Keep Iowa Beautiful

Congratulations To Our Photography Contest Winners

For information on the photo contest, please visit the contest details page.

2023-2024

Phase One Winners

First, second, and third place photos were awarded in each category. The winners were determined by a select panel of judges. The five categories were:

  • Iowa Cities
  • Iowa Landscape
  • Iowa Water
  • Iowa Wildlife
  • Iowans in Action

Phase Two Winners

Each of the five categories winners were judged by a panel of distinguished judges for the Robert D. Ray Best of Show Award.

Iowa Cities

1st Place: “Sunset at Gray’s Lake,” Terry Holdren of Cumming
2nd Place: “Market Night in Downtown Webster City, Iowa,” Kent Bailey of Webster City
3rd Place: “Iowa City Fireworks,” Jesse Streinz of West Branch
Honorable Mention: “Springtime at Kinnick,” Jacob Hannon of Iowa City

Iowa Landscapes

1st Place: “A Misty Sunrise at Hitchcock,” Buck Christensen of Council Bluffs
2nd Place: “Iowa Landscape,” Adam Orgler of Johnston
3rd Place: “Fields of Gold,” Craig McPeck of Omaha
Honorable Mention: “Springtime Storm,” Heather Johnson of Ankeny

Iowa Water

1st Place: “Majestic Sunrise,” William Beardsley of Estherville
2nd Place: “Red Boat on Briggs Woods Lake,” Kent Bailey of Webster City
3rd Place: “Boy Scout Island Reflected at Sunrise,” Buck Christensen of Council Bluffs
Honorable Mention: “Connecting the City,” Silas Hanneman of Altoona

Iowa Wildlife

1st Place: “Sleepy Barred Owl,” Eric Burson of Des Moines
2nd Place: “The Space Between,” Grant Webster of Indianola
3rd Place: “Sunset Buck,” Eric Williamson of Des Moines
Honorable Mention: “Shy Raccoon,” Adam Orgler of Johnston

Iowans in Action

1st Place: “Exiting the Mines,” Brandt Culbertson of Dubuque
2nd Place: “Bringing in the Harvest,” Sharon Scarff of Wayland
3rd Place: “Flying Clowns,” Andy Repp of Ankeny
Honorable Mention: “A Devilish Dance in the Iowa Sky,” Chris Ewan of Ames

2022-2023

Iowa Cities

First Place: Brian Gibbs “Elkader Iowa at Sunrise From Lovers Leap Park”
Second Place: Janet Abrahamson “City of Dubuque in fall from Mississippi River Dock”,
Third Place: Adam McHenry “Shattering Silence and the beautiful Des Moines skyline”
Honorable Mention: Steve Dunn “Iowa State Capitol”

Iowa Landscapes

First Place: Drue Powers “Early Morning Fog”
Second Place: Brian Gibbs “Frosty Farmstead”
Third Place: Todd Cogdill “Farms and rolling hills of Western Iowa”
Honorable Mention: Arthur Davis “A Rural Farmland Sunrise”

Iowa Water

First Place: Dave Austin “Malanaphy Springs”
Second Place: William Beardsley “Sunrise Through the Trees”
Third Place: Mark Gromko “Cedar River”
Honorable Mention: Scott Hoag “River Rally Refection”

Iowa Wildlife

First Place: Jesse Streinz “The Squad”
Second Place: Benjamin Neff “Young Buck in the Sunset”
Third Place: Silas Hanneman “Bison”
Honorable Mention: William Beardsley “Canvasback Eruption”

Iowans in Action

First Place: Anji Bennett “Solo Harvest”
Second Place: William Beardsley “Fishermen at Dusk”
Third Place: Brian Gibbs “Old Glory at Sunrise on Ragbrai”
Honorable Mention: Mark Iwig “Color the Wind Kite Festival”

2021-2022

Iowa Cities

First Place: Sharon Scarff “Snake Alley in Bloom”
Second Place: Drue Powers “Beauty in the Storm”
Third Place: Justin West “Winter Capitol Bridges”
Honorable Mention: Jesse Streinz “Chirstmas Past”

