Randy Harris, a photographer based in Bellevue, Wash., recently was named the grand-prize winner of the Ritz Camera National Photo Contest for his close-up photograph of an Alaskan grizzly bear shaking water from its head. Harris' work also has appeared in magazines, on television and in advertising campaigns.

John (Jake) Butler, a student at the Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Monica, Calif., has been awarded top honors in two international photography contests.

The International Society of Photographers, in conjunction with the International Library of Photography and picture.com, presented Butler with the award for Outstanding Achievement in Amateur Photography in 2004 for his...

Geoffrey Hiller, a photographer based in Portland, Ore., has produced "Canto do Brasil," a multimedia presentation designed to build awareness of the country's current situation.

Through photography, narration, music and sounds from the streets of Brazil, viewers move through a visual depiction of four Brazilian cities: Salvador de Bahia, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo.

Collaborating with Hiller on the project were...

Commercial photographer Doug Walker, of Walker Photography in Olympia, Wash., won three top awards at the Professional Photographers of Washington Annual Educational Conference and Print Competition.

Walker received the Best Architectural and the Best Industrial print awards, as well as the C.C. Yang Trophy for highest total combined score from four entries.

Oscar Williams, a photographer and teacher who lives in Kirkland, Wash., recently won the grand prize in Smithsonian magazine's first photography contest. Williams' winning photograph is of a boy running up a tiled staircase in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

In January, I was pleased to attend the North American Nature Photography Association's (NANPA) 10th Anniversary Summit in Portland, Ore., for the first day of their four-day event. My experience there would set the tone for this issue of PhotoMedia, which is devoted to nature and wildlife photography.

About 700 attendees from across the continent (and some from overseas) made the pilgrimage to the summit, and it quickly became clear that everyone there had something very much in common. At first, I couldn't quite put my finger on it. The atmosphere at the trade show was upbeat, although many of the photographers present expressed concerns about...