Clark photographer Kathy Lichtendahl thought there was a mistake when she received three emails alerting her to the results of Wyoming Wildlife’s 2020 calendar contest.

“When they first sent the emails, I told [husband] Ken I thought they had screwed up and sent me the email three different times,” she said. “Then I read them and realized, oh my gosh, it’s three different photos.”

Lichtendahl had effectively earned a full season’s worth of shots on the magazine’s upcoming calendar.

“Winning two [places] is a fairly common thing, but I’m not sure we’ve had someone win three in quite some time,” said Wyoming Wildlife Editor Tracie Binkerd.

Photographers from 39 states and Washington, D.C., entered more than 3,000 photos into the annual contest with hopes of winning a position in the magazine’s photo issue and calendar.

“It’s probably our most popular issue,” Binkerd said.

Lichtendahl did not earn the honor with her name, as the photographer’s identity is not known until winning photos have been picked.

“We went in totally blind,” Binkerd said.

When the names of the winners were revealed, Wyoming Wildlife staff were surprised to find the July, August and September photos were all from the same photographer. However, they were not surprised Lichtendahl was among the winners; she’s been a frequent honoree in the annual event.

Lichtendahl almost gave up her passion for creating art on adventures in the wild. In 2010, she decided she would enter the Wyoming Wildlife contest, betting her future in photography on the outcome.

“I said to my husband I was going to enter the contest, and if I got an image in, I was going to pursue photography more strongly in the future,” she said. “But if I didn’t, I was hanging up my camera.”

Lichtendahl won an award in the contest and went on to graduate from Northwest College’s photographic communications program and serve as an adjunct faculty member in photography.

While extremely happy about the 2020 calendar results, Lichtendahl is unsure how she’ll do in Wyoming Wildlife’s upcoming photo contest.

“I don’t have a thing to enter,” she said.

This year, staff at the Wyoming Game and Fish Department-produced magazine are changing things up. Entries are now being accepted for the 2019 photo contest through midnight on Nov. 25. Then, a separate contest will be held for the 2021 calendar. Those entries will be accepted in the spring.

“Get out there and get some great shots,” Binkerd said. “There’s lots of wildlife to see in Wyoming.”

For more information and rules to enter: wgfd.wyo.gov/About-Us/Wyoming-Wildlife.