Submitted by First Fed
The results are in! First Fed is excited to celebrate the winners of the 2026 Proudly PNW Photo Contest and the talented photographers who shared their unique perspectives of the Pacific Northwest.
This year’s winning images capture everything from dramatic landscapes and local wildlife to meaningful moments in our local communities. And soon, you’ll be able to enjoy them all year long. Each of the winning photos will be featured in First Fed’s 2027 Proudly PNW Calendar, available at First Fed branches beginning in late November.
Behind every photo is a story, and this year’s Grand Prize and Fan Favorite winners show just how personal those stories can be.
Grand Prize winner Mark Landau took the top honor for Kalakala Mural, a photo featuring his wife, Lori, and their dog, Phinka, in front of a mural of the historic Kalakala ferry.
Mark’s interest in photography goes all the way back to junior high, and he continues to develop his skills through an online photography training program. Kalakala Mural started as an assignment to capture a street photo, but Mark found inspiration much closer to home.
“The Kalakala has been an interest of my wife Lori’s since she learned about the ferry shortly after she moved to the PNW in the 1980s,” Mark shared. “Taking a picture of Lori and our dog Phinka in front of the Kalakala seemed like a good photographic story.”
It was also Lori who encouraged Mark to enter the Proudly PNW Photo Contest. The encouragement paid off in more ways than one. Mark also entered the Clallam County Fair Photo Contest, where his photo of the Space Needle took first place in the Architecture category.
“Lori has been incredibly supportive of my photographic endeavors and challenged me to enter my photos,” he said. “August was a really good month!”
The public also had a chance to help select a winner by voting for their favorite photo. Emily Metzler earned this year’s Fan Favorite honor for Crystal Reflections, a sunrise image captured in Upper Royal Basin.
Photography has been a longtime passion for Emily, and this year she purchased her first camera with plans to continue developing her skills and eventually start a photography business.
Her winning image was taken on one of her favorite Washington hikes, a trail she has returned to for five years in a row. For Emily, those return trips have become a way to see not only how familiar places change, but how she has changed along with them.
“I’ve grown, changed, and learned more about myself with every year,” Emily shared. “The landscape may look familiar each year, but I see it through different eyes.”
That connection is reflected in the photograph itself.
“To me, this photo represents growth, change, and the beauty of becoming someone new while still appreciating where I’ve been,” she said.
Mark and Emily are just two of the photographers recognized in this year’s contest. Together, all of the winning photographs offer a glimpse of the people, places, wildlife and natural beauty that make the Pacific Northwest such an inspiring place to call home.
“Thank you to everyone who entered this year’s Proudly PNW Photo Contest and shared their incredible talent with us,” said Abby Sill, Associate Director of Design at First Fed. “These photos capture what makes the Pacific Northwest so special, and we’re grateful for the opportunity to celebrate that creativity and share it with our communities.”
Be sure to pick up a free 2027 Proudly PNW Calendar at First Fed branches beginning in late November, while supplies last.
See all the 2026 Proudly PNW Photo Contest winners here.
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