An award-winning photograph of Crossville’s Bill Gelsleichter will be featured in TWRA’s 2025-26 Tennessee Wildlife Calendar.
Gelsleichter said he set up an area in his backyard to attract birds. Gelsleichter said while he was photographing bluebirds, cardinals, and songbirds in the area, he captured the image of a Cooper’s Hawk swooping in.
“This one here, you know, being a wilder I would call it you know, type animal, a predator type bird in the area, it just seemed like a good fit for [Tennessee Wildlife’s] magazine,” Gelsleichter said.
Gelsleichter said he has been photographing wildlife since 1977, when he was a senior in high school. When he sold his business and retired nine years ago, Gelsleichter decided to travel across the country to capture wildlife.
Gelsleichter said he primarily photographs birds.
“The’re challenging,” Gelsleichter said. “Normally, most of my photographs of birds are birds in flight photographs. And it’s just a lot more challenging, a lot more fun shooting these birds in different scenarios. Different situations when they’re flying, you know, in and out of the frame.”
Gelsleichter said he learned about the photo contest by email. Gelsleichter said it felt good to be named as one of the winners.
Gelsleichter is a part of a few local photography groups, and he has won a few contests in the Knoxville area. Gelsleichter said he enters a lot of competitions, and some of his work will be entered in the upcoming Putnam County Fair.
Gelsleichter said his retirement hobby has brought him lots of enjoyment, and the opportunity to capture some notable animals on camera.
“I had taken pictures of one of the most famous grizzly bears in the world, Grizzly 399, just a few months before she had died,” Gelsleichter said. “She was hit by a car out in Grand Teton National Park.”
Gelsleichter said he plans on travelling to capture some fall photos over the next few months.