Shown are the top six winners of the 2022 Celebrate Michigan Photo Contest.
Penelope McGinty was outdoors with her daughter on a sunny winter day when she spotted some icicles hanging from a tree outside her Clinton Township home.
"They looked like they would be a crown for a queen or princes," McGinty said. "We started out taking pictures of them on her head, as a crown, and I just directed her to move them to her face."
The result was a photo that was a finalist in the very first week of the 2022 Celebrate Michigan Photo Contest, one that went on to be our judges' top choice in the Four-Season fun category.
"At first, the photo was in color but I decided to try different tones and the black and white made it, to me, very artistic and was perfect with the clarity of the ice," she said.
McGinty wins a $300 prize for her artistic effort, as do our judges' other category winning picks.
One is a shot of a mother mallard nipping at an egret in flight, shot by Craig Bamm of Ann Arbor at Matthaei Botanical Gardens. It won our Woods and Wildlife category.
"I was walking along the shore of the pond at Matthaei Botanical Gardens when I heard a big commotion," Bamm said. "Apparently, an egret had wandered too close to a mama mallard's babies."
The third winner was Amy Cantu's night-time shot of the Milky Way hovering over a flowing Tahquamenon Falls. Cantu won our People and Places category with her image.
"I came up with the idea based on other photos I've seen of the Milky Way over Tahquamenon Falls," Cantu said. Based on prior visits — planning is everything for a shot like this — she knew the angle of the viewing platform at the falls, and knew where the Milky Way would be in the sky at "true night," around 11:45 p.m. that night. Then she waited.
"I chose a portrait orientation with a 14mm wide angle lens to get in as much of the Milky Way as possible in the frame," she said. "I took several photos and used Starry Landscape Stacker to help with noise reduction. I also held up my cellphone flashlight for a few seconds to illuminate the falls a little."
"The toughest part was just being alone for several hours in the dark. It's a bit scary but always worth it," she said.
People's Choice
Our three People's Choice winners were chosen by an online vote of readers who've followed the summer-long Celebrate Michigan Photo contest. Each People's Choice winner also receives a $300 prize for their work.
Etheldra Bowen of Detroit won the Four-Season Fun category with a dramatic image of fireworks over the city skyline. She took the picture from Midtown on June 27 during the 2022 Ford Fireworks.
Faith Serio of Memphis won the vote in the People and Places category with a photo she titled "River girl." The image is one she took of her sister sitting atop a rock in the Pine River in July of 2021.
Devon Kotke of Williamston won the vote in the Woods and Wildlife category with a colorful photo of a small frog sitting atop a flower.
"I came across this guy while out walking the dogs one morning. I sat on the ground taking photos of him for 15 minutes before I got one I liked," he said.
Awards of Excellence
Three additional photographers each win $100 prizes for being selected for Awards of Excellence by our judges.
Joel Johnson of Benton Harbor wins an Award of Excellence in the Four-Season Fun category for a picture our judges described as "fabulously fun" of a child at St. Joseph's Silver Beach dumping a bucket of water over his head.
Richard Bagdasarian of Wixom wins in the Woods and Wildlife category for his shot of a heron against the moon at Kensington Metropark, taken in March.
"I decided to get up earlier than usual and visit Kensington Metropark," Bagdasarian said. "I saw this blue heron perched on top of a tree at the nature center, and was able to quickly capture a photo of it with the moon as a backdrop. As the sun rose, the moon quickly disappeared and the heron went fishing for breakfast."
Bill Savage of Munising wins in the People and Places category for his photo of competitive powwow dancer S. Boivin at Bay Mills, in Brimley, in June.
In all, there were nearly 5,900 photos submitted in our summer-long photo contest, challenging our judges week after week. The 2023 contest will begin around Memorial Day weekend, so keep an eye out for your best takes on our state.