Snow Hill photographer wins top award in state competition

SNOW HILL | Neil Jernigan always thought he had a chance at winning a photography contest since he began entering them as a teenager.

And this year, he was more confident than usual.

The 23-year-old from Snow Hill had entered his photo in the bird category and ended up winning the overall award for the 2014 Wildlife in North Carolina Photo Contest.

His photo is featured on the cover of the January-February issue of the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commissions magazine, available at Neuse Sport Shop in Kinston.

Jernigan said he had just married Candace Hill of Snow Hill in October and was on his honeymoon at Maggie Valley after photographing a herd of elk in Tennessee when he got an email telling him he had won. He thought it was spam at first, but had to keep silent about winning until the magazine published.

I was very excited, he said. Im still very excited about it.

Jernigans winning photo of a great egret was taken at Lake Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge. He happened across the white bird, which was standing near the edge of a canal feeding on small fish. The egrets perfect reflection could be seen in the water, and it was standing in the only spot of sunlight.

Jernigan set his camera to cancel out the foreground and background so that only the bird and its reflection would show up against the darkness.

All of this happened in just a couple of minutes before the egret flew away, Jernigan wrote in his blog. I reviewed my images and was extremely excited when I discovered that I got the shot I had imagined in my mind.

The winning photo is on exhibit through March at the North Carolina Natural Museum of Sciences in Raleigh and other science museums and wildlife education centers across the state.

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Snow Hill photographer wins top award in state competition