Nature photographs taken in Newburyport and Woburn, as well as in the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary are among the honorees in Mass Audubon’s 2023 statewide photo contest.
Anna Koontz was named the under-18 winner in the People in Nature category with a picture, shot from above, of people peering over the edge of a boat into the dark blue waters of Stellwagen Bank. James Wang was awarded an honorable mention for his comedic image of a seal in Newburyport with its flipper raised to its face in apparent amusement. An atmospheric shot of a sora bird wading through dark waters in Woburn won honorable mentions for Aranya Karighattam.
Over 5,000 photos were submitted to the annual competition, which asked for entries in six categories: people in nature, birds, mammals, other animals, landscapes, and plants and fungi. Winners were named in two age groups for each category: under-18 and 18-and-older. Honorable mentions were made for photos that stood out in some distinct way.
The Grand Prize was awarded to Cheryl Rose for her luminous shot of a sundew plant flecked with shimmering droplets of water. Other winning photos include a view down the barrel of a wave off Nantucket, a mink seeming to levitate as it gallops through grass in Longmeadow, lightning striking over Scituate Harbor, a kayaker at rest on a lake in Royalston, a drift of vibrant orange mushrooms in Wellesley, and several more.
View all of this year’s winners at massaudubon.org/picturethis.