Lake Superior Lightning Strike takes Grand Prize in magazine photo contest

Lightning struck the judges of the 16th annual Lake Superior Photo Contest and earned a Grand Prize for Rob Wiener’s stunning shot of lightning hitting Lake Superior near Ironwood, Michigan. Wiener is from Eagle River, Wisconsin.

Lake Superior Magazine’s February/March issue features the Grand Prize, the First and Second Place winners in three categories along with 11 Honorable Mentions. There are an additional 15 Finalist awards featured on the magazine’s website, www.lakesuperior.com.

Winners, by category, this year were:

Lake/Landscape – First Place to Shawn Thompson, Duluth, Minnesota, for a black-and-white image of an old boat at Stoney Point and Second Place to Marvil LaCroix of Silver Bay, Minnesota, for a fall shot at Tettegouche State Park.

People – First Place to Mark Udstrand of Delano, Minnesota, for a shot of children leaping into Lake Superior near Grand Marais, Minnesota, and Second Place to La Mont Kraft of Seymour, Wisconsin, for a photo of a costumed fiddler at Fort William Historical Park in Thunder Bay, Ontario.

Nature – First Place to Shawn Zierman, Duluth, for a gathering of herons at Island Lake and Second Place to Kennard Wilson, Chicago, for a shot of an otter near Grand Marais, Minnesota.

Other images show, among other Lake Superior locations, Whitefish Point, Houghton and Black River Harbor, Michigan; Bayfield, Ashland and Hayward, Wisconsin; Two Harbors, Minnesota; and Wawa, Ontario.

“Judging was delightfully tough this time,” said Lake Superior Magazine Editor Konnie LeMay. “We had the most entries ever and reviewed more than 1,500 images. It’s amazing, but the quality improves every year.”

Magazine subscribers should get their issues in the mail shortly and it will be available on the newsstands by February 1. Lake Superior Magazine is a bimonthly publication of the family-owned Lake Superior Port Cities Inc. based in Duluth. The company has an outlet store and offices at 310 E. Superior St. and can be found at www.lakesuperior.com on the web.

NOTE: This year’s photo contest deadline will be October 17, 2011. See details online or send a self-addressed, stamped envelope for the rules to Lake Superior Photo Contest, P.O. Box 16417, Duluth, MN 55816-0417.