Winning was ‘a very pleasant surprise’ for Prince Albert photographer
Jason Kerr
Daily Herald
A trip to Reed Lake in southern Saskatchewan has earned Prince Albert photographer Lilian Donahue provincial recognition.
Donahue’s photo of a flock of birds on Reed Lake took top spot in the Wildlife Category of Tourism Saskatchewan’s ExploreSask Photo Contest. Donahue said winning was a beautiful surprise.
“I had submitted photographs in the previous several years, so I just did it and then I kind of forgot about it,” Donahue said with a laugh during a phone interview. “It was a very pleasant surprise when I got the email that it had won.”
Donahue took the photo in May while stopped at Reed Lake on her way back to Prince Albert. The shallow endorheic salt lake near the TransCanada Highway is a popular stopping point for a wide variety of birds migrating to or from northern Saskatchewan.
“I do a lot of shooting and so I just happened to be at that particular spot,” Donahue said. “I thought it looked interesting (with) the light and the clouds on the lake. I took the shot, but I didn’t realize until I downloaded it that … it was pretty good. It was kind of accidental, really.”
Donahue hasn’t always been interested in birds, but that changed as she got into photography.
“I just started taking photographs of birds and then all of a sudden I realized how many there were,” she said. “I don’t think I realized how many species of birds we have in Saskatchewan, so it’s a discovery process for me.”
Donahue’s photo was one of 3,785 entries submitted to Tourism Saskatchewan by the Sept. 30 deadline. The winning photos were selected by a panel of external judges who critiqued each piece for capturing the province’s natural beauty and dynamic spirit.
Regina’s Lindsey MacLeod won the grand prize and the People and Places category for a photo of two boys watching a rainbow at Bird’s Point Resort Village in the Qu’Appelle Valley. Other categories include “Prairie”, “Winter”, “Woods and Water”, and a special “Video” category.
The Environment category had a number of strong submissions from the Prince Albert area. Besides Donahue’s winning photo, Jay Frendsen of Christopher Lake and Josiah Olson of Kinistino received honourable mentions. John Criton and Regina and Jolanta Kedra of Saskatoon also received honourable mentions.
“I’m very pleased about (being selected),” Donahue said. “I was also really honoured to be included when I saw all the other photographs as well. It’s a lovely moment, and I’m really pleased and just glad it turned out this way.”
Donahue took photos for years, but only became serious about it roughly four years ago. She credited a number of people “who were better than I was” for helping develop her skills.
“There’s a photo club in Prince Albert and Geoff Payton used to give classes to interested people, so I took the class to learn the basics like shutter speed and focal length, and things like that,” she said. “That’s about the only formal training I’ve had, but you can pick so much up if you’re interested in a topic, there’s no end of places you can get tutorials and help.”
To view all of the award-winning photos, visit the Tourism Saskatchewan website.
@kerr_jas • jason.kerr@paherald.sk.ca
