Tyler Stableford wins Grand Prize in American Photo's "Images of the Year 2009" Competition!

Tyler poses for a photo with Cyclecraft's Fabian Autedo after his "High Adventure" seminar/workshop at Unique on 11/22/09.

Unique Photo would like to congratulate Tyler Stableford on winning the grand prize for the American Photo Images of the Year 2009 Competition!  His winning photograph of Nick Collard, a Colorado wildfire firefighter, is now featured on a 2-page spread as the 'Extreme' category winner, as well as on the cover of American Photo Magazine "2009 Images of the Year"!  “I’ve been in a lot of extreme situations, but inhaling hot ash was a new experience for me,” says adventure photographer Tyler Stableford, who got this shot while tagging along with firefighters in western Colorado while they set a controlled burn to stave off wildfires in the area. Rarely do fire departments allow any journalists this close to the action, but the Colorado team made an exception for Stableford after he photographed them for an assignment the previous year. In the middle of the scorching scene, a fireman is turned into a painterly blur by the waves of heat, evoking a sense of heroism and focus on the flames that creates a feeling of fire that practically burns through the page. Click here to read more and winners for the other categories!