"I'd Like To Thank The Academy..."

My thanking the Academy headline will be as close as I’ll ever come to saying those words for real! LOL No, I did not win an Academy Award. But I have won something that fills me with joy. My first photo contest!!

Back in June my friend Patti messaged me on IG with an attachment of an upcoming photo walk/photo contest. She said, “You HAVE to do this!” When I read the flyer, I knew immediately that she was right. I had to do it. So, I sat myself down at my computer, pulled up the website, and immediately signed up for the South Side photo walk in July. I then read the rules of the photo contest submission, and promptly uploaded a total of 4 photographs. Two in the Architecture category, and two in the Street Life category.

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to attend the South Side photo walk I signed up for. Fortunately for me I was able to go on the photo walk at the end of July in the Sedgwick Farms area. It was a perfect morning! 75 degrees, blue skies, a wonderful host with a beautiful home, and really nice people to explore the neighborhood and shoot what struck us. I still love the fact that everyday ordinary things take on a whole new meaning when you have a camera in hand. Something that you’d walk past without a second glance suddenly becomes THE thing that has to fill your camera frame.

When I was back home after the photo walk I submitted 4 additional photos for the contest that I’d just taken on the walk. I also submitted a ton to be shared on The Stand’s webpage.

The week prior, the photo walk/contest participants were notified that the contest photos would be judged early the next week, and that the winners would be notified but would not know which of their photos had been the winning photo until an event at a later date.

On Tuesday, August 10th, 2021 at 12:37pm I received the following e-mail:  

“Hi all. We had a nearly three-hour photo judging session last night. Judges -- Ruthnie Angrand, Terry Baker, Marilu Lopez Fretts & Zau Nhkum -- identified so many great images and had a tough time deciding on the top picks. They were so impressed with all of your talents! 

One -- or more -- of your images were selected as a top pick. Winners and honorable mentions are listed below -- but in no particular order. We hope to see you Sunday, Aug. 22, when we reveal which place you took and hand out your prizes. 

Honorable Mentions:

Diana Green, J.B. McCampbell, Diane Lansing, Bob Schulz & Sadie Mahan 

Top Winners:

Kristina Russo, J.B. McCampbell, Bobbi Griffith, Michaela Thorley, Michael Brown, Rosalie Spitzer, Lisa Kane, Sheavon Marshall, Catherine Klapheke, Deborah Putman, LaTrenda Carswell and Keith Waldron”

I saw my name and let out the loudest happy squeal!!! My very first photo contest win!! There are 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th prize winners. I honestly don’t care which one of those I will be awarded. The fact that professional photographers looked through who knows how many photographs and saw something in mine that put me in their “Top Winner” category… Yeah. It’s an honor just to be nominated!

I’m looking forward to finding out which one of my photographs won the contest for me. And I am REALLY looking forward to seeing my photograph, along with the other winners, posted big and bold on the side of the Everson Museum from 8/22/21-8/25/21. That is going to be a SURREAL moment.

LaTrenda