Steve Berliner, a local conservationist, has won first place in the USA/North America Swarovski Digiscoper of the Year contest for 2009, for his photo of a pileated woodpecker pond reflection shot. Berliner took the photo at his own place, the Finley Estate pond and bird sanctuary that he is building in Jennings Lodge.
āAll the entries in this competition must be ādigiscopedā wildlife, taken with any camera paired with a telescope or sporting field scope instead of a camera telephoto lens. This is a type of photography growing in popularity with bird watchers and outdoor sportsman, likely to prefer taking along a field scope for wildlife viewing, instead of an expensive 35mm camera and high-power lens setup,ā Berliner said.
āFor the first-place shot, I used my 1997 Kowa 82mm spotting scope, and a SonyCybershot DSC-W300 compact camera,ā he said, adding that his prize was a Swarovski binocular.
In other results, Berliner said he has been notified that he has won 18th place in the Swarovski international competition; he will be awarded a cash prize and a crystal bird. Last year the overall competition received more than 1,300 photos from more than 30 countries; the subject matter may be any wildlife not in captivity.
Berliner has won awards before, including a 10th place International Swarovski Award, and first and third place in the Wild Bird Magazineās 2009 annual photography contest.
Readers may view all of Berlinerās award-winning photos for 2008-09, and 400 additional photos on his web site:
http://www.pbase.com/sberliner.
He has also made a number of bird prints available for sale as note cards by Friends of North Clackamas Parks to benefit the non-profit organization. Cards are sold at the Oak Grove Coffee House or by contacting the Friends group at
http://foncp.org/.
Caption:
Steve Berlinerās photo of a pileated woodpecker drinking from a pond won first place in the USA/North America Swarovski Digiscoper of the Year 2009.
I think so of you here should enter some of these contests. A sure winner in the midst.
