April 1, 2005

2005 Banff Mountain Photography Competition seeks awe-inspiring images

The Banff Mountain Photography Competition jury has an extremely difficult job. For two days each year, these hardworking judges are cloistered in a room at The Banff Centre, to sift through hundreds of photo competition entries to choose the best mountain images. Last year, more than 2,300 images from 24 different countries were submitted. Winners in seven categories will share $8,000 in cash and prizes, and have their photos featured at the 2005 Banff Mountain Festivals and at exhibitions across North America.

Award-winning National Geographic photographer Gordon Wiltsie won in 2004 for a warm and colourful portrait of a nomadic family in Mongolia. “Winning one of the Banff Mountain photo awards ― especially in the mountain culture category ― was an honor that I will always treasure,” he says. “More than anything, it was an affirmation of my abilities and my vision made by judges I respect, as well as an opportunity to present one of my favorite images to a world-wide audience that is very close to my heart.”

Not all winning entries are submitted by professional photographers like Wiltsie, Florian Schulz, and Darwin Wiggett. Often the winners are by amateur photographers, like long-time festival volunteer and biologist Dan Rafla, whose expansive shot of Nepalese farmers won a Special Mention in 2003.

Entries must be received at the competition office in Banff no later than May 31, 2005. Amateur and professional photographers alike are invited to submit slides and/or prints.

The following prizes will be awarded:

Grand Prize: $1000 cash, and prizes from our sponsors, will be awarded to the photographer with the best overall photograph, regardless of category.

Category Prizes: $500 cash, and prizes from our sponsors, will be awarded to the winner in each of the following categories: mountain adventure, mountain landscape, mountain culture, mountain flora and fauna, and mountain environment.

Y2Y Prize: $500 will be awarded to the photographer with the best overall photograph from the Yellowstone to Yukon Region (Y2Y), regardless of category. The Y2Y region includes the Rockies and the Mackenzie Mountains in western North America (Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, British Columbia, Alberta, Yukon Territory, and the North West Territories). For more information, please visit www.y2y.net.

The winning photographs will be exhibited during the Banff Mountain Festivals, October 29 – November 7, 2005, and will remain on exhibition for 12 months as part of The Banff Centre's permanent collection. The exhibition will tour to a number of locations in North America and abroad. Winning photos will also be featured on the Mountain Culture website: www.banffmountainfestivals.ca.

The 2005 Banff Mountain Photography Competition is presented by National Geographic and Dunham Bootmakers, with assistance from Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative.

Complete contest rules and entry forms for this year's competition are available:

Banff Mountain Photography Competition
Box 1020, 107 Tunnel Mountain Drive
Banff, Alberta, Canada T1L 1H5
1-800-298-1229, (403) 762-6347
fax: (403) 762-6277
e-mail: BanffMountainPhotos@banffcentre.ca
 

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Downloadable images of the 2004 Photography Competition winners are available here:  www.banffmountainfestivals.ca/ftp

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