AUDUBON Magazine Grand Prize Winner!!!

Northern Red-shafted Flicker

 

I am so excited I just have to share my good news with you. My feet have not touched the ground yet.

Last week I got an email stating one of the photos I had submitted to the Audubon Magazine Photography Awards contest was being considered for an award. They needed to have a full resolution file to judge the overall technical quality in the final round and some more information about how I took the shot. They wanted me to return the image using a program called DropBox. So I had to download the program and muddle through how to use it. I sent in my photo and started to wait. I was very happy just to have made it to the semi-final round. I literally had no expectation of anything beyond that.

On Monday November 19^th I got another email from a senior editor at Audubon informing me that my Red-shafted Flicker image was a finalist for an award and congratulating me. And she would like me to call her. After several messages left back and forth I talked with her on Tuesday and she told me I had won the Grand Prize. I just about fell off my chair. I had trouble believing it was true. Later I also received a phone call from the managing editor telling me what I had won. I didn’t even know! Five nights with Incaterra accommodations in Peru at 3 different locations for me and my guest (Don – of course). We will be going to Machu Picchu as part of the trip. That has always been a dream of mine and now the dream is coming true. Also a $1000 gift certificate from B&H….AND a Celestron AllView Panoramic tripod.

My image will be published in the January/February issue of Audubon magazine and in Nature’s Best magazine. This is huge. The best part for me is that so many people will get to see my photo. I would love for our local Morro Coast Audubon here in San Luis Obispo county, California to get some recognition. I took the shot locally in Montana de Oro State Park and I also hope more people will see just how important our California State Parks are and support keeping all of them open. They are a treasure.

I have so much to thankful for this year.

Eastern Sierra Autumn color

 Lee Vining Canyon

 Golden Aspens

 Lundy Lake

Mono Lake

 

My Open Studio weekend October 20-21 went very well. Whew! But after all that hard work it was time to get away and 'play' some. Don and I headed to one of our favorite places in California - the Eastern Sierra. It was a bit late in the season for Fall color, but we were lucky. This year things were happening later than usual. While many of the golden leaves had already blown off, there was still some beautiful color to photograph. A small snow storm had closed all the passes the day before, so for our first two days (until the passes reopened) we almost had the place to ourselves. What a treat. We were able to photograph Lee Vining Canyon and Lundy Lake without the hoards of other photographers that usually crowd the area. We did wish there were a few more clouds around to make the skies more interesting, but the clear skies worked for us on the evening we spent at Mono Lake. There we were delighted by the pastel bands of color that formed over the lake and that were reflected in it. It was so peaceful. Being in this spiritual place enriches my soul and makes me feel more alive.