Bill Yao (COM ’24) took home the award for the People’s Choice category in Boston University’s 11th annual Global Programs Photo Contest with a stunning photo of the starry night sky at Lake O’Hara in the Canadian Rockies.

Yao’s photo titled “Stargazing” wowed the voters, with 485 votes.

Photography has always been a passion for Yao since he was in middle school, encouraged by his late grandfather, who took pictures of the best views across China, Yao says.

The photo came from a trip that had been on his bucket list for three years, and it was one of the most physically demanding hikes Yao has ever done at 30 kilometers of varying elevations. He went with his mentor, Cath Simard, an ambassador for Sony and a contributor for National Geographic, who sits in the bottom third of the winning photo.

“I spent months in the Canadian Rockies learning from her about not just photography, but also the creative industry and life as a whole. None of what I do would be possible without her guidance. She is like a big sister to me,” Yao says.

He and Simard, who he has gone with on multiple hiking trips to shoot photos since high school, spent 14 hours to complete the hike. Since the photo was taken, the National Park has opened the trail to vehicles, but Yao is glad he got to do the whole trip on foot.

“Fulfillment in photography for me comes from not just the end result, but also the work involved in getting there,” he says.

Advertising professor Brooks Beisch encouraged Yao to enter another contest earlier this semester. This was the first contest he had entered since high school.

“Bill’s photos are both technically precise with nice attention to detail, complexity in the shadows and nuances in the coloration of the lit-up skies,” Beisch says. “I have worked with many award-winning photographers in the past, and I would rank Bill’s work among the best of the best.”

Yao decided to enter the Global Programs contest after his success in Communications Arts Photography Annual, where his photos will be featured in their upcoming magazine. He added that he’s happy that his work will be shared to people he cannot reach.

“Something that has a lot of meaning to me is being able to share my work,” Yao says. “I want my photographs to inspire people to go outside of their comfort zone to places that they’ve never been, and connect/learn from the vast different cultures around the world.”

COM students Tianyao Zhang, Eliza Nuestro, and Paige Kahn and COM staff member Tristan Olly were also honored as finalists in the contest.

Photos from 294 students and staff across campus entered the contest, submitting photos taken in more than 80 countries.