Five Pro Photographers Take Stage; $12,000 on the Line.
Reserve Our Gallery
Colorado Photography Week is the third week in November, and one of the artists who displays at Reserve Our Gallery in Woodland Park is part of an exciting media production called the “Showdown.”
The Showdown isn’t your traditional photography exhibit. It’s a live competition on the big screen. Five outstanding professional photographers from across Colorado have been selected to take the stage, each presenting an original 10-minute program of their life’s best images set to music. The event happens on November 18 in Durango and there’s $12,000 in prizes at stake. Dana Lee Stoner is one of the five photographers presenting in the 2026 Showdown.
Stoner came to Reserve Our Gallery when the gallery first opened in 2021. Since then, she has been a member of the local art community through the gallery, art shows, Mountain Arts Festival, and Mueller’s annual art exhibit. Her main focus has always been wildlife and the last couple of years have taken her to Alaska to photograph the grizzlies. She has also spent many years photographing the elk and moose in Steamboat Springs. She is no stranger to traveling around to capture the right shot.
Audience members attending the Showdown in Durango are treated to remarkable visual journeys. Each photographer brings a distinct artistic voice, offering everything from sweeping mountain vistas and intimate wildlife portraits to vibrant urban scenes and powerful stories of people. Dana does all of this very well. She is a person who sees the perfect photo before anyone else does. There’s something in her eye that encourages her to say, “Please, stop the car” when she’s a passenger. Usually, a driver is not alarmed by this because they trust Dana and understand there’s probably something worth stopping for.
You can learn more about Dana and the other photographers in the Showdown through this website: https://coloradophotoweek.org/ You can also stop by Reserve Our Gallery any day to view Dana’s work locally.
