First Place: Bob Johnson – End of the Trail
Second Place: John Standquist – The Horses
Third Place: Patricia Thoresen – Curious Cattle
Robert Thoresen
Bob Johnson’s End of the Trail, winning first place, picture was taken at the Triangle T Guest Ranch in Texas Canyon, Arizona, during a PCQC photo shoot two years ago. The Triangle T was a filming location for the original 3:10 to Yuma western movie and was featured two years ago on the Travel Channel’s Hotel Impossible. Bob had to act fast for this shot as he had only a few chances in the mid-day sun to get a picture that would be just right without testing his abilities to enhance it later with Photoshop. The rider and canine pal were just returning from a trail ride and no doubt were heading over to the Big Rock Saloon for a cold sarsaparilla and a bowl of water. The bar name is derived from a 24 ton boulder that the bar was constructed around. This photo will be deservedly hung in the Madera Clubhouse through mid-February 2015. Camera: SONY NEX-3, f/13, 1/250 sec, ISO-200, fl 35mm, aperture 4.34, no flash.
John Standquist’s The Horses was taken from the back platform of the Grand Canyon Railway on the return trip back to Williams, Arizona, from the Grand Canyon. The picture was shot in November of last year and the days of the trip were rather gloomy and wet. The thick dead grasses give the appearance that the horses were actually walking on a cloud or snow. Camera: Nikon D300, f/6.3, 1/160 sec, ISO-500, fl 200mm, aperture 5.0, no flash.
Patricia Thoresen’s third place photograph has these Curious Cattle watching the Quail Creek Trekkers hiking group walking right by them. The Trekkers chose to hike along a section of the Arizona Trail which comes up from the southern Arizona border and will eventually reach the northern border of the state, passing through approximately the eastern third of the Arizona going along the base of the major mountain ranges. This section is on the east side of the Santa Rita Mountains with an eastern view of Mt. Wrightson. While Pat had the attention of the cattle, a straight on eye-to-eye view, this photo was taken. Pat also liked the composition and layering of depth in this shot. Camera: Nikon E4800, f/4, 1/246 sec, ISO-50, fl 32mm, aperture2.9, no flash.
The Photography Club of Quail Creek has a monthly photo contest for its members and also schedules numerous photo field trips throughout the year. Meetings are held the second Wednesday of the month at 6:30 p.m. at the Madera Clubhouse. Room venue will vary each month. Consult the club’s constantly updated website http://www.pcqc.org as well as the weekday HOA What’s Happening for additional information.