The hair on the back of professional wildlife photographer Amy Gerber's neck stood on end as she laid on her stomach in the dirt to photograph two rattlesnakes entangled and wrestling for dominance on the south side of the McCullough Peaks.

"The hair on the back of my neck was definitely standing up because all I could think of was; I don't move as fast as I once did, and if these snakes decided to slither toward me quickly I'm not sure I could get up fast enough to get out of the way. That was going through my mind the whole time I was lying there," Gerber said.

The snakes sparred for between 30-40 minutes, and Gerber knew the best photos would be from the snakes' point of view. Luckily Gerber has a couple extremely long lenses that kept her from being within striking distance, photographing the scene from about 15 yards. She made the most of the opportunity, calling it "creepy and beautiful all at once," and exited the scene with a photo she called a "once in a lifetime" image.

"I don't suspect I'll ever see anything like that again," Gerber said.

For many, just seeing the photograph was enough for a visceral reaction. Some turned their eyes away immediately while others looked on with joy. However, the image provided her with one reaction few ever receive; the grand prize in Wyoming Wildlife Magazine's annual photo competition.

Her image was judged best of the show among almost 2,700 entries in the 2025 contest. It ran as a double-page photo at the front of the magazine, her first ever grand prize in the contest. But while awards — especially those that come with cash — are nice, Gerber heads to area wild places more for her emotional health, than for trophies and fat checks.

"I'm driven by having experiences that are meaningful to my heart and soul," she said in an interview with the Tribune. "Being able to capture an image and share it is really important to me, but the most important thing is that I had the experience, and I will always be driven to go have more experiences."

She said she wants people to feel her love for her photographs of wildlife and wild places and know that she is respecting her subjects by photographing them in an ethical way.

"I want my images to have soul, and so I strive for that," she said. "It's more than just getting the picture. It's love."

Some of her biggest fans had an involuntary reaction to the photo. While teaching science in Cody, Gerber had a ball python in a terrarium in the classroom. She said even some of her best friends in the high school refused to even enter her homeroom due to the (mostly) harmless snake.

Other notable area winners were Troy Powell, Denise Connelly, Kathy Lichtendahl, Don Getty, Kinley Bollinger, Anita Holdren, and Rob Koelling.

Koelling, of Powell, entered 10 images into the contest. He knew it would be tough, already having seen images from his competitors like Gerber and Getty that he thought were better than anything he took in 2025.

Adding that he knows contests are subjective in nature, he was still surprised to see his photo "Evening Silhouette" place in the contest. The photo shows Greater Sandhill Cranes silhouetted as they flew past Heart Mountain, draped in the gold and orange colors of sunset.

On a Facebook post celebrating Koelling's winning photo, Koelling's friend Craig Newman said "Congratulations! As for a photo of rattlesnakes fighting, no thanks."

Koelling won an honorable mention for his photo. Known for his bird photography, he has been working on a birding book; its working title is "Too Small, Too Fast, Too Far Away." He credits his photos to knowing his subjects and being able to anticipate their next move, much like hunting. Through daily persistence and experience, Koelling comes home with photographs of birds many dream of catching a glance at.

"It's not that they're not here. You just have to look hard for them," he said. "Photography like this is a lot like hunting, but you don't have to gut what you shoot."

Happy anniversary

Wyoming Wildlife Magazine is celebrating 90 years in publication this year and opted for a redesign in honor of the occasion. They sponsored a survey on how to better serve their 27,000 subscribers (not including single issue sales) and learned that photography is one of the most important content for readers.

"We learned that photography is king when it comes to our magazine. People really enjoy the photos," said Editor Tracie Binkerd.

Interestingly, when the magazine debuted, artwork was done in sketches and drawings — the first cover was a drawing of then Democrat Gov. Leslie A. Miller. The magazine's most popular editions over recent years have been the photo contest edition.

To save tens of thousands of dollars on implementing the survey, the staff turned to students at the University of Wyoming to assist with the project.

