N...

Snowshoe Hare Featuring a Snowshoe Hare ( Lepus americanus ) grazing the springtime grass at Shirleys Bay, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. This is my most popular video that I created on YouTube with 337 views and eight likes. It is very hard to keep the subject in focus, but over time I will get better and it is keeping the camera steady. I think I shot this using my Nikon Coolpix A900 but it could be very well my Canon EOS M100 seeing that I more commonly use the Canon. I do hope I shot this in 4K but I am not a seasoned videographer so I am still goofing around when it comes to video.  Now you can tell that this is probably the Nikon due to the quality of the video. The top video is much more clearer and there is a format difference that is very visible. I shot this video on the Jack Pine Trail and you can see it was later in the springtime due to the hare's colouration.  To see all my videos please check out :  My videos : https://www.youtube.com/@gmspanek/videos

 Competition Popularity So I finally invested in a membership for Viewbug and this guy turns out to be most popular and why shouldn't he be for he is a great favourite of mine. On Photocrowd more contests have finished up and surprisingly my photos are doing nicely in their positioning within the competitions. They have been receiving multiple awards from the judges and audience, I will show you how they have placed:  First position and 19th with multiple awards Second place and 191st again with multiple awards Third and 11th position with multiple awards I am thinking that he should be second.  People are liking the bunny photos. Last but not least a Chocolate Brownie You never know where things will place but I do know I have a good sense in my photos of the Snowshoe Hares, they always seem to reach the audience and perform well. It will be interesting to see how things shape up for next week, with an all new Viewbug coming into play. My Mushroom Photos got Ranked

Arcane: League of Legends Described as steampunk action-adventure television series, I just call it super animation fantasy of mind-blowing proportions. I have been watching on Netflix non stop. It has been the first animation series to capture my attention in a long time. Most notable from my past preferences  Watership Down, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within  and  Princess Mononoke :  Animation Day 2021 .  I will most definitely be purchasing the series on Apple TV just waiting for Season II to be available. The story follows two sisters VI and Powder/Jinx amidst  the escalating unrest between the rich,  utopian  city of Piltover and the seedy, oppressed underbelly of Zaun. Also a stellar part of the show is the soundtrack, I haven't played the game but I might just search it out if I get bored of  Destiny II.  Black Doves British spy thriller television series is another Netflix favourite, had to binge watch this because it was tha...

 Year 2025 Northern Green Frog ( Lithobates clamitans melanota ) Shaw Woodlot • Ontario, Canada.  Canon PowerShot G7 X From the website Viewbug received the award of Staff Favourite which I was so honoured to receive seeing that this is one of my all time favourite Northern Green Frog photos. It took some balancing act to be able to capture this angle of the frog it being floating in the Snake River. I was able to have one foot on a rock in the river to get this shot and the frog amazingly cooperated in the photo session, I have yet to duplicate the scenario on my lengthy adventures as a nature photographer. But it seems that I have a high regard in my frog photos, them being some of my most popular photos online.  Now how I have been doing on Photocrowd getting awards of Highly Commended  and Merited  from a panel of judge results, I have also placed first on the Leaderboard for the first week of participation on the website. These are the said photos in ...