For most photographers, dealing with exposure means carefully selecting the amount of light that will be allowed into a particular photograph. For photographer Marc Adamus, managing exposure also means coping with extreme temperatures and blizzard conditions in order to get the perfect shot. Adamus’s image Winter Fury was recently awarded the Grand Prize in the 2007 Banff Mountain Photography Competition.
Adamus is a full-time landscape photographer from Corvallis, Oregon. His photographs have been published extensively worldwide in a large variety of media from magazines to books, calendars, and posters. He describes the moment he took Winter Fury.
“I captured this image with strong winds at my back, near the craggy summit of Oregon’s Iron Mountain during a solo accent in January. I got a little more exposure to the elements than I had anticipated, following a significant snow dump and ensuing blizzard conditions with temperatures around 0°F (-18°C). On my return from the summit, I stopped at this dramatic pinnacle, roughly 200 feet (61 m) high, which is the remainder of the mountain’s volcanic core. Bracing myself on the leeward side of a thick wall of short alpine trees, I was able to pull out my camera and wide-angle lens long enough to fire off several frames with a shutter speed fast enough to freeze the blowing spindrift. I felt the image captured the excitement, the challenge, and the beauty of experiencing winter in the mountain environment.”
Adamus’s image topped a collection of more than 2,100 photographs from 27 countries submitted to the 12th annual competition. The 2007 Banff Mountain Photography Competition — a program of Mountain Culture at The Banff Centre — is presented by National Geographic and New Balance, with assistance from the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative and 1% For The Planet.
The 2007 Banff Mountain Photography Competition jury included award-winning photographer Alec Pytlowany, Photo Life editor in chief Anita Dammer, and photographer/filmmaker Pat Morrow. In addition to the Grand Prize, the jury chose winners in five subject categories and one regional category. Another ten photographs received special mention. Winners include:
Grand Prize
Marc Adamus of Corvallis, Oregon, USA, was awarded the Grand Prize for his photo Winter Fury. Adamus wins $1000 CDN plus prizes from competition sponsors.
Category Prizes
The following photographers won category prizes and will each receive $500 CDN plus prizes from competition sponsors:
- Best Photo – Mountain Adventure: Illuminati, Hermann Erber, Sipbachzell, Austria
- Best Photo – Mountain Culture: El Tío, Bolivia, Louis Perron, Quebec, Québec, Canada
- Best Photo – Mountain Environment: Iron Mountain Fire, Marc Piscotty, Denver, Colorado, USA
- Best Photo – Mountain Flora and Fauna: European Lynx, Paul Horsley, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
- Best Photo – Mountain Landscape: Lake Abraham – Winter Sunrise, Darwin Wiggett, Cochrane, Alberta, Canada
Yellowstone to Yukon Region Prize
Robert Berdan of Calgary, Alberta, Canada was awarded $500 CDN for the best overall photograph from the Yellowstone to Yukon Region (Y2Y) for his photo Swift Fox. This prize was sponsored by the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative. For more information, please visit www.y2y.net.
Special Mentions
In addition, each of the following photographers received Special Mentions:
- Marc Adamus, of Corvallis, Oregon, USA, for Forces of Nature
- Michael J. Hamilton of Denver, Colorado, USA, for Face of Time
- Paul Horsley of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, for American Porcupine and Grey Wolf
- Michael Mauro of Aravada, Colorado, USA, for Caribou Headshot
- Karl Medig of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, for Kashmiri Ski Guide
- Jim Mitchell of Dallas, Texas, USA, for Thermal Abstract
- Celin Serbo of Boulder, Colorado, USA, for Lavender Oceans
- David Stubbs of Jackson, Wyoming, USA, for Moontime in Cave Falls
- Darwin Wiggett of Cochrane, Alberta, Canada, for Trash along the Yellowhead Highway
The winning images will be exhibited at The Banff Centre from October 2007 to September 2008 and will also be exhibited at select locations in North America and abroad.
Mountain Culture at The Banff Centre promotes understanding and appreciation of the world’s mountain places by creating opportunities for people to share — and find inspiration in — mountain experiences, ideas, and challenges.
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Check out winning photos at: http://www.banffcentre.ca/mountainculture/photo/competition/2007
High-resolution files are available for print publications upon request.
Published photos must be incorporated with coverage of the Banff Mountain Photography Competition and include a copyright symbol with the photographer's name, the photograph's title, and the prize title and competition name (e.g “Best Photo, Mountain Culture, Banff Mountain Photography Competition 2007”). This information must appear directly above, under, or beside the photograph. Failure to display the correct photo credit with the photograph may result in the user's liability for the full commercial value of photograph.
