Ironwood Anniversary: Photo & Sticker Design Contest Winners

It’s a craft known as “astrophotography” that captures the attention of many -- photography of astronomical objects and celestial events in the night sky, something the Marana skies are known for.

It’s that exact kind of photo that took first place in the Ironwood Forest National Monument photo competition for Discover Marana and landed right on the front page of the 2026 visitor guide (release date coming soon).

It’s a photo not anyone can take, but for photographer Wendy Islas – her self-taught photography journey and strong network gave her just the tools to snap a one-of-a-kind perspective of Ironwood Forest National Monument.

"When I think of the cactus and the Milky Way they are majestic and putting those pieces (or elements) together is spectacular" Islas shared. “I think it emotes feeling and shares the beauty and grandeur of the desert and the sky.”

However, it is not every day you can go out at night and shoot the Milky Way with it lined up nicely with “Shiva”, the Monument’s famous 80-armed saguaro.

Using an app to track and follow the Milky Way’s seasonal movement, Wendy, along with others from a local astronomy photography Facebook group went out to capture it at its most recent peak visibility.

But a lot had to align for it to be that clear, she explained. It was late October – peak season for visibility. The moon couldn’t be out, since it would cast too much light on the sky. And it needed to be as soon as it got dark, right after sunset.

Combine all that and you have an award-winning photo.

“Being under the stars, it’s a wow factor every time, it never fades,” she said. “It’s a very special place.”

Her love for nature and photography goes back decades. Having visited the Grand Canyon when she was ten, she went on to work there during her college years, exploring it through work and hiking in her personal time.

She would go on to work and later retire as a probation officer in both Yuma and Pima Counties.

But her camera would travel with her. “My family, we are huge campers, I like to backpack and hike a lot. In the midst of doing these things I am taking my camera and capturing what I see in moments,” she said.

Her photography hobby got serious about ten years ago. She has always been self-taught, but utilizes local workshops and networking on social media with other photographers to expand her knowledge.

“I have friends in town who I am really grateful for, they inspire me in so many ways,” she said. “I am a life-long learner.”

She has always admired Ironwood Forest National Monument and the signature 80-armed saguaro. She even makes it a point to take friends and family to see the magnificent beauty every time they come to town.

Wendy is currently exploring micro-photography and is part of a local storm-chasers photography group.

Her work has been featured in the University of Arizona’s Water Resources Research Center’s photo contest as an honorable mention, and in the Santa Cruz Valley National Heritage Area photo contest.

“My heart is really all in Arizona, being able to showcase it for other people is very important,” she shared.

To be with nature, you must be one with nature -- and that is exactly what John Woodin has done. He lived and ran a ranch at the base of Ragged Top Mountain in Ironwood Forest National Monument for the past 50 years.

Capturing photos of the national treasure has been more of a family tradition than a hobby, and two of his photos earned 2nd Place and a tie for Judge’s Pick in the Ironwood Forest National Monument photo contest.

“I couldn’t live without it, it is such an integral part of my life,” Woodin shared.

He has seen everything there is to see out there in the Monument, from a blanket of snow that draped over Ragged Top, to streams of water flowing down the mountains in parts never seen before, and even massive poppy blooms that cover hillsides.

“As far as the diversity of plants and animal life it is just one of a kind,” he said. The watering hole near his home attracts all kinds of visitors; bobcats, deer, javelinas (a native animal that resembles a pig but is actually a part of the rodent family), and of course, the popular bighorn sheep.

His second place-winning photo captured a beautiful rainbow spread across Ragged Top Mountain. He says he has seen rainbows all over the Monument, “but that is the only rainbow in 50 years I have ever seen over Ragged Top.”

The picture was captured in the morning hours, in which he noted is rare for rainbows; he says you’re more likely to see them in the afternoon.

“It was a magical time,” he shared.

Secluded at the base of the mountain in Ironwood Forest National Monument, his nearest neighbor is five miles away. While the ranch isn’t running anymore, his family uses the property as a great escape. His family has become so familiar with the Ironwoods they made it a tradition to have a family calendar that was put together every year made up of photos of the kids and grandkids.

“The only requirement we had, was that we had to have Ragged Top somewhere in the picture and because I was out there the most, it fell on me to take them,” he explained. “I just do it all with an iPhone.”

The incredible pictures submitted and placed in the competition were also shot on that same iPhone.

The forest and its beauty can speak for itself according to Woodin.

“If you like the desert, the monument is probably the lushest Sonoran Desert around.” He attributes part of his love of the desert to his father who was the second Director of the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, and his mother who wrote “Home is the Desert”.

“I have never seen anything that compares with this as far as what is available,” he shared.

The other photo that tied for Judge’s Pick included the Monument’s landscape covered in beautiful yellow poppies. He captured that picture because, in his 50 years out there, he has never seen them grow in that specific area.

Ironwood trees can live up to 800 years and beyond and even last hundreds of years after they die because of how hard and dense the wood is.

To this day, Woodin is still fascinated with Ironwoods. “To me the Ironwood is the most unbelievable tree there is,” he said.

“The dead Ironwoods are artwork in themselves as they slowly decompose over hundreds of years,” he shared.

Stickers, just like pictures, can be worth a thousand words, and the sticker that was awarded first place for the Ironwood Forest National Monument Sticker Competition is a clear example of that.

