SPECIAL TO THE REPORTER

This spring, summer and fall, a collection of winning images from the 2007 Outdoor Alabama Photo Contest will travel the state, highlighting the best in Alabama&8217;s natural beauty.

The 21 winning photographs were all taken in Alabama, by Alabamian amateur photographers, within the last two years.

Shelby County boasted two winning photographers in the competition.

Jeremy Standlee of Alabaster won first place in the mammals category for a photograph he shot of a groundhog in Pelham.

&8220;I have never entered my photos into any contests before, but I figured it would be kind of neat to submit two pictures I took of some groundhogs that live on a hill behind my workplace,&8221; Standlee said. &8220;They are fun to try to photograph during breaks.&8221;

Deanna Andrepont of Pelham won a total of five awards in the contest including: first place, other wildlife; second place, birds; third place, birds; and honorable mention, birds.

&8220;There is nothing better and more relaxing than getting outdoors and enjoying all of the wonders of God&8217;s creation,&8221; Andrepont said. &8220;I especially enjoy photographing birds, butterflies, and flowers.

I do a lot of birding with my brother and sister and we use my photographs to help us identify unfamiliar birds.&8221;

The collection will make its debut at Birmingham Botanical Gardens in April.

It will then move to the Montgomery Visitor Center for May, and beginning early in June, the winning photos can be seen in the new Delta Hall at Five Rivers in Mobile.

From there, the exhibit will go to Lakepoint State Park in Eufaula, then on to Huntsville Botanical Garden for the month of September.

In addition to traveling as part of this special display, each of the winning photos can be seen in the February 2007 issue of Outdoor Alabama Magazine, and are displayed on the ADCNR website, www.outdooralabama.com