Drum roll please. Here are the winners of The Buzz Magazines’ Eighth Annual Photo Contest. We’re pleased to say that, with more than 1,000 entries, the competition remains strong and vibrant. Our judges had an incredibly tough job.

With any contest like this, the process is inevitably subjective. However, there are basic principles of photography that must be met, such as lighting, focus and exposure. And there are personal elements to consider as well – such as subject, emotion and storytelling. Judging is “blind,” as the judges do not see the names of the photographers.

The contest is open to any amateur photographer. We do this every summer, so keep the contest in mind as you are shooting throughout the upcoming year.

Congratulations to each of this year’s winners, especially our Grand Prize winner, Ying Chun Jerry Pan, who will receive a Canon PowerShot digital camera, compliments of The Buzz Magazines. Amazingly, he also won our Grand Prize last year for a different photo.

We want to thank our judges, professional photographers Michael Hart, Carol Andrews and Scott Kohn, for their considerable time and effort.

Be sure to look for next year’s call for entries in our March 2014 issue.

Grand Prize Winner

Ying Chun Jerry Pan, 72, Cattle Egrets Fighting

Ying Chun Jerry Pan, 72, Cattle Egrets Fighting
This photo stopped all three judges in their tracks due to its strong composition, color, sharpness and striking subject matter. The subjects are almost perfectly frozen in mid-air with just the slightest amount of motion blur visible in the wings. There was no debating this was our grand prize winner.

Ying Chun Jerry Pan describes his winning photo: “This photo was taken in the High Island, Texas, Smith Oaks Rookery Bird Sanctuary, a premier birding site of the Houston Audubon Society. Each spring and summer, the Rookery provides a vantage point for water birds’ mating and territorial fighting, nesting and birthing, and raising chicks, since the island is relatively predator-free. There are many territorial fights of cattle egrets in the bird sanctuary. I had to wait for three to four hours and took several hundred continuous shots to capture this spectacular moment.”
 

Category: Animals

First Place - Carl Henry, 58, Buffet Breakfast

Second Place - Caroline Garza, 44, Sebastian

Third Place - Robert Flatt, 65, Partake of Nectar Carefully, Flowers are Fragile

Fourth Place - Michele Whisenhunt, 59, Sneak a Snack in Maine

Category: Landscapes

First Place - Elaine Matte Mut, 56, Light Commuting

Second Place - Darren Inoff, 45, The Racetrack

Third Place - Darren Inoff, 45, Death Valley Windstorm

Fourth Place - Sam Li, 27, Manhattan Skyline

Category: Nature

First Place - Sam Li, 27, Birds of a Feather

Second Place - Marisa Valente, 16, After the Rain

Third Place - Taylor Simpson, 22, Love in Nature, Lovin’ Nature

Fourth Place - Brent Borgstedte, 51, Whodat?

Category: People

First Place - Lacey Butler, 27, Love

Second Place - Jennifer Hong, 32, Quiet Tot

Third Place - Jennifer Hong, 32, I Can Read Korean Too!

Fourth Place - Robert Flatt, 65, My Granddaughter Takes Dying Easter Eggs Seriously

Category: Sports

First Place - Daniel Hrachovy, 46, All Eyes on Home

Second Place - Dee Zunker, 46, Safe at Home

Third Place - Corey Hryc, 26, It Can Fly

Fourth Place - Dee Zunker, 46, Going for the Double

Category: Judge's Choice

Carol Andrews’ Choice - Elaine Matte Mut, 56, One Foggy Morning

Michael Hart’s Choice - Corey Hryc, 26, Dog Breath

Scott Kohn’s Choice - Stephen Fadem, 64, Great White Egret and Chicks

Judges

Carol Andrews

Master Craftsman photographer Carol Andrews loves to create the magic of a photograph. Over the last 20 years, her award-winning photographs have included exhibitions at Photokina in Cologne, Germany; Disney’s Epcot theme park and the International Masters Loan Collection of the Professional Photographers of America.

Her work has been acquired by the Sherman Hines Museum in Nova Scotia, Canada. She was inducted into Cameracraftsmen of America, an international photographic society with only 40 members; she was only the fourth woman in the society’s 95-year history to be admitted. She teaches and judges photography and art internationally.

“I enjoy expressing beauty and my love for life through a camera and sharing the images and stories with others. I show people what love looks like,” Carol says.

Carol Andrews, Carol Andrews Fine Art
www.carolandrewsfineart.com, carol@carolandrewsfineart.com

Michael Hart

Michael Hart is a photographer who utilizes state-of-the-art digital techniques in his work for corporations, design firms and ad agencies. His assignments have taken him to 49 states and more than 30 countries. Michael’s work is represented again in this year’s international Black and White Spider Awards, and his work appears in its book, The World’s Greatest Black and White Photography. Recent shows include the second annual APA-LA exhibit, “Off The Clock,” and The Center for Fine Art Photography’s “B+W 2013.” His book, Biggio: The Final Game, is in the library of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, and a print of the cover image is in the permanent collection of The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

He is particularly excited about returning to Scotland in August to see The Edinburgh Tattoo for the fifth time and tour some areas of The Highlands he has not yet photographed.

Michael Hart, Michael Hart Photography
www.hartphoto.com, mhart@hartphoto.com

Scott Kohn is a Houston-based photographer for corporate, editorial, institutional and trade-advertising communications. He specializes in dynamic people images in real-world environments in locations around the country.

His images have appeared in numerous national publications, corporate reports and websites. Many of these unique images were created on modified 1950s-era Kodak Brownie cameras and a late-1940s Graflex Speed Graphic press camera. Scott is currently expanding the scope of his image making to include motion and sound via DSLR technology.

Scott’s work has been included in multiple FotoFest exhibits and the Art Directors Club of Houston shows.

Scott served two terms as treasurer of the Art Directors Club of Houston and is a current member of Editorial Photographers and The American Society of Media Photographers. He currently serves on the ASMP Houston chapter board as treasurer.

Scott Kohn, Scott F. Kohn Photography
www.scottkohn.com, scott@scottkohn.com