Iowa Landscapes

First Place: Wilford Yoder “Cutting & Stacking Oat Bundles
Second Place: Brian Brian Gibbs “Rainbow over Motor Mill at Sunset”
Third Place: Dave Austin “A Season Begins”
Honorable Mention: Shelley Gerjets “Icy Start

Iowa Water

First Place: Scott Hoag “Port of Dubuque”
Second Place: Josh Meier “Macbride Rainbow”
Third Place: David Smith “Nightfall”
Honorable Mention: Trent Hanselmann “Fall Over the Mississippi”

Iowa Wildlife

First Place: William Beardsley “Take-Off”
Second Place: Tana Tesdall “Curious Fox”
Third Place: Rui Chen “Night Tigher Basking in the Sun”
Honorable Mention: Emily Harper “Buffalo”
Honorable Mention: Jesse Streinz “Flying Low”

Iowans in Action

First Place: William Beardsley “Okoboji Regatta”
Second Place: Lee Navin “Dayton Rodeo”
Third Place: Will Hunter “Singing, dancing, playing, socializing and happiness!”
Honorable Mention: Aaron Miller “Cattle Drive Down a Level B Road in Warren County”

2020-2021

Iowa Cities

First Place: Justin West “Super Moon Iowa Capitol in Winter”
Second Place: Josh Meier “Iowa City Fireworks”
Second Place: Josh Meier “Iowa City Fireworks”
Honorable Mention: Justin Rogers “Yankee Doodle Pops”

Iowa Landscapes

First Place: Dave Austin “Trinity Church Under the Stars”
Second Place: Brian Abeling “Rollercoaster Road in Allamakee County”
Third Place: Justin Rogers “Ridin’ the Storm Out”
Honorable Mention: Scott Hoag “From Dusk to Done”
Honorable Mention: Gary Hamer “Sunrise Rays Enter Dance Hall Cave”

Iowa Water

First Place: Brian Abeling “Horseshoe Bluff”
Second Place: Gregg Alliss “Pine Creek Grist Mill”
Third Place: Mark Iwig “Early Spring Sunrise at Big Creek Lake”
Honorable Mention: Aaron Miller “Des Moines River Under the Milky Way”

Iowa Wildlife

First Place: Eric Williamson “Play Time”
Second Place: Twila Ingham “Three on a Tree”
Third Place: Willard Sharp “Eagle Landing on the Ice of Saylorville Lake”
Honorable Mention: Chris Heyer “Dancing Great Egrets”
Honorable Mention: Larry Dau “Catch of the Day – Mink”

Iowans in Action

1st Place: Wilford Yoder from Iowa City. “Helping Hands Loading Oat Bundles”
2nd Place: Norman Wood from Ottumwa. “Balloon Race Night Glow in Ottumwa”
3rd Place: Greg Punelli from Ankeny. “Fishing at Big Creek”
Honorable Mention: Joyce Meyer from Calmar. “Riding the Bulls”
Honorable Mention: Theresa Trimble from Forest City. “Color the Wind Kite Festival”

2019-2020

Katharine Gail Vogel
1st Place: Katharine Gail Vogel from Marshalltown “Adventure in Loess Hills”
Mark Iwig
2nd Place: Mark Iwig from Johnston “Sunrise at Iowa Women of Achievement Bridge”
3rd Place: Willard Sharp from Madrid “The Milky Way and a Tractor”
Honorable Mention: Mark Iwig-Johnston “Sunset at St. Paul’s Evangelical Church”
Honorable Mention: Aaron Miller-Carlisle “July Sunset Storm and Windmill”

2018-2019

1st Place: Justin Rogers of Ankeny “Boone & Scenic Valley railroad Steam Engine”
Ervin Sabic
2nd Place: Ervin Sabic of Waterloo “The Calm Before the Storm-Downtown Waterloo”
3rd Place: Willard Sharp of Madrid “Summer Thunderstorm Near Parkersburg”

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