Wild Desert Calendar Submissions

Bruce Couch

Calling all photographers! Use your creativity and talent to support conservation! Submit your best shots of Oregon’s high desert for a chance to have your photos featured in our iconic Wild Desert Calendar.
ONDA’s Wild Desert Calendar
  • Features the stunning landscapes of Oregon’s high desert
  • Inspires action to protect and restore wild lands and waters and protect wildlife habitat
  • Is a unique all-volunteer effort — it’s the only published collection of images devoted exclusively to Oregon’s high desert
  • Reaches a broad audience — the Wild Desert Calendar is mailed to all ONDA members and is sold by 40+ retail vendors statewide

Photographers selected for the calendar will receive gear and goods to help them out in the field, such as a pair of Keen shoes, an ultralight waterproof dry sack from Osprey or a copy of Photography Outdoors by Mountaineers Books.

The photographer whose image is chosen for the cover will earn a free night’s stay at Summer Lake Hot Springs.

The submission deadline for the 2020 calendar is now closed. Check back for the next deadline.

Submission guidelines
  • Fill out the Image Use Agreement and upload your photos online
  • Photo submission format requirements:
    • JPEG files, but please note that if your image(s) are selected, print quality 300 dpi TIFF files must be available.
    • File name must include image location and photographer’s name (e.g. Middle-Deschutes-River-spring_JoeSmith.jpg)
  • Submit no more than ten (10) photographs
  • Both professional and amateur photographers are encouraged to submit
  • Questions? Email Communications Manager Lace Thornberg at lace@onda.org.

voices

Craig Terry, ONDA member and stewardship volunteer

Craig Terry, ONDA member and stewardship volunteer

“The people I have had the privilege to share time with each season keep me volunteering again and again. Who else but those ONDA staff leaders would make fresh coffee at dawn each morning or pack a watermelon all day to serve as a reward under a juniper in a steep canyon?” Craig, who grew up in northwestern Nevada, says ONDA connects him with places he loves and a mission he believes in. “My grandfather and his father put up wire fences for their ranching needs. Taking out barbed wire sort of completes a circle for me.”

voices

Tim Neville, journalist

Tim Neville, journalist

“Oregon’s Owyhee reminds me a lot of Southern Utah’s red rock country… only dipped in fudge.”

watch

Oregon Desert Trail Map

Oregon Desert Trail Map

Submit Your Photos

 

 

Tips for getting great photos

  • Get inspired! Check out ONDA’s website and the Wild Desert Calendar gallery to get a sense of what ONDA is all about, where we work, and photo form and content ideas.
  • Take a variety of shots. Include large-scale landscape images and small-scale shots that focus on details of flora, fauna, landscape textures, hikers, campers, petroglyphs, and other desert wonders.
  • Get in touch with ONDA staff for advice on planning a photography trip to Oregon’s wild desert.
  • Think natural. Photos of roads, power lines or other signs of permanent human development are unlikely to be selected.
  • Read “How to Take Better Images of Oregon’s High Desert” for more advice.

Images We’re Looking For

ONDA seeks photos that capture the beauty and natural character of the wild areas throughout central and eastern Oregon’s high desert.

Only images from public lands and of native species in Oregon’s high desert will be selected. Photos of private lands and non-native species will not be considered.

Photos that feature areas that are a conservation priority for ONDA are highly encouraged. to see past selections, visit our Publications page.