2016 Photographs of the Year
On May 4, 2016 Stamford Photography Club held it’s annual Photograph of the Year competition. Members were asked to submit 2 images in Black & White Print, Color Print and Digital Image categories for a chance to be crowned our 2015-2016 Photograph of the Year. The images members submitted were shown throughout this competition season, and could be from the open subject or assigned subject categories. Our judges were tasked with selecting one image per category to represent the Stamford Photography Club as the Photograph of the Year.
Our judges for this evening were Lisa Cuscuna, Jeanne McDonagh, Phil Nelson.
Presenting our 2016 Photographs of the Year and a note about the image from the winning photographer.
Note, click on the image to view larger
Black & White Print of the Year
Around the Bend by Sara Roche
“I attended a night photography workshop last August at the Shoreline Trolley Museum in East Haven, CT. The museum operators brought out a number of the historical trolleys and we photographers had the run of the place for several hours. I was particularly drawn to this bench and station and the way the track curved around it. The trolley on display in this area looked like it was approaching the station so I decided to try and make it a little imaginary scene. The emptiness of the trolley and the bench with the night setting gave it a little bit of a haunting quality and the feel of looking in to the past. It was taken on a tripod with a long exposure and narrow aperture to get the nice star effect on the headlight and enough light in to illuminate the foreground. I originally entered this photograph for the Planes, Trains, and Automobiles theme.
I loved the composition of this photograph but I almost tossed it out because I really struggled with the tones in the color version. At the last minute, when I was mulling over which trolley photos to enter for the theme I decided to revisit this one in black & white instead and I was much happier with the result.” ~Sara R.
Color Print of the Year
Tillie by Sally Harris
“While driving through the farmland of southeastern Pennsylvania, my husband Mike and I came upon a roadside bakery/vegetable stand. Peering through the window and doorway were four Mennonite children. The boys sported straw hats, blue shirts, suspenders and black pants while the girls were in smocks, aprons and caps. We pulled over, introduced ourselves, bought some cookies and asked if we could photograph them. Unlike the Amish, they do not mind having their photograph taken. A few months later, we brought them prints of some of the photographs we had made and they were happy to be photographed again. I was able to coax the young girl, Tillie, over to the corner of the shop to be near the window where there was light and made this image of her. I love the wisps of hair emerging from under the bonnet, and her big blue eyes. Since then we have been in touch with their parents, have visited with the whole family, and are learning about their way of life. They have been very open to our making photographs of them, and we plan on keeping up this very special friendship.” ~Sally H.
Digital Image of the Year
Angles in Oslo by Bill Filip
“While stopping over in Oslo, Norway on the way to do some landscape photography in the Norwegian fiords, I spent a day walking around this special city and exploring many of it’s photogenic sights.
At the top of my list was the Oslo Opera House (‘Operahuset’) at the head of Oslofjord, completed in 2007 and designed to resemble a giant iceberg, in keeping with Norway’s arctic and ocean heritage.
The Opera house has over 1100 rooms and attracts a diverse array visitors of from around the world, who can walk and sense it’s angular white granite and Italian La Facciata marble surfaces from all levels, including the roof.
I decided to wait near the front and see if I could catch a simple but diverse composition of visitors exploring this magnificent structure,
This photo, ‘Angles in Oslo’, seemed to best represent what I experienced. And the sky and lighting conditions cooperated around 9PM on a warm August evening.
Canon 5D Mark III, hand held, 24mm, f/11, 1/500, ISO 200.” ~Bill F.
