Bainbridge Island Photo Club contest winners?capture natural?beauty

Published 11:17 am Wednesday, July 22, 2015

The best views on Bainbridge this past Fourth of July may have had nothing to do with fireworks.

Sweeping sunset vistas, surprising shots of elusive critters and misty mountain mornings were among some of the most popular scenes captured and displayed in the 12th annual Bainbridge Island Photo Club’s holiday weekend exhibition at the Waterfront Park Community Center earlier this month.

Visitors to the show were invited to vote for their favorite photos, with awards going to the most loved three, explained event coordinator Cindy McGregor.

“This year we had 712 visitors,” she said.

Ultimately, she added, the group would tally more than 4,000 votes to determine this year’s best photos.

The show featured 125 photographs made by 17 of the club’s members. In the early years of the show, McGregor explained, voting was not included as an option for the audience, but it was found that visitors spent more time examining and enjoying the images when made a part of the final selection process.

This year’s first-place image, “Clouds Moving Through the Trees,” was shot by Dawn Brooks, and highlights an uncharacteristic bit of sun on a moody, misty Northwest mountain skyline.

In second place, the audience voted in favor of goofy over grace and chose Laura Silverstein’s “Raccoon’s Predicament,” which depicts a seemingly startled raccoon in the midst of a precarious pickle.

Third place went to Glen Wyatt’s “Barred Owl — Grand Forest,” a portrait of sorts that brings the audience up close and personal with one of the wisest winged residents of the island’s woods.

Hal Muhrlein’s otherworldly image “Dead Wood” was voted an “honorable mention” at the exhibition, captured at a very photogenic locale.

“[It] is a star shot taken at the south end of Joshua Tree National Park [at] about 3 a.m. one morning in March of this year,” Muhrlein said of his crowd-pleasing picture.

Jon Root’s “Volcano Conception at Sunset,” shot on Bainbridge’s sister island Ometepe, Nicaragua, claimed the first-place spot in the “panorama” category.

Root’s “Curious Youngster” was also named as an overall honorable mention, making him the only photographer to earn two final recognitions.

The Bainbridge Island Photo Club has 56 members and meets on the second Wednesday of each month from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Waterfront Park Community Center.

Programming alternates between sharing and critiquing members’ digital images and prints as well as featured educational speakers.  Guests are always welcome, McGregor said.

At the club’s next meeting, Wednesday, Aug. 12, local architectural photographer Stephen Rosen will share his techniques, experience and thoughts on the art of architectural photography.

Information on club activities, meetings and image galleries is available at www.biphotoclub.org.