in which my brother wins a contest and i am proud of him
My brother is a hell of a photographer, and is on the verge of turning his hobby into something much, much more.
He took this picture last year, and it instantly became one of my favorites. This morning, he told me that he'd recently entered it in a contest that had hundreds of other entries.
Last night, he totally won the GRAND PRIZE! His picture will be part of a traveling exhibit up in Montana, where he lives, and will be put on long-term display in one of the biggest banks in his small town. He says that the prize package is pretty cool, too: "My wife and I get to go to Yellowstone next winter, stay overnight in the park, and get to go on one of those awesome snowcat bus thingys that takes us to old faithful!"
I convinced Jeremy to release his winning image under a Creative Commons license, so WWdN readers could create awesome derivative works from it. If you make something cool with it, let me know and I'll link to your creation in this post.
Jeremy's only been seriously taking pictures for a few years. I know that I'm not an impartial observer here, but I think it's pretty clear that he's uncovered a hidden talent.
I'm really, really proud of him. Congratulations, Jeremy!
Click the image to embiggen at flickr. You may also want to follow links to Jer's website and flickr stream.
Reader Contributions:
fatsvernon did this cool mashup of my work with my brother's work.
Reader TB did a Fark-ish mashup of his own. Tennis, anyone?
N used Jer's photo as the backdrop for a stick figure comic. It's funny.
I saw the photo and felt a tug wondering where you got the image. So, congrats to your bro...it's a great shot!
Posted by: camias designs | March 27, 2008 at 10:40 AM
Well, shit be damned, he's really good, Wil. Just saw his website. Not saying this because you're Wil Wheaton and he's related. He definitely should submit to as many online galleries as possible since he's webbing it. There are tons of high end web shops that he can post the images and sell as prints on those sites for more spotlighted attention.
Posted by: camias designs | March 27, 2008 at 10:43 AM
great photo! makes me feel cold even as i sit here at my desk looking out at sunny skies and 75 LA degrees.
you should let your brother know about www.jpgmag.com
it is the bestest photography website in the world!!
Posted by: onegirlmanyideas | March 27, 2008 at 11:00 AM
Nice shot, and congrats to your brother.
I spent part of my childhood in Montana. I miss it so much... wonderful place. I hope to move back someday.
--chuck
http://chuck.goolsbee.org
Posted by: chuckgoolsbee | March 27, 2008 at 11:07 AM
All I can say is WOW! That is such a beautiful picture!! They are really, really beautiful. He should get some great shots when he goes to Yellowstone, too. Congrats to Jeremy!
Posted by: Celtic Mama | March 27, 2008 at 11:08 AM
That's the Bridger Range. I would recognize them anywhere. What a beautiful shot. I went to college in Bozeman, and this is really making me nostalgic.
Posted by: utopia2064 | March 27, 2008 at 11:32 AM
Wow! Congrats to him. Yellowstone's an amazing place for photography, so he should get some fantastic shots out of that one.
Posted by: Darth Paradox | March 27, 2008 at 11:34 AM
Jeremy's website blew me away! After that photo I expected the rest to be good but I'm pretty speechless at just how great of a photographer he is. I don't even like mountain shots and I really like this photo. His macro collection and the photos taken at the old barn are my favorites, though. Wow. Just amazing. Major congratulations to Jeremy!
Cheers!
Posted by: angie k | March 27, 2008 at 11:43 AM
I just checked out his website and I agree he's found a hidden talent. Turning photos into art isn't as easy as one would think, it takes skill. My neice loves photography and her pictures were featured in our local paper because she was 5 at the time (now 6) and autistic. I hope Jeremy sticks with it. Congrat Jer!!!
~~TARA~~
Posted by: Tara | March 27, 2008 at 12:14 PM
I see creativity runs in the Wheaton family!
I'd love this as a desktop image.
Posted by: zizban | March 27, 2008 at 12:17 PM
That's a stunning shot. Congrats to your brother and hooray for sibling love!
Posted by: Meg Kribble | March 27, 2008 at 12:19 PM
From one photographer to another....that is an amazing photo.
Here's my submission: http://gallery.mac.com/tracephoto#100055/JWheatonpic-20with-20Wil&bgcolor=black
Posted by: fatsvernon | March 27, 2008 at 12:21 PM
That is a crazy good photo. My father in-law is a big photo buff and I'm forwarding as I type this...well after I type this.
Posted by: Thane9 | March 27, 2008 at 12:27 PM
Wow, that is one fantabulous shot! Congratulations Jeremy! Thank you for sharing with we WWdN readers.
Posted by: Tess | March 27, 2008 at 12:28 PM
No WAY he's new to photography, I saw his website and he's FANTASTIC!!!! Way to be talented Wheaton spawn!
Posted by: Angela | March 27, 2008 at 12:29 PM
Beautiful picture!!
Posted by: ALRO | March 27, 2008 at 12:47 PM
I don't comment often - but WOW! Jeremy is awesome.
Mary
Posted by: mxley | March 27, 2008 at 12:54 PM
I bet I'm not the only WWdN reader that would very much like to know what sort of equipment he uses....
Posted by: bryce | March 27, 2008 at 01:09 PM
Wow, that is awesome photography. One of the things I love about it how real everything looks. I have some professional photographer friends who always change and brighten the colors and over sharpen stuff and it sometimes looks cool, but it often doesnt look natural. Those all look so real and natural and the bright colors are because he actually captured them not shopped them. Very nice.
Posted by: dragonbec | March 27, 2008 at 01:32 PM
It's fantabuliscious! What a beautiful scene! Your brother has "teh eye". Congratulations to him!!
Posted by: Nita | March 27, 2008 at 01:49 PM
Where in MT is it traveling? I'd like to go see the exhibit.
Posted by: Kyle | March 27, 2008 at 02:10 PM
It's no surprise your brother won, Wil. It's an amazing photo. Absolutely stunning. Congrats to him. He deserves the recognition.
Posted by: Kevin | March 27, 2008 at 02:18 PM
It is now a fave!
Thanks for sharing :)
Posted by: starshine_diva | March 27, 2008 at 02:54 PM
Wow, those pictures are really beautiful! I really love his wildlife photography.
Posted by: kelly | March 27, 2008 at 04:29 PM
Your brother is indeed very talented, a trait which may come to be much appreciated in this modern world where evryone and no one has a digital camera in their hands, but little to no talent to do the subjects' justice.
The few works which are on display in his gallery at this time, can in the right hands take him far. I have seen less talented photographers make a living off pictures of lesser artistic quality.
Posted by: Josephine | March 27, 2008 at 05:26 PM