December Chimpsy Photo Contest Winners!

Last month, Chimpsy rolled out it’s first “official” student photo contest and 17 photos were selected for display at both of our student galleries in Denver!  The photo contest is about to take huge strides in the VERY near future.  I can’t spill the beans too much right now, but we are very excited to create  a tradition and an element of friendly competition among the Chimpsy community.  More to come on that later.  For now, I just want to show off some of our incredible student talent.  We received well over 100 submissions last month and hope for more this month.  To learn how to compete for January, please CLICK HERE

We didn’t have a single “grand prize” winner like we’ll have in February.  So here are the 17 best shots of January.  Wow, I am really impressed by our student photographer’s skills!  The theme for this contest was:  COLORADO  The following photos are in no particular order:

1. Amanda Wickenkamp got a sweet shot of the famous Maroon Bells, some of Colorado’s most majestic 14ers.  But what I love about this shot is that she used the peaks as a backdrop, while focusing on the wildflowers in the foreground, creating a great sense of depth and a really well balanced composition.

 

2. Brea Olson demonstrated exposure mastery and compositional know-how with this very unique aerial photo of a hot air balloon shadowed over a field of green crops.  Definitely one of the most looked at photos in our gallery!

 

3. Susan Ballou’s photo was captured on her drive home one day; decided to stop and pull out her camera and snap a few photos of this scene, using the rule-of-thirds nicely, positioning the horizon on the bottom third and the white tree on the right third, and a really nice marriage of pleasing colors.  Beautiful!

 

4. and 5. Stephanie Laube was selected TWICE!  I love this first photo of some mountain goats (NOT Rocky Mountain Bighorns) , jut hanging out, probably between 13,000 and 14,000 feet in elevation.  They are all smiling for the camera – amazing!

 

5.  Another great balance of colors and utilizing the rule-of-thirds really well!  Golden fall colors are what Colorado is known for!

 

6. Sean Buchan’s photo of this old rustic fence takes me back to many Colorado road trips.  Barbed wire, logs and a mountain backdrop make this photo really representative of Colorado’s mountain charm.

 

 

 

7.  Also by Sean Buchan, what a cool shot of some jagged peaks framed by this log window.  Talk about eye-opening perspective, I LOVE this photo!

 

8. Rick Bolin captured the Great Sand Dunes of Colorado contrasted by the Colorado Rocky Mountains in the background and green shrubbery in the foreground.  A well-layered image showcasing three elements of Colorado’s unique terrain!

 

9. Laura Feehs got a great shot of some wildflowers while evergreens in the background loom in the background.  Laura found some really pretty light for this shot – great job!

 

10. Kimberly Martinez utilized both balance and the rule-of-thirds with this photo below with a yucca plant landing on the right third ever-so-subtly.  Great mix of colors, too!

 

11. Kerry Schutt came up with a classic fall image of some beautiful aspen trees.  I love the vertical elements of the trees combined with the horizontal horizon of golden foliage in the lower third of this well composed and colorful shot!

 

12. Ken Nielsen drawls our attention towards the fog and trees with leading lines from the dirt road in this compelling image.  The fog over the fall setting creates a really peaceful, quiet mood, that I love so much about the autumn time in Colorado.  Spectacular!

 

13. Justin Miller was awarded two images in January, starting with a very Ansel Adams-esque black and white image from a dramatic alpine lake.  Very cool combinations of lighting and textures.  I love this image!

 

 

14.  His other image, a long exposure right here in the city features some incredible patterns and colors and lines.  There is a lot of eye-candy in this image.  Very fun shot of our ever-popular Larimer Square in Downtown Denver.

 

15. Jeremy Shannon gave us another Downtown Denver Landmark.  I must say, I have seen a million shots of Union Station, but never one quite like this.  The mix of multidirectional and curved lines  give my eyes a lot of elements to follow.  The colors really pop in this photo too, which makes it even more fun.  Great job, Jeremy!

 

16. Chuck Huskey captured a real beauty in this horizontal masterpiece of colors, lines, and composition.  I think this image would look wonderful on a fine-art wrapped canvas!

 

17. Angie Derix came up with a really spectacular photo of this home hear Telluride, Colorado.  How’d you like to have a place like that?  Great angle and perspective – a beauty of a photo no doubt!