Wild Desert Calendar Submissions
watch
The Last Darkness
The Last Darkness
fact
What defines Oregon’s high desert?
What defines Oregon’s high desert?
Bounded by the Cascade Mountains to the west and the Blue Mountains to the north, Oregon’s high desert covers approximately 24,000 square miles. Annual rainfall in the high desert varies from 5 to 14 inches. The average elevation is 4,000 feet; at 9,733 feet, the summit of Steens Mountain is the highest point in Oregon’s high desert. The terrain of the high desert was mostly formed by a series of lava flows that occurred between 30 and 10 million years ago.
Sources: The Oregon Encyclopedia; Wikipedia
voices
Helen Harbin, ONDA Board Member
Helen Harbin, ONDA Board Member
“I connect with Oregon’s high desert through my feet, my eyes, my sense of smell, and all the things I hear. Getting out there is a whole body experience.” Supporting ONDA, Helen says, not only connects her with wild landscapes, but is also a good investment. “I felt like if I gave them $20, they might squeeze $23 out of it.”
About ONDA’s Wild Desert Calendar
The only published collection of images devoted exclusively to Oregon’s high desert, this unique publication inspires action to protect and restore public lands, waters and wildlife habitat.
A volunteer-led effort, the calendar is now in its 20th year of publication and features many generous, talented and passionate photographers. As such, the Wild Desert Calendar is loved by many and reaches a broad audience — the publication is mailed to all ONDA members and is sold by retail vendors across Oregon.
Submit Photos
The submission period for the 2025 Wild Desert Calendar is now open. Click here to submit photos.
2025 Submission Period
The calendar submission period opened on Monday, April 1, 2024. The final deadline for submissions is Friday, June 14, 2024 at 11:59 pm PST. For more opportunities to share photos that capture the natural beauty of central and eastern Oregon’s high desert with ONDA, sign up for our volunteer photographers list.
Prizes
Submit one or more images and you’ll be entered in to a drawing for an “explore the desert” prize package that features gear and goods from MiiR, COAST, Arcade, CNOC Outdoors, Patagonia and more.
Additional prizes will be presented to featured landscape image photographers, featured detail image photographers and featured people image photographers.
Five tips for the best chance of being featured
- Include a variety of shots. We need large-scale landscape images and also small-scale shots of plants, animals, insects, petroglyphs, and other desert details and small wonders. We often receive photos of the desert in the summer and fall, but are often lacking winter images.
- Show us desert-loving people. There are many ways to enjoy the desert — birding, hiking, camping, fishing, biking and more — and all sorts of people who appreciate this landscape. While we don’t need all your family photos, we’d love to see some shots capturing people’s enthusiasm and love for the high desert!
- Think natural and public. Photos of roads, power lines or other signs of permanent human development are unlikely to be selected. Photos of private lands and non-native species will not be considered. Consider engaging in Nature First Principles.
- Focus on ONDA priorities. We love to feature the places we are focused on protecting and restoring. Learn about our priority regions or check out our Featured Projects for specific ideas. (For example, Smith Rock State Park is beautiful, but ONDA doesn’t work there.)
- Look to the past. Past editions of our Wild Desert Calendar will give you a good sense for the kinds of photos we’ve loved before. (For example, we’ll only select phone images for detail or people subjects.)
For more tips, watch our YouTube video on choosing locations and types of imagery.
About the Photographers and Videographers
Read MoreHow to Take Better Photos of Oregon’s High Desert
Author: Lace Thornberg | Published: March 9, 2018 | Updated: May 5, 2022 | Categories: How-to Five landscape photographers share their advice: knowledge, persistence, patience The arid landscape that covers […]
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