A life in focus

From the land of the midnight sun to the misty valleys of the Great Smoky Mountains, one Valdese photographer’s work has resonated with judges on both local and international stages.

Brady Linkous’ recent accolades include a top spot in the North Carolina Wildlife Federation’s photography contest and a finalist position in the prestigious Smithsonian Magazine photo contest for a captivating scene captured in an Alaskan Inuit village. That photo was named Top 10 in a competition that drew more than 31,000 entries.

Brady Linkous takes a great photo.

Linkous’ fascination with taking pictures began more than 50 years ago, carried him through a professional career as a news photographer, and now, provides him with the satisfaction of knowing there’s something he does very well.

“It’s something I can do,” Linkous said recently. “I remember when I was a young news photographer and a storyteller, taking pictures of people. I’m sure I said, ‘I’m never going to be that old guy walking around in a duck pond,’ and now it’s exactly where I am. I love it, and I’m good with it.”

Lots of other people are good with Linkous’ work as well. He makes a habit of entering his photos, mostly birds and other wildlife he captures as he travels, and he makes a habit of bringing home some impressive wins.

SMITHSONIAN FINALIST

Linkous shot a particularly fascinating photo when on a work assignment in Alaska. It was taken on Nunivak Island, in the remote village of Mekoryuk.

“It was my first morning there,” Linkous remembered, “and in summer, in that part of Alaska, the sun takes seemingly forever to come up, and it never gets very high. So, in the morning, you’ve got this huge opportunity for really pretty light.”

That morning, Linkous ran across a row of Inuit homes situated just beside an inlet leading to the Bering Sea.

The photographer opened the photo on his laptop, the shot that Smithsonian judges chose from more than 31,000 entries and paused for a moment before speaking.

“It’s the sun,” he said, studying the photo. “It’s the way the sun is hitting. The light is everything.”

Linkous sees light differently than the rest of us, and his face changes when he talks about it.

“When you’ve got the right quality of light, it can still be soft and directional, everything is so much more interesting, and everything has more personality,” he explained. “I had heard that since I was 14, but I wasted half my life before I finally understood it.”

Linkous entered the Alaska shot in the annual Smithsonian Magazine contest, competing against thousands of other photographers from around the world. He found out before Christmas his picture was being considered as a finalist in the contest and in January, got word he had made the Top 10.

“They only award one winner,” he explained, “not a second and third or anything like that. And there are nine remaining finalists.”

His image was not named the winner, but that hardly matters — Top 10 out of 31,000 is pretty darn good.

CAPTURING BIRDS

But Linkous doesn’t have to travel halfway around the world to get amazing shots. He finds plenty of inspiration in his own Burke County backyard.

He began entering the prestigious N.C. Wildlife Federation’s Wildlife in North Carolina photography contest in 2023 and came away with two wins, a second place in mammals and a first prize in birds. He caught the winning shot on a nasty weather day on North Carolina’s Outer Banks.

“It was a disastrous weekend where I got almost no pictures,” he said, displaying a striking image of a flock of marbled godwits, frozen mid-flight.

“There was a nor’easter, and sand was just blowing everywhere. And I was at this little spot at Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge.

“There wasn’t a lot of activity because of the weather, and I sat in this blind for hours, and then I heard them get up. I barely had time to click off a couple frames as they passed right in front of the blind.”

That shot captured first prize in the birds category in the 2023 contest. The same year, his “Cataloochee Valley Bull” photo snagged second prize in the mammals contest. Linkous makes several trips each year to photograph the spectacular elk herds in the Great Smoky Mountains.

The competition draws thousands of entries each year and winners are published in “Wildlife in North Carolina” magazine. This year, he scored a first-place win in the birds category, with a stunning photo of a house finch, taken right in his own backyard in Valdese.

“It’s a male and it’s getting into the season,” Linkous said. “So, the redness of him is intensified a little bit, and I think he looks just very stately, just perched there with the light coming through the trees.

“I’m not a bird watcher, although I love birds, and I’ve learned an awful lot about them. I don’t hold a candle to a true bird watcher,” he said.

Linkous admits the awards are gratifying, but his true calling, the one that keeps sending him out into nature with his camera and tripod, is more simply explained.

“This, what I’m doing now, is kind of where I’ve landed with photography,” he stated. “I can do it at my own pace, and it’s just for me, and I don’t really have to satisfy an editor or a client.

“It’s just for me,” he said with a smile, “and it’s just perfect for this old guy at this point.”