Teen's photo wows National Geographic, earns him grand prize
VANCOUVER, Wash. - A 17-year-old aspiring photographer from Vancouver, Wash., was the top place finisher in a National Geographic photo contest and he'll be heading to London this summer for the experience of a lifetime.
Lijah Hanley took the grand prize in the National Geographic student photo competition, which earned him a 12-day trip to London with National Geographic Photographer Stephen Alvarez. The trip is coming up in July.
Hanley told us he started taking photos around age 11 or 12 and fell in love with the camera.
"He's always taking us on crazy adventures," his mother, Jenifer Hanley, told us. "It's definitely his passion and we are all for it."
Lijah Hanley (pictured at right in a photo from his website) said this particular photo, which he calls No Boundaries, was taken in The Dalles while he and his mother were stargazing. He set the timer on his camera, joined her on top of the Jeep and got the shot he wanted.
"I do a lot of shooting out in The Dalles since the stars are so awesome out there," he said.
This isn't the first time that Hanley has caught the attention of National Geographic. Last year he entered the same contest and won second place. He said he's spent the entire year since then thinking about what he could shoot for this year's competition.
And in 2007, he won a 14-day trip to Peru with National Geographic photographers when he and 10 other kids were picked in a National Geographic Hands on Explorer contest.
Hanley has also won several other photo contests and has been selling his photos online and at local markets, like the Vancouver Farmers Market, for a couple of years now. He uses a Canon 5D Mark II camera and is completely self taught.
We asked him what's next and he said he wants to get into underwater photography. As far his college plans, he said he's a little torn right now. He said if does go to college, he'll probably study business and marketing, which can help with a photography business.
And what advice does he have for other kids/teens who love photography? It's simple - submit your work because you never know what could happen until you try.
"I wasn't at all expecting to win and you just never know unless you enter," he said. "And it's kind of fun trying to get the shot. It brings you on all these different adventures."
Awesome picture andmaybe the most amazing part was it was not a cloudy sky. Can I use this as my screen saver?
Good job kid. Wish I could get my attempts at night photos similar to that to work. Only taken a stab at it twice. Once at artist point in Mt. Baker, and the other at Sunrise for the last metor shower.
What an amazing photo! I'd buy this kids work.
I shoot with a Nikon D40 and am looking to upgrade before July.The D40 was a great starter camera six years ago. Anyone have any thoughts or suggestions. I am particular to Nikon, but am open to suggestions.I mainly shoot landscapes, but do some portraits for my family.
@Bianca If portrait and landscape are your primary subjects look for a full-frame sensor. You'll like the difference of full frame versus a crop sensor. i think Nikons are typically 1.5 crop vs the 1.6 crop of a Canon sensor.
What do you feel like your D40 is missing?
@the -- Mainly resolution and lens options. I love the D40, but it's only 6mp (my iPhone is 8mp, I think) so I'm looking for a DLSR with at least 10-12mp. Also, the D40 does not support vibration reduction lenses (VR). So, lens options are limited. I like the Nikon d3000. But I'm not sold yet.
@Bianca don't let the megapixels fool ya. The 8mp on the iPhone still isn't as good as your 6mp D40. A ton of megapixels on a tiny sensor doesn't mean higher quality images. If you wanted to keep cost down you could look for a used D700. BH has one right now for $699 - http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/800940234-USE/nikon_25468_d7000_slr_digital_camera.html - it's full-frame and is probably new enough that it would support the lenses you are after.
What a great honor! Â Way to go! Â Congratulations!
Wow. Â Great photo, and the prize? Â Fantastic!
Very Nice! it's great to see a young person do good and do something everyone can enjoy!
I think this kid might be getting a photographer job with National Geographic pretty soon. Nice resume kid.Â
That is an awesome photo and his parent (s) are very cool for being so supportive.  It's great to allow and encourage that kind of passion in kids.Â
@nomad You should look at the rest of his gallery on smugmug. He's got a great portfolio and has been to a lot of awesome locations.
Fantastic shot and a job well done!
I shoot with a 5D2. How come my pics look like crap...lol. Great looking shot!
@MikeCoomer Do you shoot much?
@the I do when I can.
@the I'm a member on that forum. Started way back when with an AE1, developing my own black and whites. This kid obviously has "the gift" of composition and exposure. My shots aren't bad but this kid appears to be a natural.
