If our 2013 photo contest were a horse race, everyone would say, “The number 11 horse–Cannon Beach–won in a near wire to wire contest.” Yes, Charleston Boardwalk and A Walk  in the (Ecola State) Park fought the good fight and briefly contended. In the end, however, Cannon Beach finished with more than 40 percent of the votes. The results are listed at the bottom of this post, and are based on 1,099 votes.

Cannon Beach, OR (top), Ecola State Park ,OR Walk (middle), and Charleston Boardwalk

Of the thousands of pictures I took in the last year, it is interesting to note that two of the top three photos were taken about 100 yards from one another in Oregon’s magnificent Ecola State Park. To me this suggests a couple of points:

1) A photographer can take good photos in dark alleys or even barren fields, but it is a lot easier to move people when you slow down enough to truly see and capture the beauty of the works of our loving creator. I am so grateful that God put a camera in my hands; sometimes, I look through the view finder and say to myself, “Now, I’m seeing the world as God sees it. Creation is filled with soulful beauty – in places and people.”

2) Taking photos from the heart is the first step towards producing marvelous images. Our Oregon Coast trip was very special to me because it was, perhaps, my father and late mother’s favorite trip that they took together. They both came home from their Oregon journey enthusiastically gushing with stories of the state’s unbridled beauty. Mary and I both thought a lot about my parents during the trip. We’d stumble from one gem to another and, inevitably, one of us would say, “Mom and Dad would have loved this. I now know what they were talking about”

Cheers to all of us enthusiastically gushing about our encounters with beauty in the New Year. Let’s try and more frequently look through God’s lens and see our world’s overwhelming beauty– in places and, most importantly, people.

Greg in Astoria, OR

– Greg