Uddhava Das was hiking this autumn in Kings Canyon National Park when he suddenly spotted a black bear not far from the path. While his mom and girlfriend retreated a couple hundred yards, yelling for him to be safe, he set up a tripod and gently placed his camera on it.

“I see bears a lot where I live, so I was just confident in the situation and surroundings,” says Das, who hails from Badger near the park’s entrance. He snapped away and then watched as the bear sauntered out of sight. “I think she may have been fattening up before the long, cold winter…. She was content eating grass – if you zoom in you can see it in her mouth – and didn’t seem bothered by us.”

Das’ encounter led to an indelible memory and also a great photograph: a surprisingly blond and spherical creature, like an oversized bowling ball with fur, gazing beady-eyed into the distance as if thinking of its next meal. And this month, his timing and fearlessness were rewarded with a top prize in a photography contest put on by the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, rugged wilderness areas in California’s Sierra Nevada that are home to diverse fauna and the world’s largest trees.

Contest organizers asked visitors to submit their best 2022 photos from these two national parks to Facebook, then graded them in a variety of categories. Das’ black bear won first for wildlife photography, with other prizes going to a coiled rattlesnake and a mule deer licking its lips. Meanwhile, Christopher Czaplicki took the top award for wilderness photography with a sky-high shot of Mount Gardiner, a nearly 13,000-foot prominence popular with mountain climbers. (It’s one of 30-plus designated “Mountaineers Peaks” in the Sierra Nevada, chosen for difficulty and quality of climbing.)

“When I reached the southern summit the ridge was entirely socked in clouds, and I had little visibility the entire scramble to the true summit,” says Czaplicki, who resides in Coarsegold near Yosemite. “But when I topped out on the high point, the clouds briefly parted, and I was able to capture the winning photograph.”

“Much more skill in climbing than photography to get that shot,” he jokes.

On a smaller but no less impressive scale, Dawn Day of Oakley won first in the nature category for her photo of dew clinging to delicate mustang clover. “The mustang clover is a very small flower and it caught my eye while I was hiking along the Moro Rock trail as it was in the fire zone,” says Day. “It was a very tiny pop of color and beauty in the midst of what was left by the fire. It was fun to spot, and then the dewdrops just made it shimmer.”

Take a look at some of the other winners of this contest below. And for a full accounting, visit Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks on Facebook.