We're greatly appreciative of the people who took the time to enter our photo contest. We received many fantastic submissions, and narrowing down our favorite photos was extremely challenging.
After sorting through the many high-quality photo entries submitted in the past month, CSERC staff finally selected four winning photos in the Center’s 2018 Wildlife Photo Contest for adults, and one winner in the youth category!
Click here to see this year's TOP 50 PHOTOS and to VOTE for your favorite in our Viewer's Choice Contest! Vote by Friday, April 6th!
First place (and a $150 prize) was awarded to Tom Knudson, who took this adorable photo of a Mountain Bluebird and his chicks. We love the bright, contrasting colors of yellow and blue, and we love that you can almost hear the chirps when you look at this photo!
Tom Knudson – Mountain bluebird with chicks
Photo taken by Tom Knudson
Second place, and $100, went to Dave Douglass from Groveland, who managed to take a beautifully crisp photo of an Anna's Hummingbird. As Dave said in his email submission, "I tell you, I never get tired of shooting the hummingbirds. We only get the one brand here but they are an ever-changing look with their iridescent feather glints."
Dave Douglass -Anna’s Hummingbird
Photo taken by Dave Douglass.
For third prize (and $50), we debated between two great photos and eventually decided we had to make it a tie -- only to discover they were both entered by the same person! Jamie Lee Akins, of Twain Harte, has won third place for the following two photos of a Chickaree and a Harlequin Beetle. We love the composition of the Chickaree photo and the way the water droplets were captured in the Beetle photo.
Jamie Akins – Chickaree
Photo taken by Jamie Lee Akins.
Jamie Akins – Beetle
Photo taken by Jamie Lee Akins.
The winner of the Youth Category is Natalie Hawks, 18 years old, for her photo of a perched Goldfinch snacking on a flower. We chose this photo for being visually well-balanced, as well as for the difficulty in shooting a constantly-moving finch.
Natalie Hawks – Finch
Photo taken by Natalie Hawks.
An Honorable Mention goes to Dillon Hotchkiss, also 18 years old, for his photo of an egret wading in the water - we like the lighting and composition for how the the egret stands out.
Dillon Hotchkiss – Egret
All of the winning photos and most of the other entries will be used by CSERC staff in the science slide show presentations the Center provides to more than 5,000 students each year at schools in the Central Valley and across the foothills. Since 1990 CSERC’s free programs about water, wildlife, and forests have reached more than 150,000 students and members of community groups.