Wild Desert Calendar Submissions

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.

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Helen Harbin on Wildlife

Helen Harbin on Wildlife

voices

Sarah Graham, Sage Sustainers Member

Sarah Graham, Sage Sustainers Member

“I contribute to ONDA monthly because it adds up to a larger annual gift than what I’d be able to comfortably afford if I were to do a simple one-time donation annually. I’m able to give more to ONDA this way and have greater impact which is important to me, and my dog Polly.”

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Sage-grouse Mating Dance

Sage-grouse Mating Dance

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.

Submit Photos

Five tips for the best chance of being featured

  1. 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.
  2. 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!  
  3. 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.
  4. 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.)
  5. 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.