First Place: Sharon Krueger – Generations
Second Place: Larry Phillips – South Arch Landscape
Third Place: Debbie O’Rourke – Stepping Stones
Robert Thoresen
Those that placed high in PCQC’s July photo contest did so by interpreting the theme Bridging the Gap, doing so by taking a more imaginative interpretation than a literal interpretation. Over 20 submissions were submitted and the judges gave a higher score that used a more imaginative interpretation to the theme than a literal interpretation (Such as an image of the Mackinaw Bridge). Sharon Krueger placed first with her submission Generations.
Sharon’s picture was taken at the Henry Viles Zoo in Madison, Wisconsin on July 5. It’s a freebie for admission and parking. Sharon’s husband Jeff had handed her his camera so he could hold their grandson, Greyson, to show him the buffalo at the North American Prairie Exhibit. One needs to take a moment to enjoy the cool animals that are native to our own part of the world at the George Fait North American Prairie Exhibit. Guests love to watch the prairie dogs. The colony normally produces pups in the spring—there are few things more fun to watch than prairie dog pups learning to signal the group. Our impressive bison are perfectly adapted for the heat of summer and cold of winter. As they were chatting and strolling to the next exhibit, Sharon captured the moment. The trust as you hold hands and seeing the world through the eyes of a child; that is definitely bridging the gap. Camera used: Husband’s Cannon EOS 5D, Mark III, f/10, 44mm, 1/125 sec, ISO 500.
Larry Phillips’ second place photograph is the South Window of the North and South Window Arches in Arches National Park near Moab, Utah. Larry and Helen hiked around to the seldom visited back side of these two arches. Larry photographed over a period of 20 minutes in the late afternoon as the light and the sky continued to change. And then the clouds started to flare up and over the top of the arch in a dramatic way that was compelling to look at. One of the earliest settlers to describe the beauty of the red rock country around Arches was Loren “Bish” Taylor, who took over the Moab newspaper in 1911 when he was eighteen years old. Bish editorialized for years about the marvels of Moab and loved exploring and describing the rock wonderland just north of the frontier town. Some of his journeys were with John “Doc” Williams, Moab’s first doctor. As Doc rode his horse north to ranches and other settlements, he often climbed out of Salt Valley to the spot now called Doc Williams Point, stopped to let his horse rest and looked back over the fabulously colored rock fins.
Word spread. Alexander Ringhoffer, a prospector, wrote the Rio Grande Western Railroad in 1923 in an effort to publicize the area and gain support for creating a national park. Ringhoffer led railroad executives interested in attracting more rail passengers into the formations; they were impressed and the campaign began. The government sent research teams to investigate and gather evidence. In 1929 President Herbert Hoover signed the legislation creating Arches National Monument to protect the arches, spires, balanced rocks and other sandstone formations. In 1971 Congress changed the status of Arches to a National Park, recognizing over 10,000 years of cultural history that flourished in this now famous landscape of sandstone arches and canyons. Larry’s Camera Used: Canon 60D and a Canon 18-200mm EFS lens on July 29 in Arches National Park. f/ 6.3, 44mm, 1/400 sec, ISO 200 Processed the raw image in Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop.
Debbie O’Rourke’s third place photo is a local treasure at the western end of the Catalina Mountains taken in January of 2016 on John and her first visit there. TripAdvisor.com rates it number 11 of 262 things to do in Tucson. The rocks were the only means of getting across the water gap and back onto the trail and, although the water wasn’t deep, Debbie was intimidated by the rocks and took the photo after recrossing them so she could show her kids that, “I walked across them.” Camera used: Sony DSC RX100, F/10, 4 shutter speed 1/125 sec, ISO?
The first place winner’s photo is displayed at Quail Creek’s Madera Clubhouse for a month with the winner given a 16” x 20” print of the winning photo. All winning entries will appear in the Quail Creek Crossing.
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 7:00 p.m. at the Kino Conference Center, Ocotillo Room. Consult the club’s constantly updated website http://www.pcqc.org as well as the weekday HOA What’s Happening for updates.