Winners of the 2009 photo contest

By North Forty News
Publisher

Image links to all winners

Amateur photographers came out of the woodwork this year for the 14th annual North Forty News photo contest.

Three independent judges had to choose among 153 photos in four different categories, and all agreed there were many stunning photos in the collection.

The open house for participants also drew a large crowd, and these photographers made their own selections for the People's Choice award in each category.

Winners in each group and the judges' comments follow.

Four-Legged Friends

People love their animals, and it showed in this category: Four-Legged Friends drew 62 entries. Cats were a popular subject and took four of the five prizes.

Leisa Carson of Fort Collins captured first place with her image of a relaxed black-and-white cat draped over a chair, its long legs dangling. The judges liked the photographer's use of backlighting on the cat's shoulder, good contrast and good composition.

Second place went to Susan Worden of Greeley, who entered a humorous photo of a black dog stealing some whipped cream from a mug of hot chocolate. Judges appreciated the quickness of the photographer in grabbing this moment, as well as the good contrast between black and white in the photo. The perfect exposure caught each peak and valley in the whipped cream. This photo also earned the People's Choice award for the category.

Kayla Goddard, a 10-year-old from Bellvue, took third-place honors with her photo of a yellow-and-white cat behind some backlit iris in the garden. The photo, judges noted, had good lighting and nice contrast between yellow and green. It followed the "rule of thirds," a guide to composition.

In this category, a tie led to two honorable mention awards. Nancy Faust of Fort Collins caught her two cats playing with ice in a goblet, and judges commented that Faust captured them at just the right moment. They also liked the alertness in the cats' eyes. Also getting honorable mention is Dawn Schmidt of LaPorte, who photographed a tabby cat behind some bright yellow garden flowers. Schmidt achieved a razor-sharp image of the cat's whiskers, and judges also liked the way the cat's face was framed by the flowers.

People in Action

The top score in this category went to Roger Gunderson of Fort Collins, who snapped an underwater photo of his wife Deb while swimming. Using a Canon PowerShot D10 digital, Gunderson achieved good exposure and accurate focus, even on the air bubbles coming from Deb's mouth. There was also a feeling of motion in the arms and hands. "Underwater is hard," commented one judge.

Julie Drake of Livermore earned second place. She was able to capture five young women at the Buckhorn Methodist Camp in Rist Canyon as they jumped in unison. Judges liked the sharp exposure, use of the correct shutter speed for action, and the expressions on the girls' faces.

A multiple exposure of a young woman on a swing, taken by Angel McDaniel of Wellington, earned a third-place finish. The photo produced a "cool effect of stop-motion, which fits the category," one judge noted. Color contrast and saturation were also good.

The People's Choice award in this category went to Leisa Carson of Fort Collins, who photographed her daughter Kaitlyn dancing to "Footloose."

Macro

A super-sharp photo of a praying mantis, titled "Just Passing Through," took top honors in this category. The photo by Susan Worden of Greeley "just grabs your eye – it has the 'wow' factor," commented one judge. He also found the silver-colored plant in the background enticing. "It makes you wonder, what is that plant?"

Second Place in Macro went to Pat Carey of Bellvue with her up-close photo of a lovely fall-blooming crocus. Judges said the photographer did a good job of focusing on the stamens and pistils, which works best for most macro flower shots. They also liked the photo's good contrast, sharp focus and good depth of field, as well as the lighting on the subject.

Camden Yehle of Fort Collins captured third-place honors with a photo of a person holding the "world" in the palm of his hand. One judge found the concept interesting, since the subject holds the world, yet he is in the world himself. He also praised the perspective and the sharp focus of the photo.

At an open house for participants, the photographers made their own selections for the People's Choice award in each category.

The Macro People's Choice award went to Nancy Faust of Fort Collins, who snapped a shot of a horse with a frosty forelock.

18 & Under

Five-year-old Kammi Jo Carson of Fort Collins went to the head of the pack with her closeup photo of a horse's eye. The young photographer also garnered the People's Choice award with this photo. Judges appreciated the creativity of the photo, which shows Kammi Jo's reflection in the eye of the horse as she snapped the picture.

"You could almost call it a self-portrait," one judge commented. He was also impressed by the sharp focus on the subject's eyelashes. Kammi Jo's mother, Leisa Carson, said the only advice she gave her daughter was to look for photo subjects that seemed interesting to her.

Katie Clark, 14, of Fort Collins captured second place with another eye-catching subject, a girl with a green eye in an otherwise black-and-white photo.

"It's just a cool picture," said one of the judges. He praised the photo's creative, "super-solid" composition. Another judge liked the sharp focus and good contrast. "The first thing you see is her eyes," he noted.

Third place in the 18 & Under category went to Josh Schoenig, 16, of Bellvue for his action shot of a young man going airborne on a dirt bike. "It took a lot of thinking to get this picture," one judge commented. "There was blurriness to show action, plus some sharp detail like the writing on the bike tires."

Another noted that the photographer used a combination of fill flash and a slower shutter speed to convey the action of the subject.

The North Forty News thanks judges Scott Wiebers, Charlie Johnson and Fred McClanahan for volunteering their time with the photo contest. Wiebers is a wedding photographer and freelance sports photographer for the North Forty News and The Wellington. Johnson, a former photojournalist, works for the Larimer County Department of Natural Resources as a senior land agent. Many of his photographs hang in the Courthouse Offices Building. McClanahan has worked for Larimer County Extension for 20 years. He is a professional rodeo photographer and nature photographer. Subjects include the wolves of Yellowstone National Park.

For those eager to get going on next year's contest, the 2011 categories are People's Expressions, Creative Perspective, 18 & Under and Macro.

Entry forms are available online. The entry deadline is Jan. 10, 2011.