MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Seven Mississippi State University Extension Service 4-H members received national attention for their photographs of plant-related subjects at the 2014 National Junior Horticulture Association photography contest this fall.

Jonah Holland of Tishomingo County received Overall Best of Show and Grand National Awards for his image titled “Spiny Soul.” He also was awarded a Grand National Award for his “Lone Leaf” image.

Evan Kirkpatrick of Jasper County received a Grand National Award for his image, “Sunflowers.”

Matt Ray of Clay County and Molly Kate Chamblee of Pontotoc County each received a National Award for their images, “Collection of Daisies” and “Flower in the Canyon,” respectively.

Emma Sparks of Tishomingo County, Thomas Ryals of Pearl River County, and Angel Brooks of Adams County also received recognition for their images.

Grand National Award winners’ images are considered for publication in the professional academic journals HortScience and the Journal of the American Society for Horticulture Science, which are distributed internationally, said David Nagel, MSU Extension horticulture specialist and Mississippi National Junior Horticulture Association state coordinator.

“Winning awards at the national level is an excellent confidence booster and shows that these kids have skills that are competitive on a national basis,” Nagel said. “It is a wonderful accomplishment to include on college entrance applications and job applications.”

All participants who won blue ribbons in the Mississippi 4-H Horticulture Photography Contest were entered into the national competition.

Any Mississippi 4-H member can participate in state horticulture photography contests. Categories, entry forms and rules can be found at http://www.njha.org/projects_photodigital for digital images or http://www.njha.org/projects_photofilm for film images.