{"id":9102,"date":"2015-09-21T09:53:19","date_gmt":"2015-09-21T13:53:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/?p=9102"},"modified":"2017-04-20T11:20:55","modified_gmt":"2017-04-20T15:20:55","slug":"gaithersburg-man-wins-top-prize-in-dnr-photo-contest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/2015\/09\/21\/gaithersburg-man-wins-top-prize-in-dnr-photo-contest\/","title":{"rendered":"Gaithersburg Man Wins Top Prize in DNR Photo Contest"},"content":{"rendered":"

Record Number of Photos Submitted<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"Winning

Winning Photo: Female Red-Winged Blackbird by Santosh Shanmuga<\/p><\/div>\n

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) today announced the\u00a0winners of its 12th <\/sup>annual photo contest<\/a>, with Santosh Shanmuga of Gaithersburg, Maryland claiming top honors for his serene Female Red-Winged Blackbird <\/em>taken at Swan Harbor Farm in Harford County. The winning images<\/a> will appear in the winter edition of the agency\u2019s seasonal magazine as well as its 2016 calendar.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so excited, and very grateful for this opportunity,\u201d Shanmuga said. \u201cI hope people look at these photos and take the time to get outside\u2500it really is so amazing out there!\u201d<\/p>\n

As the grand prize winner, Shanmuga will receive $500, a 2016 Maryland State Park & Trail Passport<\/a>, a lifetime subscription to the magazine<\/a> and five copies of the 2016 calendar, all of which can be purchased on shopdnr.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In total, approximately 200 people entered more than 1,100 photographs for consideration this year\u2500a new record.<\/p>\n

Photo contest judges selected one additional photo from each category, and DNR Facebook<\/a> followers are encouraged to \u201cLIKE\u201d their favorite by the end of September. The photo with the most likes will also be featured in the calendar.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe beauty and diversity of our state makes it hard to take a bad picture, but I must say, these photographers knocked it out of the park,\u201d DNR Secretary Mark Belton said. \u201cFrom birds to blossoms, the photographs celebrate our state\u2019s extraordinary outdoors. Congratulations to all photographers on their amazing works of art.\u201d<\/p>\n

First place category winners will each receive a 2016 park passport, a two-year magazine subscription and five copies of the calendar. Second place photographers will receive a one-year subscription and calendars. Honorable mentions will receive a complimentary calendar.<\/p>\n

Additional first place winners<\/strong>
\nGlorious Mushrooms<\/em> by Annette Conniff (Flora)
\nBusy Busy Bee<\/em> by Stefan Kaben (Insects)
\nAfter the Ice Storm<\/em> by Jennifer Solpietro (Nature in Action)
\nHay Bale Stretch<\/em> by Nick Becker (Great Outdoors)
\nFishing Bay Jetty<\/em> by JH Soares (Scenic Landscapes)
\nCall of the Wild<\/em> by Marie-Ann D\u2019Aloia (Wildlife)<\/p>\n

Second place winners<\/strong>
\nBald Eagle with Rockfish<\/em> by Stephen Hayes (Birds)
\nUnfurling<\/em> by Nick Becker (Flora)
\nMonarch Caterpillar<\/em> by Laurie Brice (Insects)
\nPines Trees in Snow<\/em> by Addison Likins (Nature in Action)
\nSunrise Hunt<\/em> by Michael Parsons (Great Outdoors)
\nThe Best Farm<\/em> by Tammy Walla (Scenic Landscapes)
\nSnapper from the Deep<\/em> by Robert Geary (Wildlife)<\/p>\n

Honorable mentions<\/strong>
\nTundra Swans<\/em> by Mitch Adolph (Birds)
\nMilkweed<\/em> by Tim Ray (Flora)
\nPollen Faced<\/em> by Cindy Ellis (Insects)
\nBmore Ivy<\/em> by Erika Sneeringer (Nature in Action)
\nCrossing Water<\/em> by James Corbett (Great Outdoors)
\nPoint Lookout<\/em> by Andy Padden (Scenic Landscapes)
\nSleepy Raccoon<\/em> by Melissa McCeney (Wildlife)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Record Number of Photos Submitted The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) today announced the\u00a0winners of its 12th annual photo contest, with Santosh Shanmuga of Gaithersburg, Maryland claiming top honors for his serene Female Red-Winged Blackbird taken at Swan Harbor Farm in Harford County. The winning images will appear in the winter edition of the  Read the Rest…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[957,12],"tags":[3044],"class_list":["post-9102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-appnews","category-parks","tag-photo-contest"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9102","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\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9102"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9102\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9115,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9102\/revisions\/9115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}