Drumheller photographer Darryl Reid is gaining international exposure after having two of his photographs receive honourable mentions at one of the world’s largest photography contests.
    Two years ago Reid entered the Sony World Photography Awards and received an honourable mention for his photo called 'Carved in Sand'. This year two of his entries received the nod.
    “It is pretty encouraging I must admit, and a little overwhelming,” he said.
    This mention means his photos were in the top 40 of each category they were entered in. This is out of 52,000 entries in each category, according to Reid.
    He entered a photo called 'Inhabited Places'. It is an image of the hoodoos, and was entered in the low light category.
    “('Inhabited Places') is a dark night shot that has the hoodoo, the international space station, the far off stars and the Milky Way, and if you look you can see a far off galaxy,” said Reid.
    His photo called 'Moon Ridge' was entered in the category of wildlife and nature. It was taken through a telescope of the moon rising over Duncan Lake in B.C.
    “I was on one side of the lake and had my telescope set up ready to go and track the moon as it started rising. I just got three or four shots off as it did, that was just the most balanced one,” said Reid.
    Reid grew up looking to the sky and building telescopes. This is what introduced him to lenses and lighting. It wasn’t until a few years ago he began to really work on the craft of photography. Since then he has had work displayed locally and provincially. He maintains a website, and has also built a home based gallery and studio. 
    The photos will be published in a book made for the event. An awards ceremony is being held this year in England. One day he hopes to attend the awards gala.
    “It is my ultimate goal to win this thing. There are a lot of contests out there, but this is one I focus on because it is the biggest. If I can ring the bell, then I have accomplished my mission,” said Reid.

    The Dragons annual banquet on February 20 has a special guest attending this year. The voice of the Calgary Flames, Peter Maher, will be making an appearance and giving a few of his insights to those in attendance.
    Maher has been announcing for the Flames since they moved to Calgary in 1980 and has witnessed some of the most iconic moments in Flames history, including the series-winning blunder by Steve Smith in game 7 against the Edmonton Oilers. It was that goal when Maher’s catch phrase “yeah baby” was coined.
    In 2006, Maher was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as a media honouree. In 2010, Maher was also the voice of Roger’s Olympic hockey broadcast.
    Maher will give a speech to everyone assembled following the annual award presentations to the Dragons.
    To attend the Dragons banquet and have a chance to meet Maher, call the Dragons office at 403-823-2022.