3rd Annual Great Outdoors Contest Winners

Grand Prize Winner: Brad Goldpaint
Title: Nighted Vail
Congratulations to Grand Prize winner Brad Goldpaint. This photograph is much more than just a night scene with the Milky Way. Goldpaint took advantage of digital technology to capture a unique place and moment in time.
He describes the shot, “As an avid landscape astrophotographer, I wanted to find a perfect location for the annual Orionids meteor shower, peaking on October 21, 2011. I remembered a place called Middle Falls, located just outside McCloud near my home in Mount Shasta, Calif. This location had an open view just above the falls and faced directly east where the majority of the meteors would be coming from. ‘Nighted Vail’ is a composite consisting of every meteor captured during the night and includes the Milky Way crashing into the illuminated falls.” www.goldpaintphotography.com

1st Prize Winner: Sam Swartz
Title: The Three Brothers
Sunrise over the Merced River in Yosemite NP.

Honorable Mention: Jim Shoemaker
Title: Thunderstorm, Monument Valley
The mesas of Monument Valley are dwarfed by thunderstorm clouds.

Honorable Mention: Larry Takemoto
Title: Coastal Oaks At Sunset
Sunlight from sunset through a live oak

Honorable Mention: James H. Egbert
Title: Framed

People's Choice Winner: Paul James
Title: Toroweap Dream
The last rays of light cover the Grand Canyon walls in a warm glow.