Danville woman's elk photo wins statewide people's choice award

Rick Dandes, The Daily Item, Sunbury, Pa.
·3 min read
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Feb. 2—Amanda Wydra, 33, of Danville, has been shooting wildlife photos for years, with an emphasis on birds and other denizens of Pennsylvania forest land.

The one great shot she had been seeking eluded her, until last year, when it happened quite unexpectedly at Kettle Creek Park in Renovo, she said.

That photo, of an elk crossing a stream, won her a People's Choice Award in the Water is Life category of the Pennsylvania Parks and Forests Foundation's annual photo contest.

"Really, I had never submitted a photo in the contest," she said. "I had no inkling that I was going to win. I do this for the fun of it. It is a passion."

She had been there before but never got the shot she was seeking.

"I kept at it. Looking. and then one day, driving home from vacation in Benezette, I decided to stop, knowing that Kettle Creek was on my way and that there were elk in the area. I decided I wanted to see if I could find any," she said.

There she captured this perfect moment of a bull and another elk crossing the creek — the winning photo.

"It was just me in the car, so I said to myelf, 'let's go venture.' I had never seen elks there but I knew that they were there," she said.

She found two small bulls right away.

A park ranger told her that elk had "kinda been hanging around the creek. So I drove deep into the area. Walking along the creek, I saw the elk. He stopped. Looked at me for a second. I took the photo. and he moved off, continuing to eat."

"I had been dying to get that shot for years. I got lucky. It's all luck," she said, laughing.

Her winning photo was taken with a Nikon d850, full frame.

PA state parks are the settings of many cherished memories for Wydra and her husband, she said.

So many, that they have taken up the goal of visiting every state park.

"Now that we have a family, we want to continue that adventure with them and educate them on the history and preservation of our state parks and the importance of being outdoors," she said.

"I was very surprised and excited to hear that I'd won," she said. "There are so many outstanding wildlife photographers out there."

A Danville High graduate, Class of 2007, Wydra said she's always been an artistic person. "Normally, you'd find me outside taking pictures," she said.

Landscapes and wildlife are her favorite things to photograph. "I feel most at peace with the world when I am out in the world. In nature," she said.

"The passion people have for their state parks and forests is evident in the volume and quality of images received," said Marci Mowery, Pennsylvania Parks and Forests Foundation president. "Photography is one of many ways that people enjoy these special places."

You can view the winners and all the 2022 Clean Water and Forested Ecosystem Photo Contest submissions on the Pennsylvania Parks and Forests Foundation Facebook page.

The 2023 photo contest is officially open.