Publisher's Note - July 2016

A professional-photographer friend recently told me a story. A photographer was at a party, and the hostess said to him, “These are incredible photos you’ve taken. You must have a very good camera.” He responded, “This is an incredible meal you’ve prepared. You must have a very nice kitchen.” The point – that it’s the artist, not the instrument, that matters – is also made in one of my favorite movies, Martin Scorsese’s The Departed, in which Irish mob boss Frank Costello, played by Jack Nicholson, quotes The Beatles’ John Lennon. “I’m an artist. You give me a [expletive deleted] tuba, I’ll get you something out of it.” Such is the case with the winners of our 11th annual photo contest, which were selected from more than 1,600 entries. Some were taken with a high-end DSLR camera and others with a phone. Regardless, each winning photographer got something out of the camera that makes us echo Lennon (and McCartney): We love you, yeah, yeah, yeah. [email protected]