Tulsa Man Wins National Wildlife Photo Contest

Tulsan Roger Twilley won the grand prize in the 2017 National Parks Wildlife Photo Contest.  Twilley, 60, was on a guided photography tour in Alaska when he captured the image of a mother grizzly.

The guides took the tour group to an area of Lake Clark National Park where they spotted a female grizzly resting with her two cubs, according to the National Park Trips Media website. Twilley said everyone else was focused on the cubs, but he shot the mother bear as she started to get up.

“Most people picture grizzly bears as mean, but she looked more at ease and relaxed,” Twilley says. 

“She didn’t care who was around. In the moment, it looked like she was enjoying everything around her.”

Twilley, who is a hobbyist photographer, said his father instilled a strong love and respect for nature in his sons. Twilley's father passed away a few months before the Alaska trip, according to the website.

The Tulsa resident said wildlife is often the subject of his photographs, including the bald eagles who nest in Tulsa. It was the first time he'd ever seen a grizzly in the wild, he said.

"It was unbelievable," Twilley said. "I was so happy."

Twilley also took one of News On 6's Facebook cover photos which we've included in this story.