It’s the New Year, and everyone’s making resolutions. One local wildlife biologist’s story of a New Year’s resolution turned successful hobby can serve as an example and inspiration for anyone hoping to break into a new art.
Alice Abela is a working biologist in Santa Barbara County who developed an interest in photography years ago. She has since refined the ability to capture the nitty gritty details and unseen personality of a vast array of insects, amphibians, reptiles, and arachnids.
Abela’s fascination with the natural world—wildlife especially—began in childhood, she told the Sun. Abela was interested in and unperturbed by all manner of creepy crawlies, allowing her to observe them in a way few find easy.
“My mom likes to tell the story when I was like 2, I had this handful of caterpillars and I didn’t want to give them up so I fell asleep against the door so they couldn’t take the caterpillars from me,” she said.
Surrounded by friends with experience in the world of photography and high-quality equipment, Abela’s passion grew beyond her resolution to become an avid hobbyist. She now has her own signature style, which gives deep focus to some tiny animals.
Abela shares her photos online on sites like Flickr and BugGuide, where her high-resolution shots catch the attention of many—even researchers who may use her images in studies, she said. Abela’s specialty is the unique perspective she delivers of each subject. She gets on their level, capturing an amplified look at the eyes, textures, and interactions of tiny friends and foes.
With more than 100 pages of photographs on Flickr—which she has uploaded to since 2009—Abela’s understanding and passion for the creatures she finds in the wild is prolific. She labels each photo with the proper Latin name for the subject or subjects. The result is an informative yet inclusive portrait of animals so small you might have overlooked the incredible amount of color and character they have.
“I’m usually laying flat on the sand, so I’m getting kind of that eye-level,” Abela said. “And a lot of their features, just because they’re so small, you don’t really see it and appreciate it with the naked eye.”
Finding beauty in the small and overlooked is the driving force behind Abela’s images. Her work is stunning, something you would expect in the pages of National Geographic. Capturing these miniscule and seemingly insignificant lives rebrands the traditionally creepy-crawly and unapproachable animals, from arthropods to amphibians.
Abela connects her photography work to all aspects of her life. When not monitoring endangered species and doing research, her photography relates to her career by revealing the beauty behind biology.
“It’s like vacation photos, where you go out and you see lots of cool things and you like to have photographic documentation, so you can go and review your memories,” she said. “A lot of my vacations revolve around finding these things, and then you have all your photographs to take home.”
Editorial intern Eden Hood is still very much arachnophobic. Interim Managing Editor Joe Payne contributed to this story. Contact him at [email protected].