@MikeCoomer my assumption here is that this young man started with something far less expensive and progressively learned the ins and outs of each camera he owned until he got to the point he needed more. I started with a canon A620 point and shoot, eventually was using it in full manual mode and started bumping against it's limits. That's when I started researching DSLR's and bought a Canon 20D. I slowly worked my way up to the 5D2 and am also "self taught". I don't know your situation but I have come across a lot of people that have purchased the 5D2 as their first camera thinking there was some magic inside it and are upset that their pictures don't look 'professional'. Shoot, shoot, shoot! :)Â
visit http://photography-on-the.net/forum/index.php if you want to learn boat loads about your camera and rub elbows with beginners and professionals alike. Also be prepared to want to spend more money on photography and spend loads of time on the forum. ;)
photoshop, but well done!
@i5v5Â How exactly is this photoshop?
@i5v5 it's called a small slice of the universe
@i5v5Â A bit jealous, aren't we?
@i5v5It's not photoshop just because you don't understand it. Anyone with an understanding of how to use their camera can do this. The shot was taken in less than 30 seconds at a higher ISO. The camera sensor is many times more sensitive than our eyes so even with light pollution it will pick up a lot more stars than our eyes can.
@i5v5 Photoshop is no substitute for photography skills.
Great picture. Good looking kid.
Question how far is the Dalles from the nearest artificial light source?
@Lrry*x*K The orange glow at the bottom of the picture tells me he wasn't far from a town.
@the @Lrry*x*K Near cities or towns usually don't get such dramatic night sky, that camera must be real good
@Lrry*x*K You'd be surprised how "easy" this actually is. You just need a sturdy platform (tripod) and anyone can do this. My 'off the top of my head guess' would be that he had his shutter open for 20-30 seconds, ISO 800 or higher and f/8 or larger aperture opening. You could take this picture with a point and shoot camera that gave you enough control over your settings. It's all a matter of knowing what to do and has nothing to do with the camera. If you look at the full-rezz link someone posted you'll see the photo is actually quite blurry. He focused more on the jeep than he did on the stars. The image could have been much better. It's still a great shot, don't get me wrong. Have a look here if you want to see a lot more milky way photos, some show the camera settings as well: http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=1106101 (you shouldn't have to register to see most of the photos).
Fantastic photo youngster. He has a eye for this. But I think it would have been better with a Harley in it instead of a jeep.
Sounds to me like successful parents are raising a son to also be successful. Bought him a great camera instead of wasting their money buying video games. Congratulations! Looking forward to seeing more of his photos in the future.
The Dalles really does have many beautiful stargazing nights.
@GorgeTraveler I am guessing his game room would make Yoda jealous.....
@Notyouraveragejoe @GorgeTraveler Sounds like a few others are jealous.
After seeing that picture, I think it was well deserved. :)
Money can do great things...
@Johnny Fairplay Serioulsy? how jaded are you?
@Surveyor1 Not jaded enough to troll this place looking for a fight like you are.You're not going to get pics like that with a Kodak Coolpix camera, I don't care how good you may think you are. Not going to happen. They make expensive cameras for a reason....ya think!
@Johnny Fairplay It doesn't take a lot of money to be a good photographer.
@the @Johnny Fairplay You are right about that. When I was in highschool I took a photography class. We were too poor to afford a nice camera, so my Father went to a pawn shop and bought me an old Yashika. It was fully manual. You know who won the photography competition?  I did.
@Vinnie @the @Johnny Fairplay Shooting with manual settings or the very least shutter or aperture priority is the best way to learn. Learn what each setting does and how it can effect the results. No matter the camera, the most important thing is the light. Without the right light any camera, no matter the cost, can take flat, boring photos. Same can be said in the opposite, any camera can capture an amazingly lit subject.
Andromeda?Â
@Isadora Uh Uh, Part of the Milky Way.
a 17yo with a 5dMk2, wow times have changed... not taking away from his success - if anyone, he deserves a good camera ;-) Now go and sell that picture for their next Jeep campaign.
@Komo Dragon Sounds like he's making money off his photography so having a quality camera is no surprise if he's been selling for any length of time. He's obviously had some recognized talent for a while if this is the second National Geographic contest he's won. So it's not necessarily his Mom and Dad shelling out tons of cash.
I wish there was a link for full resolution.
Great pic.
@Agent43Â found a link for you:
http://cherrywalnut.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/lijahhanley.jpg
@cheekygesturton @Agent43  Thanks!
Cool photo.