The Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority last week announced the winners of the “Picturing Coyote Valley” photo contest, in which the public was invited to submit their best photos of wildlife, landscapes and people in open space areas just north of Morgan Hill.
The OSA is now asking the broader public to select an overall “People’s Choice” winning photograph among the top submissions. That effort kicked off Aug. 16, at an “Understanding Coyote Valley” open house event at the Morgan Hill Community & Cultural Center.
Additional open house events, where people can continue to vote for their favorite photo contest winner, are scheduled for Sept. 7 at the Vietnamese American Service Center in San Jose; Sept. 13 via Zoom; and Sept. 24 at the Santa Teresa Branch Library in San Jose.
From May 2-July 22, people of all ages were invited to participate in the “Picturing Coyote Valley” photo contest, which encouraged community members to share digital photos that captured the diversity of Coyote Valley’s natural and rural landscape. The contest received 168 entries across six categories and a panel of judges worked to score each piece, according to the OSA.
Winning photos include a stunning image of a bald eagle against the rising moon on Coyote Creek Parkway, shot by Ronald Horii; a lone bee pollinating a patch of California poppies, shot and submitted by Russell Emerson; and an “Isolated Tree” standing among the green rolling hills of north Coyote Valley, shot by Huggen Angeles.
A winner and runner-up were selected in six categories: wildlife, plant life, landscapes, agriculture, people in nature and aspiring photographers.
The six contest winners will each receive a $100 gift card to REI, an Open Space Authority swag bag and have their photos featured with credit in upcoming events and publications produced by the OSA.
