SILVER SPRING, MD – From a dramatic night scene of Silver Spring illuminated with city lights to an emotional image of a young child bonding with her horse on a county farm, the Montgomery County Planning Department’s 2008 amateur photo contest drew jaw-dropping images illustrating what residents like best about our community.
In its Great Communities photo contest, the agency sought original photographs taken in the county in the last year. The wide range of photos – of vibrant urban areas, agriculture, environmental conservation, recreation and historic preservation – represents Montgomery County’s true mix of amenities and its enviable quality of life.
Winning photographers – four adults and three youths – will receive modest cash awards and have their images displayed at the Magical Montgomery festival and other public events, as well as in Planning Department publications.
View the winning images and all 148 photos submitted.
Other winning photos include a striking detail of a window at the historic National Park Seminary in Silver Spring and a portrait of a young woman resting on a whimsical bench in downtown Bethesda.
Residents under age 18 who submitted entries were judged in a separate youth category. The winning photo of a group of bicyclists rounding a bend in Rock Creek Park near Kensington and a shot highlighting the county’s recycling center with an angle of a conveyer belt sending plastic bottles into a bin demonstrate an outdoorsy, conservation-oriented bent. The third place youth image shows a unique view of a young woman strolling with a soft drink on a plaza in Silver Spring.
Images were judged by a panel of seven, including Jim Thresher, a former Washington Post photographer, a member of a photo club based at the National Institutes of Health, and Planning Department staffers.
The contest was billed as a call for photos demonstrating the county’s high quality of life, including scenes depicting vibrant urban downtowns, rural life, parks/trails, people, buildings and public spaces, among other subjects.
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