Throughout the past spring and summer, Bay Nature and Sarber's Cameras cosponsored a photo contest to mark the East Bay Regional Park District's 75th Anniversary. The top eight photos (out of more than 350 submitted) appear in our October 2009 issue feature article "The Lungs of the City: 75 Years and Counting for East Bay Parks." The winners hail from all over the Bay Area, and they shared with us some of their insights into local nature photography.

Winners

GRAND PRIZE WINNER Jerry Ting: Coyote Hills Regional Park

Jerry Ting, Grand Prize Winner

Fremont
Jerry moved to Fremont in 2005 and has set what he mildly calls "an aggressive goal": He intends to visit and photograph all 65 East Bay Regional Parks in 2009.

"I must say it's a privilege to live in California, especially the Bay Area. The great weather, various landscapes, and abundant wildlife make this place a photography enthusiast's heaven."

SECOND PLACE Bill Helsel: Oak tree, Briones Regional Park

Bill Helsel, 2nd Place Winner

El Sobrante
As an architectural photographer and teacher of photography, Bill is often behind the camera for work, but enjoys photographing trees in the East Bay Regional Park District in his spare time.

"Photographing nature requires seeing like a camera sees, in a literal and complete way, and noticing the quality of light and design elements in what's in front of you."

Runners-Up

Click on each photographer's name to learn more about them.

Marc Crumper, Livermore

Marc Crumpler: Mount Diablo from Round Valley Regional Preserve

Karl Gohl, Los Altos

Karl Gohl: Mission Peak Regional Preserve

Becky Jaffe, Oakland

Becky Jaffe: Juvenile katydid, Redwood Regional Park

John Krzesinski, Pleasanton

John Krzesinski: Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park

Rick Lewis, Alta Loma

Rick Lewis: California clapper rail, Martin Luther King Jr. Regional Shoreline

Deane Little, Boulder, CO

Deane Little: Checkerspot butterfly on blue dicks, Sunol Regional Wilderness

To Find Out More

Contact Beth Rodio at beth@baynature.org or 510-528-8550 to receive high-resolution images of the winning photos, or learn more about our photo contest, the winners, or Bay Nature magazine.

See more of the best of our 350+ submissions here. Check out a gallery of all submissions here. (Note that if photographers have removed images from their Flickr pages, those submissions will not appear.)