{"id":893100,"date":"2026-10-24T14:12:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-24T14:12:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/893100\/"},"modified":"2026-10-24T14:12:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-24T14:12:12","slug":"outdoor-photos-highlight-north-dakotas-2026-governors-photo-contest-grand-forks-herald","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/893100\/","title":{"rendered":"Outdoor photos highlight North Dakota&#8217;s 2026 Governor&#8217;s Photo Contest &#8211; Grand Forks Herald"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>After more than 740 contest entries were received, winners have been selected in the 2026 Governor\u2019s Photo Contest. The winners were announced on Monday, Oct. 19, in Jamestown by Gov. Kelly Armstrong.<\/p>\n<p>The contest has been held almost every year since 2004, when it was created under the leadership of then-Gov. John Hoeven and North Dakota Tourism. The purpose of the contest is twofold: to highlight the talent of amateur photographers around the state while capturing the beauty of our state, people, seasons and culture.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs someone who spends as much time outdoors as I can, I\u2019m always proud to see the Governor\u2019s Photo Contest showcase the places and experiences that make North Dakota special,\u201d Armstrong said in a statement. \u201cThis year\u2019s winners show the beauty and adventure that define our state.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Closer to Grand Forks, an honorable mention went to Megan Boger for a photo titled  \u201cSimple Summer Joy,\u201d taken at Icelandic State Park.<\/p>\n<p>According to Kim Schmidt, the department\u2019s communications manager, the main purpose of the contest is \u201cto show North Dakota\u2019s appeal as a travel destination,\u201d she told the Grand Forks Herald.<\/p>\n<p>Every year, the department has specified categories. This year&#8217;s categories included Events, Must-see Places, Outdoors, Skies, Wildlife and the vertical video \u201cCall it Home\u201d categories.<\/p>\n<p>This year was the first time video was implemented.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis new video category is an opportunity to showcase the beauty, friendliness, openness, excitement and wonder that is North Dakota,\u201d Schmidt said.<\/p>\n<p>The governor\u2019s choice went to a photo titled \u201cSeptember morning youth hunt in Western North Dakota,\u201d taken by William Boyeff near Watford City. All of the prints will be on display at the Governor\u2019s Office through the month of November.<\/p>\n<p>Descriptions of all the winners and honorable mentions, along with the complete gallery, are available on the <\/p>\n<p>      <a class=\"Link \" href=\"https:\/\/www.ndtourism.com\/2026-north-dakota-governors-photo-contest-winners\" target=\"_blank\" data-cms-ai=\"0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">ND Tourism<\/a><\/p>\n<p>       site.<\/p>\n<p>Schmidt said North Dakota Tourism, the Office of the Governor, North Dakota Council on the Arts and AAA, the latter a continued partner of the event, will meet to discuss the next iteration of the contest. Once the new rules are agreed upon, the announcement for the next submission period will be decided.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTypically, the contest happens yearly,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>                        2026 Governor\u2019s Photo Contest Winners<\/p>\n<p>Events\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Winner: \u201cLet&#8217;s Fly Kites\u201d \u2013 Warren Abrahamson, Jamestown<\/p>\n<p>Honorable mention: \u201cBattle Has Been Won\u201d \u2014 Winnie Weninger, Medora<\/p>\n<p>Must-see places\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Winner: \u201cNorthern Lights Over the Skyscraper on the Prairie\u201d \u2013 Hannah Cobert, Bismarck<\/p>\n<p>Honorable mention: \u201cSweetheart of the Badlands\u201d \u2013 Amanda McClean, Medora<\/p>\n<p>Outdoors\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Winner: \u201cSeptember morning youth hunt in Western North Dakota\u201d \u2013 William Boyeff, near Watford City<\/p>\n<p>Honorable mention: \u201cSimple Summer Joy\u201d \u2013 Megan Boger, Icelandic State Park<\/p>\n<p>Skies\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Winner: \u201cFlight at Sunset\u201d \u2013 Meredith Jo Ehli, Bismarck<\/p>\n<p>Honorable mention: \u201cBlack &amp; White in Colors\u201d \u2013 Rebecca Raber, New Salem<\/p>\n<p>Wildlife\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Winner: \u201cHitchin&#8217; a Ride\u201d \u2013 Cindy Nagle, Lake Ashtabula<\/p>\n<p>Honorable mention: \u201cHungry Eyes\u201d \u2013 Maggie Taylor, Theodore Roosevelt National Park North Unit<\/p>\n<p>Honorable mention: \u201cBuzza Buzza\u201d \u2013 Rebecca Raber, Bismarck<\/p>\n<p>Honorable mention: \u201cWhitetail Deer\u201d \u2013 Karli Laber, White Horse Hill National Game Preserve<\/p>\n<p>Call it home\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Winner: \u201cCall it Home\u201d \u2013 Winnie Weninger, Medora<\/p>\n<p>Governor\u2019s choice\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Winner: \u201cSeptember morning youth hunt in Western North Dakota\u201d \u2013 William Boyeff near Watford City<\/p>\n<p>            <a href=\"https:\/\/www.grandforksherald.com\/andrew-weeks\" data-cms-ai=\"0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"Image\" alt=\"Andrew Weeks\"  width=\"100\" height=\"100\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.forumcomm.com\/dims4\/default\/955122c\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/3024x3024+0+0\/resize\/100x100!\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ffcc-cue-exports-brightspot.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com%2Fgrandforksherald%2Fbinary%2FAndrew%20Weeks_binary_6536608.jpg\" data-lazy-load=\"true\" bad-src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxMDBweCIgd2lkdGg9IjEwMHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4=\"\/><\/p>\n<p>            <\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n                Andrew Weeks is an award-winning journalist who has reported for newspapers and magazines. Prior to joining the Grand Forks Herald as its outdoors editor, Weeks was editor for several years of Prairie Business, a publication of the Grand Forks Herald and Forum Communications Co. Before that role, he was outdoors editor for a daily newspaper in Idaho.\n            <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After more than 740 contest entries were received, winners have been selected in the 2026 Governor\u2019s Photo Contest.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":893101,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[228,226,227,229,88,320263,369249,201],"class_list":["post-893100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-grand-forks","tag-northland-outdoors","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/893100","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=893100"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/893100\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/893101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=893100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=893100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=893100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}