Yesterday, I entered Outdoor Photographer's "The American Landscape 2012 Annual Photo Contest".  One of the challenges is to select no more than four American landscape images for submission.  Another challenge is determining which photos have the best chance for success with the judges of this competition.  

Following are the four photographs that I selected:

I captured this photograph of Long Pine Key Lake in the Everglades National Park just last month. This location is not very well known, so my hope is that this picture will stand out from other submissions in the contest.

This photo of the Turret Arch as viewed through the North Window at Arches National Park was also captured recently. The scene is a popular one with landscape photographers, so I'm guessing that this photo will not attract much attention from the judges. However, Outdoor Photographer magazine does tend to publish photos of some of these iconic scenes--so I'm hoping that the amazing morning light give this submission a chance.

I selected this photograph of the Viera Wetlands in Florida because of its abstract qualities.  The silhouettes, reflections and diffused light all contribute to an abstract quality. My hope is that this picture is unique enough to attract the attention of the judges. This image was also taken within the past month.

I went with a different approach for my final submission. Unlike the first three, this image was taken many years ago (July, 1985). I used slide film to capture the image, then scanned the slide into a digital file a few years ago, and finally converted the photo to black & white a few days ago.  This is a very popular spot for landscape photographers. What I hope makes this photo unique is the stormy weather, the spotlight effect on the butte, and the bare tree framing the scene. When I returned to this scene a couple of years ago, the bare tree was no longer there.