Nature's Best Photography Magazine holds one of the most widely respected and visually compelling photography competitions in the world each year. It is called the Nature's Best Photography Windland Smith Rice International Awards Competition.

Each year the top award winning images are placed on display in the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC and are featured in the special Collector's Edition of Nature's Best Photography magazine.

This year more than 17,000 images were submitted from photographers representing 26 countries. 60 Images including the Grand Prize winning image and the images of winners in each of 15 categories will be on display at the Smithsonian from 30 October, 2007 to 27 April, 2008.

The Grand Prize went to South African Richard du Toit for "Burchell's Zebra, Kalahari desert Botswana." (To view images in this remarkable exhibit go to www.mnh.si.edu/exhibits/natures_best-2007/.)

Parker photographer Rita Summers' photo "Gorilla Baby sucking Mother's Thumb" took first place in the Endangered Species category. At an award ceremony on 30 October, Rita was present at the Smithsonian to receive an engraved glass trophy. See photo of Rita with her 6 ft. x 4 ft. photograph now on display. Rita Summers is a member of the Parker Artists Guild and the Mile High Wildlife Photography Club.

To gain acceptance to this exhibit of 60 images from among over 17,000 entries is a remarkable achievement for Rita Summers.

Parker's Mile High Wildlife Photo Club (MHWPC) also won first place in the Camera Club category with a panel of 20 photographs. The club
( www.mhwpc.org) meets at The Wildlife Experience Museum on the second Wednesday of each month from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.

To see the 20 stunning images submitted by MHWPC members to the 2007 Nature's Best Photography Contest go to www.mhwpc.org/show/nb07.php.