MELVILLE - Tourism Saskatchewan has announced the winning submissions for the 2022 ExploreSask Photo Contest, and Melville’s Tracy Kerestesh, topped the field in the ‘winter’ category.
The winning photograph is of a group of Trent Schwitzer’s bison.
It was Fawn Cox who drove Kerestesh into the pasture during the winter blizzard to get the shot.
“I like the raw wildness of the image,” offered Kerestesh. “Bison, especially the bulls, are so powerful and majestic.”
The photo was one Kerestesh immediately thought was special.
“I loved the photo when I took it, the animals leaning into the wind and snow,” she said.
The weather of the day added to the photo for Kerestesh.
“It was a really nasty day with extremely strong winds, we needed a large tractor to get out into the field through the deep snow drifts,” she recalled adding it was Cox who “was kind enough to drive me out in a tractor so I could catch the herd in the blizzard and hoar frost.”
So with her liking the image, Kerestesh admitted she was hopeful when entering it.
“I had hopes it would do ok with Sask Tourism being that bison are historically significant to this province,” she said.
When the call came it was still appreciated.
“I was really thrilled when Sask Tourism contacted me,” said Kerestesh. “I enter lots of images each year and it's really nice to have been selected and your work recognized.
“I got an honorable mention in the food category and wildlife category as well.”
Ciera Wolitski, of Foam Lake earned an honourable mention in the winter category.
The competition, which launched in June, received over 4,100 entries by the Sept. 15, deadline.
The winning photos and honourable mentions, were selected by a panel of external judges.
