Winners Announced for Sonoma Mountain Photo Contest! #SonomaMountainPhotoContest
Congratulations to the winners of our first Sonoma Mountain Photo Contest. Our theme was “A Sense of Place.” We had a great time viewing all your beautiful and proud images of Sonoma Mountain. Our first-place winner is the gorgeous “View of Carriger Creek Watershed” taken by Eric Hongisto of Penngrove. You can see two more images of his in the finalists’ gallery below. His pictures of Sonoma Mountain capture the wonder of its perennial creeks, forests, and ancient volcanic formations along the Rogers Creek Fault. Eric is an art professor at the University of San Francisco. You can see more of his work at www.erichongisto.net
Click on any image to view full size.
Our second-place winner is Vickie Wilde with her photograph "Misty Mountain." She lives part-time in Petaluma and part-time in Montecito. "Sonoma Mountain is a place where there is ever changing wonder and delight, where I'm fortunate to call home," she wrote to us. "The photo was shot on a sunny, bright, warm day in downtown Petaluma, but as I was driving up Sonoma Mountain, a cloud had settled on the mountain top creating a mystic scene in which I could not resist shooting a photo through the windshield of my car."
This leaping hare, captured by Leo Merle, takes third place. It was taken on top of Grove Street, Sonoma Mountain, where he has lived since 1976. He calls it, “I’m late, I’m late, for a very important date.” Leo was a freelance editorial photographer in San Francisco with cover credits in numerous popular publications. He continues to capture beautiful images to share with friends, neighbors, and colleagues in Sonoma and beyond. His photography is on permanent display his office at 470 First Street East, Sonoma.
We had a lot of great images to choose from and are excited to share all the finalist images for all to enjoy some of the wonders of the mountain. Below are the other seven images that made it to the finalist list.
“Sonoma Mountain Basalt Field”, Fairfield Osborne Preserve, 16mm, after the rains by Eric Hongisto 
Gravity Hill by Spill The Tea Photography 
Morning Infancy by Vickie Wilde 
Twin Dawn by Leo Merle 
Lichau Road by Sarah Archbold Hollingshead 
Ruby by Vickie Wilde 
“Whitney Falls”, Carriger Creek, 16mm, 30 second exposure by Eric Hongisto