Gail Twelves became serious about photography after her daughter was born, looking to capture the best possible mementos.

Today, years and much training and many, many miles later, she’s still taking pictures of what she loves and still trying to capture the best moments — perhaps before it’s forever too late.

“I just think the majesty of wild animals is one of those things that makes you stop and take a breath,” Twelves said.

Her photographs of polar bears and American mustangs, specifically, which debuted at Sammamish City Hall not long ago, will be on display at the Treehouse Café in Lynwood through Monday, April 30, bringing viewers eye-to-eye with these, some of the most iconic wild animals on the planet.

“To me, it’s engage with them, understand them, learn about them so that you can join me in helping protect them,” Twelves said. “I think they’re worth protecting. They’re wild things worth protecting.”

The show features photos made during two recent trips Twelves made with her husband: one to the far Northeast corner of Alaska, in search of polar bears; and the other to the Return to Freedom mustang sanctuary in California.

Both classic critters have long been obsessions for Twelves, who also rides competitively. As for the bears, she said, what’s not to love about polar bears?

“There are a lot of times in the field when I’m going, ‘Oh, this is too good to be true,’” Twelves said. “There are other times when I have to just put the tripod and camera away and just be with them and just watch them.”

Both creatures are distinctly endangered, however, a fact that lends an air of immediacy to Twelves otherwise picturesque, idyllic imagery.

Perhaps no creature has become a more recognizable mascot for the effects of climate change than the polar bear. During her trip to Alaska, Twelves saw the bears where they gathered each fall, cleaning the remaining flesh off the nearby town’s leftover whale bones, waiting for the sea to freeze — something which happens for a shorter amount of time each year, according to the locals.

“The effects are already happening,” she said. “For bears to be starving because there isn’t enough food because there isn’t enough ice for them to feed? It’s already happening; the impact’s already happening.”

The plight of the western mustang is no less dire than the shrinking ice for the polar bears, Twelves added. Seen as competition to grazing cattle, the horses are routinely rounded up by helicopters and driven to exhaustion until they are corralled into holding pens. Some are lucky enough to be adopted by outfit like Return to Freedom. Most are not.

The most popular of her images, Twelves said, are the ones that create a connection between viewer and subject, and both the bears and mustangs she’s focused on have distinct personalities that emerge easily with a little observation.

“It’s the ones that talk to them, where they kind of feel like they can relate,” she said of her best work. “Photography became another extension of communication. To compel a feeling, to compel a reaction, to compel a perception of something; I want you to feel something about these animals.”

Twelves considers herself a “wildlife photographer,” and though her work is artistic, and often displayed as art, she’s not overly concerned with labels like “artist.”

For her, it’s all about the subject.

“You’ve got to appreciate so many things that artists turn out that I could never do,” she said. “But there’s something about these mustangs and polar bears that really grab people.”

Learn more about Twelves’ work at photos.twelvesunlimited.com, or email gail@twelvesunlimited.com.

The Treehouse is located at 4569 Lynwood Center Road. NE, visit www.treehousebainbridge.com for more info.