For the past nine years, Vernon photographer Carla Hunt has gone through a bevy of her photos from her happy place, the great outdoors, and created a calendar that makes a wonderful Christmas gift.

Her photos of nature and its two- and four-legged, or two-winged, denizens captured magnificently by the skillful Hunt have been made available for purchase in a calendar called Beauty in the Okanagan.

This year's 10th annual calendar, though, is a 'Best Of Hunt's' photos as the photographer spent much of the year battling a near-fatal illness.

"I had major health issues this year that I have been trying to overcome, so this calendar has no new content, it's a Best Of Beauty in the Okanagan," said Hunt. "There are photos that people have seen before, either in the calendar or on ."

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

The 2025 edition of Beauty in the Okanagan contains large photos of animals or birds for each of the 12 months, including some of Hunt's personal favourites. Like a bobcat who "posed so perfectly for me;" a young bear cub running right at her; and her iconic photo of two blue herons in perfect symmetry at a local pond.

Each of the 12 months also has a photo of nature or a creature imposed into the background of the month.

Sounding enthusiastic on the phone, Hunt is ready to get out her camera again in 2025.

"I've missed it (photography) terribly," she said. "I used to be out of my house at the crack of dawn and not return until the sun set.

"I hope to get up and get back in the saddle."

Partial proceeds from Beauty in the Okanagan 2025 go to the North Okanagan Naturalists Club.

The calendar is available at Teassential in Vernon (3017B-30th Ave.) or in Greater Vernon you can order through Hunt's website, .