Fine turnout for annual Hot Shots Photo Expo
Last month the Hot Shots Photo Club put out a call to Pine Island photographers who wished to participate in this year’s photo art expo and the response was overwhelming. Approximately 30 photographers responded with 160 entries.
The parking lot was full as were the streets surrounding the center. There were hundreds of people viewing the art as people filled the aisles all day at the center.
“We will get the final report tonight but my consensus is this was by far the best photo show ever,” David Priest, show committeeman said. “We had a lot of talented people and a lot of great photography this year.”
Pine Island resident and photographer Jan Clement was displaying hundreds of photographs on photo-paper, notecards and photograph bags. There were lots of photos of native birds (blue herons, egrets and eagles), local scenes.
“I started taking pictures as a teenager,” Clement said. “But I started taking pictures more seriously about 20 years ago. I take pictures here and in upstate New York. I used an Olympus camera to take these.”
Nearby was a table filled with beautiful portraits done in pencil with a small sign “Portraits by Honora ‘Honey’ H. Seidler.”
“I picked up a pencil in 2006. I was thumbing through a magazine and just loved a face and decided I needed to capture it. So I picked up a pencil, simply because I had a pencil, and it worked. Ever since then I’ve been drawing faces. This was a discovery… I never knew I had the talent. I took one class but it didn’t work for me.”
Judge Peggy Stark said, “The overall impression is there is a wonderful sampling of many different subjects, and the quality of the work shows the talent in your club and Pine Island. I’d like to see the show hang longer. I thought there was some confusion about which category the image belonged in. Some of our choices would have been different if the photographer had placed the image in a different category.”
Once all of judging was completed, the Best in Show was announced. The winner was Ron Mayhew’s “Serengeti Giraffes.”
“This photograph was taken in 2008,” Mayhew said. “It’s been sitting on my website and displayed in other shows. I was trying to capture that Hemingway, Green Hills of Africa look.”
Judge Tom Scott, President of the Photo Arts Group of the Punta Gorda Visual Arts Center wrote, “Serengeti Giraffes by Ron Mayhew, is simple yet the longer one looked, one found more of interest. Using the rule of thirds, there seemed to be many subjects that were in the center of the frame a photograph holding more interest and tension. More unusual subjects draw judges” interest over those that are common, especially wildlife.”
Winners:
Landscape
First: Ron Mayhew
Second: David Hempfling
Honorable Mention: Randy King
Honorable Mention: Jack McManus
Honorable Mention: Andy Bergten
Honorable Mention: Randy King
Honorable Mention: Scott Parker
Honorable Mention: Scott Parker
Judge’s Award: Randy King
Judge’s Award: Mary Reich
Urbanscape
First: Carol Hoyem
Second: Carol Hoyem
Honorable Mention: Sharon Astle
Monochrome/Black & White
First: Carol Hoyem
Second: Carol Hoyem
Honorable Mention: Mike Astle
People
First: David Priest
Second: Carol Hoyem
Honorable Mention: Andy Bergsten
Creative/Abstract
First: Sharon Astle
Second: Ron Mayhew
Honorable Mention: Linda Gall
Honorable Mention: Carol Hoyem
Wildlife
First Place: Sandy Kenyon
Second Place: David Hempfling
Honorable Mention: Jack McManus