Photographer finds purr-fect calendar picture

SCOTTSDALE - Ann Beisser was out to photograph a Harris hawk, but wound up making the cover portrait of a bobcat for the 2009 Arizona Game and Fish Department calendar.

Game and Fish selected the Scottsdale resident's close-up of a large male bobcat from among 1,200 submissions in its annual wildlife photo contest.

Another Scottsdale photographer, Bob McBride, was a runner-up with his shot of a young antelope.

Beisser said she captured the bobcat image Jan. 21 after a long day of photographing Harris hawks building a nest near Pima Road and 92nd Street.

"The sun was starting to set and I was putting my gear away, when I noticed what appeared to be a giant tabby cat on someone's porch. I said, 'Oh my, that's no cat, that's a bobcat,' and I was off," recalled Beisser, 50, who earned a $400 commission for the shot.

For the hawks, she had been using a telephoto lens on her Nikon D3 digital camera; it required her to stay 21 feet away from the cat to stay in focus. She shadowed the bobcat as he marked the area with his scent to attract a female cat. He would have to settle for Beisser, who trailed him silently for a half-hour.

"It was getting dark, but I had the right camera, and got the picture," she said, noting how well modern digital cameras perform in low light conditions.

"It was fun," she said of the serendipitous encounter.

A chemistry teacher in the Phoenix Union High School District for 20 years, Beisser left teaching two years ago to pursue wildlife photography. After traveling the world doing underwater photography, she decided to focus full time on the Arizona desert, starting near the Pinnacle Peak home she shares with friends.

"It's satisfying to be out in nature. I'm glad to be doing this now. I spent 10 hours a day teaching, then coaching swimming and basketball and I taught summer school, too. Then a couple close friends passed away. Life is too short," Beisser said, explaining her about-face.

"I hope my work will say something for our environment, and encourage people to get out there and give it some protection," she said. "It's a neat thing Scottsdale did, preserving the open space in the McDowells."

She feels a mission to get people to respect wildlife, drive slowly and avoid feeding wild animals, which results in their death.

"I want to see them too, but I have to work real hard to see them. That's why I get up at 4 a.m.," Beisser said.

Ann Beisser said she captured this bobcat image after a long day of photographing Harris hawks building a nest near Pima Road and 92nd Street.