Dear John,

A few weeks ago, we announced the winners of our 2021 Environmental Photo Contest at our Annual Celebration for the Environment. In case you missed it (and, if you did, you can watch the recording here), I wanted to send out an email announcing the winners!

There were so many amazing pictures, it was hard to vote for our favorites. The Pet Adventures category was particularly difficult--there were so many cute dogs and cats--and even a llama!--going out hiking, or paddleboarding, or kayaking, or simply overlooking a sunset. But, in the end, we chose Ashly Dewy’s bright and forested photo as our Pet Adventures category winner. We love the perspective of it, and the fact that it features both her and her doggo looking off into the green distance. 

For the Local Wildlife category, we received photos of birds mid-flight, dark herds of elk, and neighborhood wildlife like raccoons and squirrels, along with photos of more rare creatures, like bobcats and pronghorn antelope. But, for the winner, we chose Stuart Wolf’s photo of seals sunning their noses in the air. The photo is great quality, and a very impressive moment to capture on camera!

For the Climate Change Close to Home category, members sent in haunting photos of red, smoky skies, abnormally low rivers, and wildfire itself. What stood out to us the most was this purple/blue wildfire photo taken by firefighter Anthony Wellines.

But that’s not all. We also chose one of Anthony Wellines’ photos as our Grand-Prize Winner: a log on fire, the glowing sun behind it--a moment of both destruction and hope. This photo will be featured on the cover of the 2021 OLCV Environmental Scorecard for the Oregon Legislature. The paper version will be out soon, and you can read it online now at scorecard.olcv.org. Congratulations, Anthony!

You can check out all of our photo contest winners and finalists in our Facebook album. Like and share with your friends, and tag your photo if you see it there!

Thank you so much to everyone who submitted photos. We were truly inspired by your creativity and your passion for the environment. We’ll be in touch soon with more information about our 2021 Environmental Scorecard.

Thank you,
 
Francesca Varela
Communications Coordinator, OLCV