Point, aim and shoot

By Debra Minor Wilson
Times West Virginian

FAIRMONT January 17, 2008 07:11 pm

— Calling all shutterbugs out there: The Times West Virginian is kicking off its annual photography contest.
Judging from the past two years, this is one popular competition.
In 2006, 199 entries were received. Landscape was the most popular category, with 72 entries; other, 51; portrait, 49; and event, 27.
Winners that year were:
• Event: Shawn Brown, first place; Mollee Brown, second; and Gary Wade, third.
• Landscape: Colleen Sine, first; Chris Moore, second; and Bob Moore, third.
• Other: Mary Reed, first place; Rusty McLain, second; and Tim Haught, third.
• Portrait: Gary Wade, first place; Mark Stalnaker, second; and Mollee Brown, third.
• Grand prize winner was Shawn Ashliman, for his photo of the Maroon Bells near Aspen, Colo.
For the 2007 contest, Santa must have brought a lot of Marion Countians digital cameras that previous Christmas, because a whopping 552 entries were received.
The most popular categories were landscape, with 160 entries; other, 145; portrait, 143; and event, 104.
Winners were:
• Event: Dana Gribben, first place; Tom Feltz, second; and Vicky Craig, third.
• Landscape: Mary Burnell, first place; Jessica Stanley, second; and Angie Taralla, third.
• Other: Amber King, first place; Shalimar O’Brien-Goode, second; and Jim Blackwood, third.
• Portrait: Laura Bailey, first place; Susan Reese, second; and Dana Walls, third.
• Grand prize winner was Amber King, for her photo of a colorful parrot she saw at a café at Hilton Head, S.C.
Times West Virginian chief photographer Danny Snyder, who will be judging the contest along with staff photographer Tammy Shriver and myself, knows a winning photograph when he sees one: a special combination of timing, angles and lighting.
Of these, light is “the biggest key,” he said.
“Light creates the image. You can take an ordinary subject and with lighting or shooting from a different angle or using a different lens make it better.
“A good photo has good color, good angles, good lighting. And timing. Being there at the right time is what it comes down to in most cases.
“All things are game,” he said of the contest. “The competition will be pretty tough. We had some awesome photographs last year.
“The winning photo will be something that when you throw it on the table, all the other photographs will disappear. This will pop out. It will be unique.
“It all comes down to being a special image,” Snyder said.
The winning picture, however, “will not be of an ordinary subject,” Snyder said.
“The pictures that won last year were pretty extraordinary.”
“Fuzzy” may be good for bears and navels, but blurry photographs just won’t make it in this contest, he said.
“Focus is the key. Do not send an out-of-focus photograph. It will be automatically ineligible.”
Snyder, a photographer for more than 17 years, enjoys shooting nature pictures.
“I like capturing things that don’t happen all the time.”
This contest is for digital images only, which have several advantages over film, he said.
“You don’t have to buy film. And you can instantly see what your picture looks like. If you need to change the angle or light to make the photo better, you can do that seconds after taking the picture.”
Everybody likes to take pictures, he said. And everybody likes contests.
“It excites them to see if they won. Everybody likes to win something. And just about every household in America has a camera, Everybody has taken a photograph in their life, or will.”
For this contest, only the best will make it.
“We will be looking for photographs that are unique and better than the rest,” Snyder said. “It’s that simple. When you see it, you know it’s the one. It will stand out from the rest. It will pop out.”
So, how about it, Marion County?
Make my e-mail sing.
Send me your great photographs.
A complete list of rules appears below.
E-mail Debra Minor Wilson at dwilson@timeswv.com.