On August 16 at 7 pm, an awards ceremony will be held at the Avalon Theatre to announce the winners in the 2012 Plein Air–Easton! Photography Competition. Refreshments will be served and competition Judge Mike Morgan will announce the winners at 7:30 pm.
The 8th Annual Plein Air–Easton! Competition & Arts Festival held in July drew hundreds of artists and crowds of art enthusiasts from across the country and around world. The Photography Competition followed suit, attracting photographers from the Mid-Atlantic region and beyond.
Morgan selected the winners from more than 250 entries in this prestigious competition. He will present more than $1,600 in awards. The following cash awards will be given: Best in Show $800; Second Place $300; Third Place $200; Best Marine $75; Spirit of Plein Air $75.
The Best Landscape award will be $50 plus a free two-hour session with Easton photographer Hunter H. Harris on landscape photography and using Photoshop to enhance landscape photographs. Harris is an FAA certified commercial pilot who is licensed to fly all categories of aircraft including airplanes, seaplanes, gliders, jets, helicopters, and blimps. He is a member of Professional Aerial Photographers Association (PAPA) International.
Best Student award will be $50 plus a free two-hour portfolio critique by Easton photographer Tom McCall. McCall is an award-winning photographer who specializes in documentary wedding photography, bridging the gap between photojournalism and fine art photography. In this session, he will discuss in depth the winning photographer’s work and to create a professional portfolio.
The Best Black & White award will be a copy of A. Aubrey Bodine’s latest book, Bodine’s City: The Photography of A. Aubrey Bodine, published in October 2011. Bodine was a master photographer and famed Baltimore pictorialist. In the book, Bodine’s daughter Jennifer B. Bodine, showcases a collection of award-winning, inspiring photographs that represent the extraordinary depth and variety of her father’s photographic career. Jennifer Bodine will attend the awards ceremony and present the prize in person.
A People’s Choice award of $50 will be given to the photograph with the most “Likes” at the Plein Air–Easton! Photography Contest Facebook page. Votes may be cast for one or more photographs and voting ends August 13.
The contest judge was Mike Morgan, a prominent Maryland photographer, author, and lecturer. Morgan is a graduate of the University Honors Program at the University of Maryland, College Park, and has trained at the Maine Photographic Workshops and Santa Fe Photographic Workshops. He is a member of the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP), the American Photographic Artists (APA), Editorial Photographers (EP), and Nikon Professional Services.
Winning photographs will be exhibited for the month of September at the Christine-Daniels Gallery, located at 30 E. Dover St. (across from the Avalon Theatre). The exhibit will open Friday, September 7 during Easton’s First Friday Gallery Walk.
The Plein Air-Easton! Photography Competition is the work of the Avalon Foundation, and supported by the Talbot County Arts Council and anonymous and community sponsors. For more information, visit www.pleinaireaston.com or phone 410.822.7297.