Simply amazing. What an astounding group of winning photographs. These 17 winning images were selected from over 2100 submitted by photographers in 27 countries. The wide range of subject matter, locale, style, and creative vision from so many exceptionally talented and dedicated photographers was astounding! With thanks to the jury members for the 2007 Banff Mountain Photography Competition — acclaimed photographer Alec Pytlowany, Photo Life editor-in-chief Anita Dammer, and photographer/filmmaker Pat Morrow.

Although Marc Adamus from Corvallis, Oregon won the grand prize (he also walked away with a special mention), the shot shown here is the one that grabbed my eye. This photo was taken by Marc Piscotty, who was an integral part of the photo staff at the Rocky Mountain News which won Pulitzer Prizes in Breaking News Photography for coverage of the Columbine High School Tragedy (2000) and the 2003 Colorado wildfires. He was also a finalist in the 2001 Pulitzer Prize Feature Photography category for the year he spent chronicling high-school life in the wake of the Columbine tragedy. In addition to numerous professional state-wide and national awards, Marc was the winner of the William Randolph Hearst Collegiate Photojournalism Championship as a junior at Western Kentucky University.

The image above is entitled, “Iron Mountain Fire,” taken in Canon City, Colroado on 3 June 2002. “A slurry bomber drops fire-retardant across a hillside during the Iron Mountain Fire…The fire would rage on for a week, burn almost 4500 acres of forest and threaten more than 100 homes. The 2002 fire season was only a prelude to the following year, which would go down on record as the worst fire season in Colorado history.”