Kamchatka Project Photo Contest

Dozens of Kamchatka Project fans submitted over 100 fantastic photos to Round 1 of our first photo contest on our Facebook Wall, and even more voted for their favorites. Today we’re happy to announce the three most popular photos and commence the second and final round of voting.

Our friend and pro-photographer Ian Shive has provided feedback on these top three photos, and personally chose one additional shot to continue onto the next round of voting. In round two, every dollar donated towards a specific photo will count as one vote. The photograph that garners the most tax-deductible donations to Kamchatka Project will win fame, fortune, and a signed copy of Ian’s bestselling book, The National Parks: Our American Landscape! Votes may be cast on our VeriSign secured donation page through Monday, December 21st. Vote for your favorite photo today and donate towards The Kamchatka Project!

Click here to learn more about the contest.

The finalists, and winners of a free Kamchatka Project T-shirt are:

1. A Cold Day on Spirit Falls of the Little White Salmon River, Washington
Photographer: Erik Boomer

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Ian Shive’s feedback:
Great shot! Love the energy in this and the way the landscape really paints a picture of the weather and environment. Some thoughts on this – I would have liked to see the entire 1/3 top of the frame cropped out and maybe put the kayaker a little more into the right 1/3 of the frame giving us a bit of a tighter shot and letting the elements of water, snow and ice all come together for a more abstract and inquiring view. That said, great capture, congrats!

2. Great Falls of the Potomac
Photographer: Curt Joyce

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Ian Shive’s feedback:
I really liked this shot and so did a lot of other people it seems! I love the time of day and the way the falls draws your eye through the photo coming in on the top right of frame, moving to the left and exiting out the lower right. Great use of color and overall a solid shot. I’d be curious to see a longer exposure – maybe a full minute – and see what sort of effect you get on the water but really, this is a solid shot.

3. A Bird on the Way Up to Mt. Kenya, East Africa
Photographer: Teizeen Mohamedali

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Ian Shive’s feedback:
Cool shot of the bird and wicked looking cactus-plant-thing. Always nice to see wildlife and especially places and things that are completely different to us here in the states. Only though is to maybe get tighter on the bird but it’s probably tough – they usually don’t sit still long enough so I realize the challenges there but in a perfect world maybe get more closer cropped and if possible, use an f2.8 aperture to get more blur in the background since in this case, the background isn’t relevant to telling any particular story. Keep the elements in your photos as simple as possible but overall great capture!

4. IAN’S PICK: Pedroncelli Winery and Vineyards
Photographer: Ed St. John

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Ian Shive’s feedback:
I think Ed did a great job with this shot – it’s dreamlike and I personally love well taken photos of vineyards. They are typically challenging to pull off because of land contours, light and – let’s be honest – the subject matter is a vine. Ed manages to really pull off the main subject with is symmetry in the vines and contours of the landscape, not to mention great color and time of year. One thought – perhaps to show a bit more of the vines in the foreground or a bit less and just let them frame the entire bottom of the image. Otherwise, well done!

4. 26 Votes – Clendenning River, backwoods British Columbia – Kate Wagner
5. 24 Votes – Segovia, Spain – Paul Smith
6. 20 Votes – Little White Salmon River – Erik Boomer
7. 19 Votes – Cracker Lake, Glacier National Park, MT – Evan Thompson
8. 19 Votes – On the Shoulders of a Friend – Dumrikharka, Nepal – Ashley Sullivan
9. 18 Votes – Home Sweet Home, Columbia River Gorge – Kate Wagner
10. 14 Votes – Gold Wall With Ribbon Falls in the Background, Yosemite National Park, CA – Austin Peters