"There were some students that were needing a project for one of their courses, and they actually put together the readership survey for us. They made some recommendations of how to distribute that and how many people we really needed to submit the survey to have a reliable information, and so that saved the department a lot of money and gave us some good information that we then used in our redesign process," Binkerd told the Game and Fish Commission during their January meeting.

NWC contest

Award winners for the fourth annual Northwest College Community Photography Contest and Exhibition were announced Friday, with selections made in amateur, professional, and high school divisions. The top awards in amateur and professional divisions both went to Powell women.

Heather Cole won first place in the pro division for a black and white photo of a leopard in a tree she captured on her digital camera in Kenya titled "Elegance." Cole was surprised, brought to tears as she heard her name called.

"It's the first time that I've won a contest, or really even entered a contest with my work," she said.

It was the first time Kristi Taylor had entered a competition as well, winning first place in the amateur division for a color photograph of a bee in flight titled "Honey Bee in Salvia."

Taylor has found solace in chasing insects with her camera, often capturing photos not seen fully with the naked eye. Her secret is being polite to her quarry.

"[Success] requires some manners," she said. "Bug manners: You don't want to be threatening to them, so sometimes that means sitting with them for a good long while — introducing yourself, telling them what your intent is and asking them if you can take a picture of them. It sounds crazy, but it tends to work."

Taylor didn't arrive expecting a win. She had earlier told her husband that there wasn't a need to stay for the honors portion of the program, because she didn't think they would be calling her name.

"I didn't really come in with the expectation of winning," she said. "This was just about getting the bugs on the wall [in frames]. So that was a win."

The exhibit opened on Jan. 29 at Plaza Diane in Powell and features 34 images from 11 amateur and professional photographers from Colorado, South Dakota and Wyoming alongside the top 10 entries from high school students across the country. The photographs will remain on display at Plaza Diane through Saturday, Feb. 28.

Proceeds from the exhibition entry fees were used to award first, second, and third place images in the amateur and professional categories, with the remaining proceeds going toward future photography scholarships.

Retired NWC Professor Emeritus of Photography Craig Satterlee served as this year’s juror — the fourth year the college has opened up the competition to amateurs and professionals. Satterlee has been a fine art and commercial photographer for more than 53 years and served as a professor at NWC for 36 years.

The annual High School Photography Contest, sponsored the last 10 years by the NWC photography program, featured entries from 261 students from 21 schools in 10 states including Colorado, Ohio, California, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Idaho, Florida, Montana and Wyoming.

From these categories, the top 10 images were selected by photographic communications faculty and staff members Jennifer Litterer-Trevino, Jayne Johnson, Christine Garceau, and Ronnie Wolfe. These winners and their teachers will receive prizes that have been cosponsored by Robert’s Camera of Indianapolis and the NWC Photographic Communications program.

High School Award Winners

• First place — ‘Choco Musk at Sea’ by Allan Chavez-Rojas (Tulsa Tech in Tulsa, Oklahoma)

• Second place — ‘The Foxes’ by Eden Forsythe (Bozeman High School in Bozeman, Montana)

• Third place — ‘Dunked’ by Luke Lehmann (Seminole High School in Sanford, Florida)

• Honorable mention — ‘Senior’s Hour’ by Landrie Hamilton (Tulsa Tech in Tulsa, Oklahoma)

• Honorable mention — Lonely Tree Spot GOTG’ by Zachary Vik
(Fountain-Fort Carson High School in Fort Carson, Colorado)

Amateur Award Winners

• First place — ‘Honeybee in Salvia’ by Kristi Taylor (Powell)

• Second place — ‘The Watcher’ by Lora Ginnetti (Cody)

• Third place — ‘Peaceful Respite on the Atlantic’ by Cyndy Jahn-Thomas (Powell)

Professional Award Winners

• First place — ‘Elegance’ by Heather Cole (Powell)

• Second place — ‘Up the B Gap’ by Jeff Codevilla, (Spearfish, South Dakota)

• Third place — ‘Sam Able is By Dark-Eyed Junko’ by Shane Epping (Laramie)