Dan Sweet, public relations manager for Columbia Helicopters, Inc., won first place in Vertical magazine's annual photo contest. His winning image depicted employees conducting a pre-flight inspection of one of the company's Model 234 Chinook helicopters, silhouetted against a vivid sunrise in Nebraska.

Vertical magazine's annual photo contest draws hundreds of entries from around the world each year that show current and relevant stories about the helicopter industry.

Dan Sweet, media service manager for Columbia Helicopters in Aurora, Ore., has taken the top award in an international photo contest for images of helicopters at work. Sweet's winning photo depicted a Vertol 107-II helicopter at a snowy logging operation above Detroit Lake in Oregon's Cascade Mountains.