Artist Darby Maldonado, who created the winning sticker, had been connected to the National Monument far before she was creating stickers of it. In fact, growing up in Arizona, she was exposed to a variety of our state’s treasured public lands at a very young age.

“It was just one of those things we [family] did, I got all the badges for the State Parks and the National Forests,” Maldonado shared.

Her love for the outdoors and for art sprouted together.

“I grew up in a family that was super creative, so my dad always pushed me to make art and that eventually got me into digital art,” she explained. He would always tell her about art competitions that he would come across.

When she found the Ironwood Forest sticker competition, she knew it would be one he would have sent straight to her, if he was still with her today.

“There is no reason why I shouldn’t keep doing it,” said Maldonado. So, she did and hers was voted the best sticker design.

“When I got an email and it had my name on and that I won, I called everyone I knew and let them know I won first place,” she shared excitingly. “Marana is really exploding lately so the fact that I could draw something for a town that is really starting to get big is so cool!”

Using an iPad and a stylus she explained how she let the creative juices flow. Combining photos of the Ironwood trees, the mountainous region, the iconic 80-arm saguaro, along with additional desert features she was able to put it all together.

“I probably sat down and drew this for three-and-a-half hours. Started with the backdrop, then the horizon, the mountains needed definition, and the flowers and quails because they are the best,” she said.

Her artwork has always been based off desert wildlife, birds, ringtail dove roadrunners, javelinas, jackrabbits, bats, and the list goes on. They have all been created as stickers, a hobby she has been doing for the past four years.

In total, she has created 115 stickers. Some of those can be found on her Etsy page and even in two Tucson-area stores.

However, it was not her first opportunity when it came to creating professionally designed stickers for agencies. Two other stickers of hers have been featured with United Way and This is Tucson magazine

“For me art is a huge release, I get to come home at the end of the day and open up my iPad and just whatever is in my head I can make it, draw it, and it’s like a form of therapy for me,” she expressed.

“Colorful”, "Powerful”, and” Green” are the three words she chose to describe her sticker.

“I don’t know what other words I can use because there is a lot of green, but there’s also a lot of color which I feel like people don’t use to describe the desert at all,” she said. “However, once I get this sticker the first place it is going is on my water bottle and my car so no matter where I go, I can see it.”

Born in the Philippines, Kei Zyrylle Mandanas has always had a love for art since a young age and competing and placing in a contest like this has always been an aspiration.

“I thought that was awesome, art is something I do on the side,” Mandanas shared. “It felt good for me to know that other people appreciated the artwork I do.”

She has yet to visit the Ironwood Forest National Monument, but when her brother-in-law told her about it, she knew she could research it and bring a different perspective to it.

“I thought it could be a cool opportunity for me to like keep doing my art,” she said. “I saw in the description that one of the most iconic things is the Shiva cactus, so I thought a lot of people are going to do that, let’s do something different.”

Using an ancient basket as the frame for the sticker, she incorporated the Monument’s iconic mountains, the bighorn sheep, and the ancient petroglyphs.

Once she was able to narrow down the plants, animals, and historical artifacts, she was able to turn to the design phase of her sticker.

“I think overall I’d say it took less than a week,” she said.

“Human”, “earth”, and “connection” are the words that come to her mind when she looks back at her sticker design. She also admires the Arizona sunsets and knew that needed to be a highlighted feature.

“That’s really one of the best things I love about Arizona, I have traveled to other states, and no one beats our sunsets. Every time they show up, they make me happy,” she said.

.She has been living in Southern Arizona since 2010.

“I really appreciate Arizona, when I first moved here I was young and came from an island, over time I have learned to appreciate Arizona as I have traveled.

Kei says that once she gets the sticker, it’s going right on her water bottle and being handed out to friends and family.

Mikayla Chin's beautiful sticker grabbed 3rd Place. Mikayla says, "My sticker design features the 80-armed cactus Shiva with the beautiful landscape of Ironwood Forest. I was inspired by my recent visit to go see the glorious cactus and explore the surrounding area."

Putting an emphasis on the iconic 80-arm saguaro, known locally as “Shiva”, this third-place sticker design for the Ironwood Forest National Monument sticker competition was crafted by Mikayla Chin.

Her background in graphic design and knack for creativity was the perfect combination for throwing her sticker design into the mix.

“I have just always been a creative person,” she said. “I came across the competition and thought it looked fun.”

While it was her first time looking into Ironwood Forest National Monument, it wasn’t her first designing things of this nature.

For the past five years, she’s been running her small business for all of her digital illustrations, which can be purchased in the form of stickers, art prints, greeting cards, key chains, magnets, and tons of other gift-related memorabilia.

“I am always inspired by nature,” she shared. So, when she saw this opportunity, she took it upon herself to see the Shiva saguaro in person.

“It was my first time going to see the cacti there, and it was really amazing in person. I was just inspired by that itself, there are so many arms, it’s so crazy,” she said.

Taking in the massive cactus, the mountains, and the desert overall she was able to design her sticker on her iPad.

“It is so fun because I have never done competitions before and my business is my full-time job, I have over 100 designs, and they are really special to me,” Chin said.

Having only lived in Tucson for a year, Chin said she is still getting acclimated to the desert, but loves creating art themed in what she calls “plants” and “positivity”

“I just want to keep going with that and inspire others to do the same thing,” she said.