Ashleigh Scully's photography has also been showcased at the Smithsonian
After a long day of sitting in classes, working on her history essay and riding her horse, Ashleigh Scully is understandably in need of some downtime.
But, unlike most 13-year-olds, homework and extracurriculars aren't the only activities that fill her days. She's also been racking up travel miles to collect awards for another of her passions -- wildlife photography.
On Nov. 11, the flaxen-haired Morris County teen, still in braces, was in Mexico City to accept a first-place award in the 10-to-13-year-old category at the Por el Planeta nature photo competition. She received the honor for "Sycamore Sentry," her image of an eastern screech owl.
In October, she traveled to London for the Natural History Museum's Wildlife Photographer of the Year Awards -- Scully was named a finalist in the 11-to-14-year-old category, and her photograph of a family of red foxes made it into the museum's display.
Ashleigh Scully, 13, has picked up a bevy of awards for her animal photos. (Gerry Scully)If that wasn't enough, through the end of this month, Scully's photo of another, particularly wide-eyed red fox is on display in the home of Vice President Joe Biden.
Though Scully, who attends the Morristown-Beard School, has captured some of her images far afield -- Wyoming and Alaska have been favorite locales -- several of her winning moments were found right at home in New Jersey.
She photographed the screech owl just down the street from her house in Harding Township. The fox -- in Berkeley Township, Ocean County last December.
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"It was one of my favorite fox pictures taken at Island Beach State Park," she says of the photo chosen for the Biden residence at the United States Naval Observatory.
Ashleigh became interested in local animals after the family moved from a cul-de-sac in Madison to Harding seven years ago. She says part of her goal in taking the photos is conservation awareness -- for instance, she disapproves of how people feed the foxes at Island Beach State Park.
"It's really unfortunate," she says. Otherwise, she enjoys reminding people -- even New Jerseyans -- that yes, there is wildlife in the Garden State.
While she has benefitted from workshops, Scully has mostly learned photography through the process of taking photos, a hobby she embarked upon at the age of 8, and more seriously when she was 11.
This photo of a red fox in Island Beach State Park, taken by Ashleigh Scully, is displayed in a digital frame at Vice President Joe Biden's home in Washington. (Ashleigh Scully) "I try to get some insurance shots first, in case the animal gets scared off," she says. "I have a lot of patience."
But she says most of her photos hinge on establishing a certain "trust" with the animal. She'll start at a distance from the subject and slowly move closer.
A favorite photo of hers is "Sunrise Stampede," an early-morning image taken on a ranch in Wyoming -- one of her family's vacation spots. A group of horses in the foreground kick up a cloud of dirt as they run, while another line of horses is visible in the background.
Ashleigh's red fox photo ended up in the home of Joe and Jill Biden through National Geographic Kids' My Shot program. The budding photographer had been uploading her work to the photo community for several years, but in July, My Shot partnered with Jill Biden to bring the work of young photographers to the vice president's residence. Scully's striking fox photo made the cut for November.
Scully took this photo, called 'Sunrise Stampede,' at a ranch in Wyoming. (Ashleigh Scully) "The eye contact is so intense and engaging," says Hannah August, marketing director for National Geographic Kids.
Scully's photo appears in the Bidens' living room as part of a rotating series of pictures in a digital frame.
"We're all about kids exploring the world," August says. "She's really a model for what we hope all kids do with their curiosity."
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Ashleigh's mother, Miriam Scully, remembers the moment she noticed her daughter might have a gift for composing a frame. Ashleigh was 8, and had just come home from a trip to Alaska with her grandparents. Surveying the photos her daughter took, she was impressed.
"They were just a little bit better than an 8-year-old would have a talent for," she says. For Christmas that year, she gave Ashleigh a camera with a better zoom. When she took Ashleigh's photos to be printed, the shop assumed they were taken by an adult. "They couldn't believe how old she was," Scully says.
Scully's photo of a rufous eastern screech owl. (Ashleigh Scully) From there, the Scullys rented professional photo equipment for Ashleigh.
"Each time she kind of outdid herself," Miriam Scully says. Now, Ashleigh takes photos with her own Canon 5D Mark III and uses her father's 500-millimeter lens for shooting in open fields.
"She kind of has this relationship with the animals she photographs," Scully says of her daughter's work, which includes one image of a family of foxes nuzzling one another, seemingly unaware of the camera -- the same photo recognized at the London competition.
"I think it's her nature," Scully says. "She's a really calm individual."
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Scully may have a robust portfolio, but she's not sold on a career in photography.
"I don't know if I want to make it my full-time job," she says.
But for now, it's quite the pastime.
On Sunday, the Scullys traveled to Washington to see another one of Ashleigh's screech owl photos displayed at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History as part of the Nature's Best Photography Magazine Windland Smith Rice Awards (she had to skip the ceremony because it conflicted with the Mexico City awards).
Foxes are some of Scully's favorite subjects. (Ashleigh Scully) Ashleigh's father, Gerry Scully, vice president of stewardship for the Harding Land Trust -- a Morristown land preservation group -- often serves as a chaperone on her photographic journeys, helping to carry her equipment. There's a family trip to Yellowstone National Park planned for this winter and one to Alaska coming in June. (Ashleigh has two siblings, Jackson, 12, and Kelsey, 10).
"We feel really strongly that there's a generation of kids that have become 'unwilded,'" he says -- meaning both overbooked and accustomed to too much screen time. When Ashleigh's not taking photos or playing sports, she's in Morristown riding Tallulah, her gray, dappled horse.
With her parents' help, Ashleigh has produced two books -- "Owls of Harding" and "Foxes of Harding." She donated the proceeds from book sales, which totaled several thousand dollars, to the Harding Land Trust and Raptor Trust in Millington.
Her dream photography destination? The Galapagos Islands.
The birds, the sea lions -- "It just sounds incredible," Scully says.
(To see Ashleigh talk about her screech owl photo, play video at 10:27 mark.)
Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at akuperinsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @AmyKup. Find NJ.com Entertainment on Facebook.