David Bolin, an amateur photographer from Colorado, was voted the grand prize winner this year by Defenders of Wildlife’s members and supporters during our first ever photo contest. Out of more than 10,000 submissions David’s stirring photograph of a black wolf taken at Denali National Park in Alaska came out on top and earned him the prize of a late September, week-long photo tour of Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Tetons with renowned wildlife photographer Jess Lee.

I had the pleasure of catching up with David earlier this week. He expressed how grateful he was to everyone who voted for him and said he was truly humbled by the honor. The trip to Yellowstone and the opportunity to shoot with a professional photographer like Jess Lee were thrilling.

Note: Click on any photo to see the gorgeous full-sized version!

He joined a group of 6 people including Jess and his partner, a couple from England and a gentleman from Australia. A typical day would involve getting up at 5:30 a.m. to make sure they could get to their locations in plenty of time to photograph the first rays of morning’s light. With a break at 2 p.m. for some lunch and rest they were then back at it for some evening and sunset photography.

David, who is a Colorado native and frequent visitor to Yellowstone, was very pleased to be able to see the Tetons and Yellowstone from locations he had never seen before courtesy of Jess, as well as the wildlife they were able to see, including the Sloth Creek wolf pack, moose, bears, falcons, owls, and bison. His favorite photograph, he told me, occurred as they were walking down Moose Wilson Road in the Tetons. As they were walking they met some people who had seen black bears up the road. Hurrying along, they found the bears enjoying a meal of berries close enough for some great pictures. His favorite photo from the trip is of one of those bears eating berries from a branch.

Listening to David talk, you can see why this particular bear photograph might be his favorite from the trip. He has been taking pictures since the early 1970s and when he took his first photo of a grizzly bear he knew he was hooked. David is also very passionate about sharing his photographs and love of nature with children. He frequently makes trips to schools to speak to students using his photographs as a powerful medium to help show the changes and impacts humans are having on our natural world.

Currently David is gearing up for two upcoming shows. David’s collection can be seen at his photography gallery called Hanging Valley Photography and he can be reached at Hangingvalleypho@aol.com if you have any questions about his work.

Congratulations to everyone who placed and thank you from us here at Defenders for making our photo contest such a success.  We are currently in the planning stages of our next contest so stay tuned for more details!

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