I don’t remember if I’ve mentioned this before, but in the past year, Matthew has come to really love wildlife photography. He spent most of last summer visiting places where he could take pictures of animals in their natural habitats. He has more pictures of birds than other animals, mostly because they are easier to find, but he has desires to find more wildlife for his photos. He even rented a professional quality camera a few months back and drove up to the bird refuge near Brigham City to spend a day nabbing some pics. He has a good eye and the patience to wait for the animals to appear, and his work has gotten really good. He took some pictures at a bird show last year and the non-profit who owns the birds uses his shots on their Instagram page. So, it’s not just me that thinks his work is good.
Last month a friend of Matthew’s told him that Herriman City was holding a wildlife photography contest. Matthew immediately decided to enter and spent several weeks combing through his portfolio trying to decide on which image to submit. He asked all of us for opinions and finally decided to submit a photo of a yellow headed blackbird, a picture that we all thought would be a fantastic option.
Our city is a small one and you have to be a resident of Herriman to qualify for the contest, so there were only about nine submissions. But as Matthew looked at some of the other images, he was sure that he would not win. He was looking at pictures taken by people with a lot more experience than he has and who own high end cameras that he certainly can’t afford right now. And yes, those pictures were amazing, but tonight the winners were announced, and Matthew won second place! There were cash prizes, which means he won $75, but that was not the exciting thing for him. Simply the fact that he won an award at all had him riding high!
All the submissions will be posted in city hall for the week, which is not a super long time, but I’m thrilled that Matthew has gotten a bit of recognition for doing something that he loves and has a talent for.
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