Photo Contest Grand-Prize Winning Image a Great-Looking Great Egret

LINCOLN, MA.—Chatham resident Kimberly Robbins’s striking image of a Great Egret balancing on one foot with wings spread was named the Grand-Prize Winner in Mass Audubon’s 2022 photography contest, Picture This: Your Great Outdoors.

The statewide conservation organization’s annual photo competition attracted more than 7,000 submissions from hundreds of photographers of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities.

Robbins, a real estate agent with deep roots in Chatham (and an affinity for its natural places), would take photos on her phone during walks and hikes. When a planned trip to Africa was ended by the arrival of COVID, “I decided to spend some of that money on a camera,” she said with a chuckle.

Since then, photography has become a serious avocation for her, with a focus on nature and wildlife.

“I grew up in a family with a long history of conservation, so that an environmental consciousness was ingrained in me," Robbins recalled. “And now, through my photography, that connection to nature has become even stronger.”

This is her second year of submitting work to the Mass Audubon photo contest; Robbins's photo won in the Birds category. Additional categories included People in Nature, Mammals, Other Animals, Landscapes, and Plants and Fungi. Participants entered in their appropriate age groups: 18-and-Older or Under-18.

All images—photographers could submit up to 10—must have been shot in Massachusetts or at Mass Audubon’s Wildwood Camp in Rindge, NH, but may have been taken any time prior to or during the 2022 contest period.

Robbins wins a $250 gift card for her Grand Prize-winning photo, in addition to being featured in Mass Audubon’s member newsletter, Explore. The 11 other Category winners receive $100 gift cards, and eight Honorable Mentions receive $50 gift cards. The gift cards can be redeemed at a Mass Audubon shop or wildlife sanctuary.