Photo Contest Winners

We are pleased to announce the winners of the nature photo contest. Our judge for this contest was Sr. Mary Emmanuel Alves, FSP, who takes many of the photographs for My Friend and for other publications of Pauline Books and Media.
“When you take a photo,” says Sr Emmanuel, “you are trying to let others see what you see. It’s partly an art, because you have to have or to develop a sense of ‘framing’ the photo. To “frame” it means to focus on the subject so that whoever sees your photo understands what you were trying to communicate. And it’s partly a craft, because you have to know certain things about the camera and how to make it work. For example, the size of your lens aperature will make a difference in the depth of field (whether all the things in the photo are in focus, or some are in focus and some are out of focus).
“I enjoyed looking at all the photos that were sent in. I could see or guess what each child was trying to show by means of the photographs. I encourage you all to keep working at it and learning more about the beautiful art and craft of photography.”

Sr. Emmanuel’s comments are included below with each winning photo. Click on the photo to see bigger image.

 

First Place : Louis Lemire, age 12; Ontario, Canada
Tiger Swallowtail butterfly
“This is absolutely exquisite. Louis has captured the butterfly and the lilac very well. This is a good example of how to frame the subject. The butterfly is at an appealing angle, surrounded by beautiful color, ready to take flight.”

 

Second Place : Allison Gojevic, age 12; New York
Mallard duck
“All the elements of this photo converge—the circular patterns in the water and the reflections of light lead you to focus on the duck and its peaceful swim.
“The word “photograph” means “writing with light.” This is a beautiful example of that.”

 

Third Place : Christina Slusarczyk, age 13; California
Cholla cacti
“This is a nicely balanced, tack-sharp photo of an unusual cactus plant. You’d find something like this in a nature magazine. Christina wrote when she sent in her photo, ‘I think that this photo displays God’s beauty because it amazes me how something so sharp and dangerous can be so beautiful.’
“Christina did a good job of capturing this impression in her photo.”

 

Honorable Mention: Jared Dasher, age 8; Pennsylvania
“Jared wrote that he photographed the storm water draining into a lake, after a severe rainstorm. He set up the photo well. Notice how your eye follows the water from the bottom corner of the photo as it heads toward the lake (a classic composition). This setup tells the story of the movement of the storm water and you can see the brimming lake through the trees.

 

 

 

 

 

Honorable Mention: Jenessa Freidhof, age 13; Wisconsin
“When people see a rainbow, they often try to take a photo of it, but it is hard to take a good one. This photo has a nice setup. The rainbow is central, and there is an interesting mixture of overcast sky and blue sky. Also, the barn is reflecting sunlight against the dark clouds. Sometimes a good picture happens when you’re in the right place at the right time, (with a camera!), but the important thing is, Jenessa had the eye to see a great shot.

 

Honorable Mention: Nicholas Schuetz, age 12; North Carolina
“The harmony of the monarch’s colors with the background flowers is striking.
“It’s hard to take photos of butterflies and other animals, especially birds, because they move so quickly, so it is hard to focus. This is an example of good use of depth of field. The flowers in the background are out of focus. Sometimes, as in this photo, if every element in the photo were in focus it would distract the viewer from the main element. Other times (as in the next photo) it helps to have everything in focus.”

 

Honorable Mention: Brianna Wendt, age 13; Pennsylvania
“Brianna has a good eye for an interesting photo. She called this picture ‘Nature’s Parallel Universe.’ When things are reflected in still water, it does look as if there were another world, or a parallel universe, that one could step into. It is difficult to take this kind of photo on an overcast day, since you lose a lot of the color, but Brianna does a good job of framing the image, at an angle, which helps your eye to move over the photo.”
“This is an example of a different depth of field—everything is in focus and that helped make the image attractive. Also, notice the leafless trees in the foreground. They break up the solid green of the other trees and add interest to the photo.