For the first time, a photographer from the Photography Showcase Issue will have their work showcased on the Virginia Wildlife calendar.
By Andrea Naccarato/DWR
Photos by Meghan Marchetti/DWR
When an email showed up in Clinton Mooney’s inbox informing him that his photo had been selected for the cover of the 2025 Virginia Wildlife calendar, Mooney couldn’t quite believe it. He called Molly Kirk, editor of Virginia Wildlife magazine, to confirm that he really won. “I was like, ‘I’m about to cry right now. This is the greatest thing that’s ever happened to me.’ I’ve been shooting photography for so long and I never thought something like this would come from it,” Mooney said.
Mooney’s striking photo of a green frog (Lithobates clamitans) floating in water was selected for the calendar cover from more than 1,000 photos submitted to the 2024 Virginia Wildlife Photography Showcase. Traditionally, the photos used in the calendar are sourced from top wildlife photography professionals, but for the 2025 calendar, Kirk decided to give the cover spot to an image entered in the Photography Showcase, which appears annually in the July/August edition of Virginia Wildlife magazine.
“There are always so many fantastic photos sent in for the Photography Showcase,” said Kirk. “I wanted to give those photographers a chance to have their work spotlighted in the calendar as well.”
Clinton Mooney holding a mock-up of the Virginia Wildlife calendar with his photo of a green frog on the front cover.
A Different Way to See the World
A photographer and realtor in Farmville, Virginia, Mooney is a lifelong outdoor enthusiast. He recalls a childhood wading in the Bush River and hunting white-tailed deer with his family. Nearly 15 years ago, he was in a car accident that left him paralyzed and without the use of his legs. Despite this sudden challenge, Mooney wasn’t deterred from continuing to spend time in nature. In fact, Mooney said that the wheelchair gives him “an advantage of being calm and patient” while hunting. What’s more, Mooney said, “my journey as a photographer actually started with the wheelchair.”
Clinton Mooney’s outdoor activities include hunting, fishing, wildlife photography, and more. Photo courtesy of Clinton Mooney
As someone who has always loved being outside, Mooney finds that wildlife photography suits him well. He credits his mother with jumpstarting his passion for photography. “I was spending a lot of time after hunting season just sitting in a field, and my mom decided to take me to Richmond Camera and get me a Canon Rebel T3 with a few lenses, and then hunting season turned into sitting out there in the summer and taking pictures,” said Mooney. Since then, Mooney has acquired a diverse camera collection, including a drone that he flies for photographing landscapes and building interiors.
Perhaps surprisingly, Mooney emphasizes the importance of sometimes leaving the camera at home. “I think if you’re going to be a wildlife photographer, you need to enjoy nature,” he noted. “And that doesn’t always mean you have to have your camera with you everywhere you go. Just sitting there in a field and watching nature do its own thing is valuable. If I pay attention, I’ll notice things and learn things, mostly habits of wildlife.”
That’s when Mooney gets ideas for his wildlife photo subjects. He relishes the challenge of trying to photograph a wide variety of species, from large mammals to small invertebrates. “I think the reason why I really enjoy [photographing] the smaller species is you can blow them up in a photograph and you notice details on [them] that are a lot harder to see just using your eye,” he said. One of Mooney’s favorite photo subjects is a tunnel spider inside its circular web glistening with water droplets after a rain, which is the star of his published photo in the Photography Showcase in the July/ August 2024 issue of Virginia Wildlife.
Befriending the Frog
When Mooney moved into his current home, the rural property came with a frog pond constructed by the previous owners. Just as he makes quiet observations elsewhere in nature, Mooney followed the same practice at the frog pond. “Keeping the camera in the camera bag and not taking it with me has definitely allowed me to notice these frogs,” he said. “I’ll go sit out on the porch, look at them, and count them, and eventually I’ll make my way closer. And if I’m just sitting there right beside them, they get so used to me.”
One afternoon, conditions were just right to get the shot of a green frog that would become the 2025 Virginia Wildlife calendar cover. “I felt really lucky to get that [photograph] because typically there’s a lot of leaf litter or things that you can see reflecting on the surface,” said Mooney. “This just happened to be a really calm day. I had cleaned the pond out, so it was really clear. And [the frog] had just perched himself perfectly at 180 degrees facing me and didn’t move. I love the reflection that he allowed me to capture.”
As soon as he saw the resulting photograph, Mooney knew right away it was something special. “What made that shot stand out the most was, yes, its reflection, but how [the frog] was resting on a green leaf from a vine that is growing into the frog pond. He was resting his stomach on it, and it curved perfectly,” he explained.
It was a photographer friend who brought Clinton’s attention to the 2024 Virginia Wildlife Photography Showcase and encouraged him to submit images. “I didn’t realize that part of this year’s competition was selecting a submission from that contest for the [2025 calendar cover],” Mooney said. “I just wanted to be in the magazine with all these other photographers. [When] I got the email saying that my photo was selected for the calendar cover, I was just in awe.”
Clinton Mooney working at editing photos.
After the success of seeing one of his photographs on the cover of the 2025 Virginia Wildlife calendar and receiving heartfelt congratulations from his family, Mooney is motivated to enter more photo contests in the future. When asked about the new category for the 2025 Virginia Wildlife Photography Showcase (“Explore the Wild,” which will feature photos from Virginia’s public lands), Mooney shared that he has a favorite property managed by the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR). “The one I frequent the most is Briery Creek Wildlife Management Area in Prince Edward County,” he said. “It’s great fishing. I know it’s good hunting. It’s easy to access the water and it’s very untouched. You see a lot of stuff out there, and it’s good to take the family out and go fishing.”
When he’s not outside, Mooney is busy building his photography website so he can start selling prints of his beautiful photographs. As a passionate scuba diver, he also hopes to merge his passions and take up underwater photography. Between his aerial drone and handheld Canon, Mooney said, “I’ve got the air. I’ve got the ground. Now, I just need to get into the sea.” Mooney’s strong connection with nature and his drive to keep exploring are sure to result in many more fantastic images to inspire us all.
Andrea Naccarato is the DWR outreach production assistant.
This article originally appeared in Virginia Wildlife Magazine.
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