Since the beginning of this contest in 2002, I have noticed an overwhelming change from film to digital photography. There are many advantages to shooting digital, and among them is the fact that the photographer can take a greater number of shots without spending any more money getting them developed. I believe that more people now use cameras then ever before. They’re everywhere – from professional digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) cameras to point-and-shoot cameras that can fit into a shirt pocket. The emergence of decent sensors, lenses and storage space on phones has really made the act of taking pictures accessible.
This year, prizes are being awarded to “digitally altered” photos along with color and black and white photos. Digitally altered implies that images have had excessive software techniques and filters applied to enhance them.
It’s understandable that photos are touched up a bit to match the true colors of the subject, or the brightness, contrast and exposure have been tweaked to match the original subject being photographed. These kinds of images still fall under the standard color and black and white categories.
I commend readers for taking their camera in hand and photographing what interests them. And it’s not limited to landscape images. Any kind of subjects that are intriguing and say “this means something to me” are great to photograph. I look forward to seeing what you can do for next year.
— Mark Stash
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WINNERS
GRAND PRIZE
“Flowers thrive where ties die. This is the old dual-gauge railroad trestle
over the Keuka Lake outlet near Penn Yan’s Birkett Mills.”
Llewellyn Lafford • Penn Yan
COLOR
First Place
“Sunrise on Seneca Lake, view from Torrey”
Daniel Schlegel • Webster
Second Place
“Auroras over Hemlock Lake”
Tom Pruzenski • Hemlock
Third Place
“Orange fungus taken on the bank of Canandaigua Lake outlet in Shortsville”
Ann M. Smith • Canandaigua
BLACK AND WHITE
First Place
“Stone bug in Freeville”
Mihai C. Miroiu • Ithaca
Second Place
“Cornfield in Cohocton”
Rick Mearns • Rochester
Third Place
“Boats in morning fog”
Dennis Money • Canandaigua
DIGITALLY ALTERED
First Place
“Wildflowers blossom above Otisco Lake at sunrise”
High Dynamic Range (HDR) image
Mark Pellegrino • New York City
Second Place
“Stewart Park in Ithaca”
Infrared camera used. Values of red and blue changed in channel mixer,
manipulation of color balance and saturation.
Dwight Meyers • Groton
Third Place
“Kueka evening in Hammondsport”
HDR used in Photomatix to adjust lighting imbalance from shadows to light.
Paul Anderson • Penn Yan
HONORABLE MENTION
“Maple keys in Pittsford” – color
Mandy Applin • Pittsford
“Mendon sunflower field” – color
Ed Welch • Churchville
“Hay trailers at Wagner Vineyards” – black & white
Jeff Chodack • New Milford, Connecticut
“Midnight moonlight, Conesus Lake” – black & white
Robert J. Bilsky • Rochester
“Summer sunset” – digitally altered
Bridget Aleo • Rochester
“Skaneateles barn” – digitally altered
Nico Rinaldo • Camillus
