Happy Father’s Day! Meet the Winners of Our #DadOutdoors Photo Contest.

This year’s “DadOutdoors” Photo Contest was a big hit, and we received hundreds of great photos of dads enjoying everything from fishing to hunting to hiking. You could feel how proud folks were to submit photos of their dads, and many of the posts on Facebook and Instagram included beautiful messages of thanks for all that dads do.

Last week, we presented you with 10 finalists for the contest’s prizes. The voting for the top spots was intense, with the final tally showing just three votes separating second and third places. Congrats to all the photographers who made the finals!

Your top choice is @macsonthefly‘s wonderful shot (above) of a dad sharing the success of catching a trout with his kids and the family dog. Young Wyatt caught the beautiful fish, and his sister Evelyn gives it her utmost attention. Duke the dog is captured in mid-shake, adding a sense of chaos to the whole image. As voter Phoenix wrote, “I don’t feel like the MacDonalds were catching many fish that day,” but they were certainly making incredible memories. For capturing such a joyful image, the MacDonalds will receive a Helios 3 Fly Rod of their choice.

In second place is a touching photo of a dad and son sharing a meaningful look on the way back from the river. Anders Brown (@andersbrowntrout) writes, “The photo was taken by a friend of ours. It is of my dad, Dan Brown, and myself when I was about seven years old. We had just finished a long day going after big, early-season trout at Seven Pines Lodge in Lewis, Wisconsin, where he guided at the time. He has always been my go-to fishing partner and has instilled a life-long passion of fly angling in me!” For coming in second, Anders gets an American-made Recon Fly Rod.

Third place went to this fun shot of a dad and his most prized 10-pounder ever. Winner Corey Anacker (@coreyanacker) describes how the scene came together:

The photo is of my newborn son, Rex on my home river, the South fork of the Snoqualmie. My wife was sympathetic to the fact I hadn’t got much river time in and had poor luck with winter steelhead that year, so together we planned the fly fishing themed newborn photos. The crocheted costume was from Etsy and my sister was the photographer. I even managed to make a couple casts to a few little risers during a lens/diaper change and pulled in a perfect little native coastal cutthroat. All in all it was a great first outing on the river with my boy.

 Corey’s prize is a Clearwater Fly Rod!

Everyone who voted for our finalists was eligible for a prize, as well. We plugged in the numbers, and the widget at random.org spat out a winner: Bryan, who wrote, ” I look forward to this contest every year! These photos are awesome…must have been some hard choices!” Indeed, Bryan. He wins a pair of Orvis Nippers.

Finally, thanks to everyone who participated in any way: by submitting photos, voting, or commenting (or all of these). Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there! We hope you get outside today.