Last Look

EDITORS’ CHOICE

photograph by SAM STUKEL

EVERY DAY IN October, paddlefish anglers descend on the Missouri River by the Nebraska Tailwaters Boat Ramp below Gavins Point Dam. They have one month to catch a whopper.

Paddlefish can weigh as much as 100 pounds (that’s like reeling in an averagely sized 13-year-old boy), so excited crowds of fishermen and women line the bank and buzz the river in boats – even in the early hours of the day. Many mornings, photographer Sam Stukel is there too, but it’s not fish he’s trying to capture.

Instead, he’s collecting shots that reflect both the excitement and the serenity of Nebraska’s paddlefish season. If he turns to shoot one way, there will be a crowd on the bank. If he angles his camera a different way, it looks like a tranquil scene. The cooler October nights create a mystical fog on the river that’s only briefly visible at dawn. Photography is like life, Stukel says. What you focus on influences your perception.

IN EACH ISSUE, Last Look features a reader’s photograph of Nebraska – landscapes, architecture, attractions, events, people or wildlife.

Submit your best photographs for the chance to be published in Nebraska Life. Send digital images with detailed photo descriptions and your contact information to photos@nebraskalife.com or visit nebraskalife.com/contribute.

This image was created with a Canon EOS 7D Mark II camera with a Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L lens at 150mm, exposed at ISO 320, f/5.6 for 1/1000 of a second.