2022 NWTF Live Wild Turkey Photography Contest
We catch up with this year's winners and ask them a few questions.
First Place
Brooke Dinnen
Okeechobee, Florida
Description of Photograph
This photo was captured on our personal property in Okeechobee.
How long have you been photographing wild turkeys?
My husband and I own Timber Productions and have been photographing wild turkeys together for the last 10 years.
Have you entered the contest before?
I have not entered before, and I was shocked to hear I had won!
What did you do with the contest’s $1,000 grand prize?
I decided to donate the winnings back to NWTF because I want to ensure turkeys are around in the future for my son and his kids and so on. I believe in the research that is being done by NWTF to make that happen and just wanted to do my part.
Second Place
P. Brian Machanic
South Burlington, Vermont
Description of photograph
For the photo, ‘Where’d She Go?’ I chose a field with corn stubble from the previous fall’s harvest, to provide an aesthetic photo background. I entered the field well before dawn and set up an L.L. Rue photo blind. Within 30 minutes, several hens entered the field and moved past my blind. I began making a few yelps and clucks and was soon answered by this nice tom that came straight to the blind. My photographs that morning were taken with a Nikon D7000 camera body and an AF VR 80-400 mm Nikkor lens mounted on a Gitzo tripod.
How long have you been photographing wild turkeys?
I’ve been photographing (and hunting) wild turkeys for over 30 years, and loving every minute of it. God bless the NWTF chapters in Pennsylvania and New York for their trapping and relocation efforts that restored these wonderful birds to the Green Mountain State!
Have you entered the contest before?
I entered the NWTF photo contest once before, and was fortunate to win third place that year.
Third Place
Joe Kurimai
Hendry County, Florida
Description of photograph
The photo was taken in an orange grove where I work in Hendry County, Florida. I used a Canon t4i with a Sigma 150-600mm.
Have you entered the contest before?
Joe entered the NWTF Live Wild Turkey Photo Contest for the first time in 2021.
People’s Choice
Jami Linder
Crossett, Arkansas
Description of Photograph
It was taken midday on April 11, 2020 in Ashley County, Arkansas. It was part of my original “Covid pictures” sets. At that time, I was supposed to be packing for my annual Kentucky turkey hunt but instead stayed home and took pictures. It was at the onset of the pandemic, and we still did not know much about what we were facing. As an ER nurse, I was advised to essentially stay away from people, and that is what I did. I spent my off days in the woods with a camera. I had a couple of 2-year-old toms that spring that visited my blind almost every day with a few hens and a jake. The tom in the picture came out with one of the hens, and I was able to get quite a few good shots of him.
How long have you been photographing wild turkeys?
As far as serious photography, I bought my 5D Mark III and that 100-400mm lens in the fall of 2015 to take elk photos. Spring of 2016 was my first time taking turkey pictures with it. Prior to that, I had mostly been into video.
Have you entered the contest before?
Yes (a fan favorite, Jami has won the People’s Choice three years running and won first place in the NWTF Live Wild Turkey Photo Contest last year).
For photo contest rules and prize information, as well as future contest dates and deadlines, go to photo-contest.nwtf.org and check back periodically for updates.
Photo contest entries are also featured in the 2023 NWTF Calendar, which will be available later this year.