FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Oregon Wild Announces Outdoor Photo Contest Winners

Photographs feature beloved, threatened Oregon landscapes

Unveiling event in Portland to celebrate winners and recognize all contestants.

Endangered Places winning photograph, "Port Orford Cedar at Vulcan Lake" by Brizz Meddings.

Registered nurse. Professional photographer. Construction manager. Retiree. Those are the day jobs of the winners of the 2009 Oregon Wild Outdoor Photo Contest to be unveiled this evening at the Tribute Gallery in NW Portland. In its fifth year, the contest continues to draw a diverse and talented pool of outdoor photographers, dedicated to capturing Oregon’s stunning wildlands. The following five winners were selected from nearly 100 contestants:

• Wildlands: Greg Vaughn (Aspens at Hart Mt. National Wildlife Refuge)
• Wildlife: Gary Sheldon (Astoria Sea Lion)
• Waters: Jody Ellis (Sparks Lake, Deschutes National Forest)
• Endangered Places: Brizz Meddings (Port Orford Cedar at Vulcan Lake)
• Kids (*new category): Olive Paternoster, age 4 (Nehalem Bay)

Winners will receive prize packages totaling over $1,000 in value.

The Oregon Wild Outdoor Photo Contest began five years ago as a way to feature and promote beautiful, but threatened, outdoor treasures across the state. Each year, Oregon Wild has featured a new “Endangered Place.” This year’s highlighted region was Oregon’s Yellowstone – the Siskiyou Wild Rivers area in southern Oregon threatened by destructive mining, OHV abuse, and global warming.

“We like to think of our photo contest as a little bit different from others out there because we really focus on wild places and the need to protect them,” commented Sean Stevens, photo contest coordinator. “We get stunning photos from all over, but the potential inspirational impact of a breathtaking image from a place at risk is the real reason we host this contest.”

The 2009 winning photographs are available here.

Contact Sean Stevens for hi-res versions of these photos.

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