SLIDE SHOW: 2011 Winter Photo Contest Finalists
We received a great response to our first-ever winter photo contest, and after serious deliberation, have narrowed it down to five final images. Here are the judges’ comments on why these five photos caught their attention.
Pine Needles in Ice by Cheryl Pedemonti
Thinking outside the box: “Rather than pull back and shoot a landscape, Cheryl chose to focus in on a specific detail of winter. She kept it simple with nice, natural light”.
Wool in Snow by Tim Bronson
A perfect moment: “Tim’s composition of this image, pop of red in the frame, and sheep looking at the camera all worked together to capture the moment.”
Winter Fog by David Stone
The judges found themselves drawn to David’s images repeatedly, and this is the first of two that made it into the finals: “David’s eye for composing pleasing frames make his photos look almost painterly. This was shot in color, but the weather conditions made the shot look black and white.”
Lighthouse at Pemaquid Point by Dave Cleaveland
A nod to the classic: “Dave used the movement of the windswept snow to lead your eye into the frame and up to the lighthouse.”
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This picture of Pemaquid Point Lighthouse is my favorite!
The lighthouse is my favorite They are all very good.
Mr. Cleaveland has stolen my heart with his photography… I’ve never viewed a photo of his that I haven’t absolutely loved. Anything submitted by him would be my top choice. } )
Hands down, Dave Cleaveland has the best photo of the five. You can feel his passion for photography; and his passion for New England. That’s what makes him so great…
Wow! Thanks for this great honor of including my photo in the top 5 finalists!
My vote is for the picture of Pemaquid Point Lighthouse by Dave Cleavland, it’s an amazing photo! Dave has a wonderful talent for taking the ordinary and making it extrodinary!
The lighthouse is amazing – and such a different view from what we’re used to on our summer trips to Pemaquid!
The Lighthouse at Pemaquid Point combines the elements of a perfect winter photo. One wants to get to the lighthouse for a warm up and a cup of hot buttered rum! This is my favorite!
My vote is for Cheryl Pedemonti’s Pine Needles in Ice. Cheryl captures a picture that would probably be unnoticed in our hectic lives and brings it to our attention as something beautiful. Thanks Cheryl for another great photo.
I love the shot of Pemaquid Point only because I love that particular light house and I also have a wonderful shot of it in the fall. I found it to be a bit out of focus! But my first pick is Cheryl’s Pine Needles in Ice. I great show of what the eye can see looking through a lens. Great job to all!
Cheryl’s photo is so unique, it captures the very essence of the simple pristine beauty that is
an everyday gift to us from nature!! Beautiful! Love it!! Also, I have to say that those sheep
have my HEART TOO! Adorable!! So typically country!!! All beautiful, but those are my two
favorites!!
Congratulations to everyone!!!!
I love the photo by Cheryl Pedemonti, the small focus seizes the essence of winter and represents the many plants and trees that stay alive and green underneath the ice and snow. Her photos are a beautiful representation of nature and the seasons. I choose this one to win!
I particularly like David Stone’s “Winter Fog”. The fog seems to absorb all of the color, with the exception of the brown reflecting off the marsh grass. Otherwise I would swear that it was black & white photography. Like the detail of the broken tidal ice in foreground, and the way the background disappears toward where the horizon should be. This is my favorite of the 5.
Winter Fog by David Stone is far and above the competing entries in composition, color and mood.
David Stone’s “Iced-in Canoe” has the unique aesthetic qualities that make it the best of the five.
The angles of boat and pier, placement of paddle and buoy, complementary lighting, jagged cracking ice and even the title say winter in an unconventional way. Its varied textures and muted tones mark the composition of a true artist.
My favorite is winter fog by David Stone. He captures the light and softness of the day beautifully and you can almost feel the cold air. It amazes me that this is a color picture as at first glance I too would have sworn it was black and white. Amazing shot.
We live near the Pemaquid Lighthouse, and I have never seen it in this light…fantastic work.
All great photos but I think the Canoe by David Stone is the best
They all are very nice photos. My favorite is the black faced sheep.The red barn adds color. They look warm and woolly on a cold winter day. This photo would make a nice Christmas card.
David Stone always catches the exact light and composition that make The Fog and Canoe so appealing. This keeps the eyes returning to his photos. It would be easy to pick his out of an array of many.
Winter Fog by David Stone is impeccably winter- I can feel the cold, the dampness and the desolation. The others have a type of prop – the sheep, the lighthouse (always photogenic), the green of the needles, and the canoe, but to show bare cold white nature and get the tone that perfect is a gift.
Oh my goodness! The Pemaquid Point Lighthouse by Dave Cleavland is breathtaking! Outstanding and compelling with excellent composition. Wow! By far the best!
My heart responds to the “Iced in Canoe”
It makes you feel the winter.
Winter Fog by David Stone is my favorite. I’m not usually drawn to winter scenes but this one has changed my mind. I love it.
Iced in canoe is my choice for the best–interesting and different subject and amazing colors and texture! Simply a great picture!
I think the lighthouse is my favorite one for its vivid colors, beacon of warmth (light) and inviting and comforting feeling.
David Stone’s “Winter Fog” captures the feeling of this snowy winter. It brings to mind the melancholia of the old hymn “In The Bleak Midwinter”.
There is only one choice (unfortunately for the competition): the lighthouse at Pemaquid Point by Dave Cleaveland. It is outstanding!
Each of the photos is beautiful and helps me to stop and appreciate our surroundings in a new way. Thank you to each of the photographers. If I had to choose, I would vote for the Pemaquid lighthouse because of the movement captured in the snow as well as the beautiful colors captured in the lighting. It is a stunning photograph.
