Posted by Brad Mangas on October 23, 2011 at 12:23 PM
Central States Nature Photographer Rob Graham has been awarded 3rd place in the 2011 National Natural Landmarks photo contest.
It's is always great to see places like Kansas receiving national recognition for natural beauties when placed up against all the other places that people seem to instinctively think of.
Of course this would not happen without the talent and work of Rob Graham. Way to go Rob, thanks from a fellow Kansasn.
p.s. I just hope our little secret of the beauty of Kansas doesn't get out to much, the wide open spaces and lack of sightseers is really nice.
Posted by Angela Classen on October 23, 2011 at 10:08 PM
Way to go, Rob! What an awesome accomplishment! The photo is great of course and very deserving of the award. You have a great portfolio of Monument Rock images and you seem to "get" it better than anyone I know. Again, congrats on the honor
Posted by John Tobias on October 24, 2011 at 7:53 AM
Great accomplishment Rob! good to see my native state and your photography rewarded.
Posted by John Tobias on October 24, 2011 at 7:56 AM
Surprise! After looking at the list of the 2011 winners for the NNL, I decided to take a look at the Illinois listing. There to my surprise was one of my photos for Funks Grove. Nice way to start the day. Thanks Brad for posting the notice of Robs win, I would not have looked at the site othewise.
Posted by Jim Erhardt on October 24, 2011 at 10:29 AM
Congratulations!
Posted by Wayne Rhodus on October 24, 2011 at 11:24 AM
Congratulations Rob! I'm glad to see you receive this recognition for your work. Continued success in the future!
Posted by Bruce King on October 24, 2011 at 4:05 PM
BOOYAH Mr. Graham! Nice Going!
Great shot....well deserved accolades.
Posted by Rob Graham on October 24, 2011 at 6:21 PM
Thanks Brad and everybody else. The folks at the NNL admitted to tweaking the brightness of the rocks, so I am curious how it will look in print. On the site, the image seems to bright, so I am including a version that I used here back in May and that is close to what I submitted for the competition.
John, they seem to use even non winning images for the state galleries. If you look at the Kansas page, you will see that for 4 out of the 5 NNL sites they use my photos. Three of those photos have placed in previous years, but not the Baker Wetlands image.
Congratulations, Rob. This is a beautiful and haunting image and well deserving of the honor.
Posted by Kent Staubus on October 24, 2011 at 11:04 PM
Congratulations! When I lived in Lenexa, I worked as a salesrep for a drug company and covered every county in Kansas. I stayed out of town about four nights a week, and saw a ton of stuff out there. It's really what got me into photography. I used to go and camp sometimes at something we called the "Chalk Pyramids" out west of I-135 somewhere, south of I-70. I used to shoot it at night, probably my very first night photography along with the ruins of the old limestone houses. I think I've driven on every paved road in KS, and most of the unpaved ones too. Same with South Dakota now, but it's easier. About 1/4 as many people so there's a lot fewer roads!
Discussion
11 repliesIt's is always great to see places like Kansas receiving national recognition for natural beauties when placed up against all the other places that people seem to instinctively think of.
Of course this would not happen without the talent and work of Rob Graham. Way to go Rob, thanks from a fellow Kansasn.
Natural National Landmarks Program Winners
p.s. I just hope our little secret of the beauty of Kansas doesn't get out to much, the wide open spaces and lack of sightseers is really nice.
Great shot....well deserved accolades.
John, they seem to use even non winning images for the state galleries. If you look at the Kansas page, you will see that for 4 out of the 5 NNL sites they use my photos. Three of those photos have placed in previous years, but not the Baker Wetlands image.
Kent in SD