2025 Friends of Blackwater Photo Contest Winners

A big congratulations to the winners in our 2025 Refuge Photo Contest at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. Our winners and honorable mentions are highlighted below. We want to thank everyone who entered our photo contest and who shared their wonderful photos with us!

Click on the thumbnails below to see a larger image.

Adult - Wildlife

  • 1st Place - Reinhardt Sahmel
    "Northern Pintail"
  • 2nd Place - Boris Fedorov
    "Dance of Great Egrets"
  • 3rd Place - Neil Cambell
    "Heron Fishing"
  • Mark Cohen - Honorable Mention
    "Takeout"
  • Lisa Mayo - Honorable Mention
    "Northern Flicker Family"
  • Reinhardt Sahmel - Honorable Mention
    "Yellow-Billed Cuckoo"
  • Reinhardt Sahmel - Honorable Mention
    "Greater Yellowlegs"

Adult - Landscapes and Waterscapes

  • 1st Place - Kenneth Rose
    "Sun-Dappled"
  • 2nd Place - Tom Blanpied
    "Sunset Flight"
  • 3rd Place - Candice Taylor
    "Foggy Pier"

Adult - Nightscapes

  • 1st Place - Beamie Young
    "Milkyway"
  • 2nd Place - Matt Felperin
    "Neon Tide"
  • 3rd Place - Kim Cawley
    "Stars Over Sticks"
  • Beamie Young - Honorable Mention
    "Twilight"

Adult - Flora and Macro

  • 1st Place - Lisa Mayo
    "Putnam Junping Spider Hunting on the Pollinator Trail"
  • 2nd Place - Mark Cohen
    "Dragonfly"
  • 3rd Place - Jack Shih
    "Held by the Green"
  • Lisa Mayo - Honorable Mention
    "Canopy Jumping Spider Reelig in His Silk"

Youth - Wildlife

  • 1st Place - Wyatt Tolker
    "Zen Heron"