Cold, sharp, full of crisp texture, left out in the cold…the canoe is distinct and delivers a message of a missing element in time with all it’s character showing grizzled New England weathering. Great capture in an unusual setting.
I love the iced in canoe. The colors are amazing and the canoe comes to life like it is waiting for the spring thaw.
I love all the finalist’s pictures but David Stone’s Winter Fog is my favorite. Looking at the picture, I can feel the moisture and the cold in the air. I didn’t get home this winter, this picture brought me back for sure.
1. Winter Fog, 2. Pine Needles in Ice 3. Wool in Snow, 4. Iced in Canoe and 5. Lighthouse at Pemiquid Point
1&2 encompass winter, 3-5 are lovely and specific, all five are evocative – thanks
Winter fog is by far the best!
Definitely Pine Needles in Ice.
The iced in canoe is beautiful and unusual. The colors are spectacular. No offense to the competition, but another lighthouse picture – really? I couldn’t take a picture like these to save my life, but Winter fog – boring, ice needles is great, but could be anywhere, love the sheep but they are as bad as lighthouses!
GO CANOE!!
Oh My, the lighthouse is the best – WOW, the markings on the snow, you don’t get that every place. This one should be #1 in my book. I can’t even come up with #2 as #1 is so outstanding, Dave Cleaveland has done great!
My favorite is Iced in Canoe followed closely by Winter Fog.
All the photos are beautiful but the sheep have my vote. Any time an animal is in a photo it wins hands down (or in this case feet down).
Roberta Ritchie
Wool in Snow by Tim Bronson – perfect composition. The others? Good pictures, but nothing to get excited about. GO SHEEP!!
I have two:
Iced in Canoe by David Stone because of the composition and lighting and subject
Wool in Snow by Tim Bronson – perfectly framed, wonderful contrast…you feel like you are there!
The Lighthouse @ Pemaquid Point has my vote. I immediately think New England in winter.
Congratulations to all the finalists, but I really love Tim Bronson’s “Wool in Snow.” Reminds me to quickly get out, feed the animals, tuck them in the barn, stamp off my boots, rush in the house, get my knitting needles and cuddle up with my hot chocolate and stay warm from the lovely wool products they provide. The other pictures make me feel cold, isolated and lonely! THANK YOU SHEEP!!
All of the pictures are great, and really make you feel the cold (especially when it’s already warm here in Houston), but I especially loved “Iced in Canoe” – even the colors just reflecting in the water above the canoe compliment the same hint of color in the canoe and from the paddle. Well done!
My favorite is David Stone’s Winter Fog. You can almost feel the damp cold of the fog. Ilive near a lake and have seen a similar scene many times, it truly has the essence of winter.
The Lighthouse is my favorite. It is truly a beautiful scene.
Wool in Snow is definitely my favorite! Reminds me of local scenes here in N.H.
Congrats to the finalists for capturing the beauty and wonder of winter. I’ve always been drawn to photos of lighthouses, regardless of the season’s setting. The Lighthouse at Pemaquid Point by Dave Cleaveland is my new favorite. Capturing it at evening light was perfect!
Wonderful! Pemaquid is my favorite, with Wool in Snow a very close second.
Definitely the Lighthouse, with the Wool in Snow a very good challenge for first place. Great job by all entrants.
Loved all of them but the pine needles are my favorite. Thanks to all of the photographers, and to Yankee Magazine for bringing them to us.
I think they are all excellent photographs. The sheep not only for the warmth they provide but looking forward to spring and new baby lambs. My favorite is between the lighthouse, a classic, the framing, composition, and lighting are incredible, and the canoe photo. It has great composition and lighting, but evokes many emotions as well. It remindes us of summers past and the thoughts of spring fishing, summer paddling and fall foliage rides to come. The canoe is just sleeping, dreaming untill the warm rays of spring reawaken it, and us.
I love the peacefulness of Pemaquid and now this magical picture in the snow! My first choice for sure. I also love Winter Fog – it looks like a painting.
REALLY hard to choose a favorite! I really am intrigued by artists whose creative use of light makes it an integral part of their work – so I narrowed it down to the Lighthouse and the Fog photos pretty quickly – wonderful as the other three are! After careful delilberation I am choosing the Pemaquid Lighthouse as my “favorite” … the composition and use of light combine with the ‘time’ to make it ‘magical’ as well as beautiful. Yes.
All the pictures are great, but my favorite is the Lighthouse at Pemaquid Point because it looks so peaceful and beautiful! Dave Cleaveland has a wonderful ability to take pictures that captivate you!
The sheep are wonderful, one of those pictures that looks easy but is very hard to get right. I love it.
Glad I don’t have to choose one–all are winners! Thanks for sharing these…
They are all wonderful – would be happy to have any of them on my wall!
I Love the Light House, I paint them as well ! Lighthouses have a mystical,spooky
air about them. I would love too sleep in one on the Atlantic O.My 13 yr. old son and I
love too vacation near lighthouses… Lucy Canter
I love the Pemaquid photo, with the wreath, and the moon at sunrise. One of my favorite places. All the photos are absolutely wonderful, though. Glad I live in Florida now, in the winter!
Iced in Canoe by David Stone is my favorite. Congratulations to all the finalists!
Winter Fog is far and away the best. It has depth and it has soul.
Lighthouse At Pemaquid Point really caught my eye. The white lighthouse on the bluish white snow with the deep blue of the sea and sky with the beautiful colors from the setting sun on the horizon make me want to hop in my car and driver over to Pemaquid.
Loved Wool in Snow. However, Lighthouse at Pemaquid Point was a very close second.
I love Maine`s lighthouses, this really caught my heart, I am glad he caught the planet in the sky.. Sooo Beautiful!!!
Wonderful pictures.. and what great photo ops.