{"id":48388,"date":"2026-09-15T11:00:56","date_gmt":"2026-09-15T15:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/?p=48388"},"modified":"2026-09-15T15:27:02","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T19:27:02","slug":"maryland-dnr-announces-2026-photo-contest-winners-announced","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/2026\/09\/15\/maryland-dnr-announces-2026-photo-contest-winners-announced\/","title":{"rendered":"Maryland DNR Announces 2026 Photo Contest Winners"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources has chosen the winners of the annual Maryland Natural Resource Photo Contest, with the grand prize, and first place in the spring category, going to Kyle Smith for his photo of a remarkable moment in nature – an Eastern Whip-poor-will on a branch while a squirrel sneaks up behind it.<\/p>\n

\"Bird<\/a>Kyle Smith – Right Behind You<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThe squirrel kept inching closer, sniffing the whole time, until it was right next to the bird,\u201d Smith wrote in his entry to the photo contest. This year\u2019s contest received more than 1,000 photo submissions, which were judged by a panel of DNR wildlife and photography experts.<\/p>\n

For winning the grand prize, Smith will receive a $700 cash prize, a Maryland State Park and Trail Passport, free entry into next year\u2019s contest, and five copies of the 2027 calendar with the winning image displayed on the cover. In addition to the overall grand prize winner, the judges selected first through third place winners in four seasonal categories\u2014winter, spring, summer, and fall.<\/p>\n

First place winners for the three remaining seasons (other than the grand prize winner) will receive $100, a \u200bMaryland State Park Passport, and five copies of the 2027 calendar. Second place winners for each season will receive five copies of the calendar.<\/p>\n

Still to be determined is the Fan Favorite, which will be chosen by popular opinion on the department\u2019s Facebook page. Followers are encouraged to \u201clike\u201d their pick when the photos are posted on September 16, with votes taken through close of business on September 30. The Fan Favorite wins a one-year Maryland State Park Passport and three copies of the calendar.\u200b\u200b<\/p>\n

Every winner and the Fan Favorite will have their images published in the department\u2019s 2027 annual calendar, which will be available for sale later in the fall.<\/p>\n

The winners of the 2026 Maryland Natural Resource Photo Contest are below; larger images of the photos can be found on this online gallery<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Other First Place Winners:<\/h2>\n

First Place Summer<\/h3>\n

\"an<\/a>American Sandcastlebuilder<\/em> – Matt Felperin<\/p>\n

\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

First Place Fall<\/h3>\n

\"Chubby<\/a><\/p>\n

Great Horned Owl<\/em> – Brian Reidy<\/p>\n

\n

First Place Winter<\/h3>\n

\"Tiger<\/a>Night of the Wanderer<\/em> – Matt Felperin<\/p>\n

\n

Second Place Winners<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n

Second Place Spring<\/h3>\n

\"The<\/a>The Sky Does Not Keep Time<\/em> – Greg Hollows\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Second Place Summer<\/h3>\n

\"Mountain<\/a>Sunrise<\/em> – David Brandes<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
\n

Second Place Fall<\/h3>\n

\"Elk<\/a>Guardian of the North<\/em> – Christopher Szumlanski<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Second Place Winter<\/h3>\n

\"Red-winged<\/a>Red-winged Blackbird at BWNWR<\/em> – Scott Warner<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Third Place Winners<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n

Third Place Spring<\/h3>\n

\"A<\/a>Willet eating a crab<\/em> – Mike Saccone<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Third Place Summer<\/h3>\n

\"Green<\/a>One last leap<\/em> – Scott Warner<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
\n

Third Place Fall<\/h3>\n

\"Line<\/a>Morning Flight<\/em> – Ingrid Brown<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Third Place Winter<\/h3>\n

\"Woodpecker<\/a>Family squabble<\/em> – George Borden<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Fan Favorites<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n

\"Fireflies<\/a><\/p>\n

Fireflies Dancing Under The Stars<\/em> Robert Fawcett<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\"Green<\/a><\/p>\n

Rough Green Snake in the Rose Creek<\/em> – Samuel Sather<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\"aurora<\/a><\/p>\n

Montjoy Barn and Aurora<\/em>
\nStephen Talabac<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\"American<\/a><\/p>\n

American Bittern Posing in Salt Marsh – <\/em>Mike Saccone<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources has chosen the winners of the annual Maryland Natural Resource Photo Contest, with the grand prize, and first place in the spring category, going to Kyle Smith for his photo of a remarkable moment in nature – an Eastern Whip-poor-will on a branch while a squirrel sneaks up behind  Read the Rest…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[957,3171,5336,11,1965,4998,3172,23,12,14,33,13],"tags":[3044,5555],"class_list":["post-48388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-appnews","category-boating","category-camping","category-fisheries","category-maryland-forest-service","category-hiking","category-hunting","category-land","category-parks","category-nrp-news","category-the-bay","category-wildlife","tag-photo-contest","tag-wildlife-photography"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48388","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48388"}],"version-history":[{"count":26,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48388\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48447,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48388\/revisions\/48447"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}