9th Annual Land Trusts Photo Contest Winners Announced

Land Trusts Photo Contest Winners Announced

Lyme, CT – The 9th Annual Land Trusts Photo Contest winners were announced at a March 6, 2015 reception highlighting the winning photos and displaying all entered photos.
 
Land trusts in Lyme, Old Lyme, Salem, Essex and East Haddam jointly sponsor the annual amateur photo contest to celebrate the scenic countryside and diverse wildlife and plants in these towns. The ages of the photographers ranged from children to senior citizens.
 
Youth photographer Jesper Silberberg won the top prize, the John G. Mitchell Environmental Conservation Award, with his photograph of a rain soaked feather shot at the trailhead of the Goberis Chadwick Preserve in Old Lyme entitled “For Grandma.” Alison Mitchell personally presented the award, created in memory of her late husband.
 
According to Tony Sullivan, founder of the contest, “John G. Mitchell, a former judge of the contest, dedicated his career as editor at National Geographic to writing about the environment and conservation, so the award is for the picture best reflecting that subject.”
 
The contest judges - William Burt, a naturalist and wildlife photographer acclaimed for his beautiful books; Amy Kurtz Lansing, an accomplished art historian and curator at the Florence Griswold Museum; and Skip Broom, a respected, award-winning local photographer and antique house restoration housewright - chose the winning photographs from 267 entries.

The sponsoring land trusts - Lyme Land Conservation Trust, Essex Land Trust, the Old Lyme Land Trust, Salem Land Trust, and East Haddam Land Trust - thank the judges as well as Lorensen Toyota, the Oakley/Wing Group at Smith Barney, Evan Griswold at Coldwell Banker, Ballek's Garden Center, Essex Savings Bank, Murtha Cullina LLP, ChelseaGroton Bank, and Alison Mitchell, all generous supporters of this annual amateur photo contest.

The winning photographs are:
                                                                                                  
John G. Mitchell Environmental Conservation Award:
Jesper Silberberg (Youth), Old Lyme
 
Youth:
First Place: Rebecca Johnson, Colchester
Second Place: Grace Vanvliet, Old Saybrook
Third Place: Courtney Briggs, Old Saybrook
 
Cultural/Historic:
First Place: Erin Reemsnyder, Hadlyme
Second Place: Cheryl Philopena, Salem
Third Place: Lance Johnson, Colchester
Honorable Mention: Carol Giese, East Lyme
Honorable Mention: Michael Cathcart, Lyme
Honorable Mention: John Dannecker, East Haddam
 
Landscapes/Waterscapes:
First Place: Pat Duncan, New Canaan
Second Place: Thomas Nemeth, Salem
Third Place: Erin Reemsnyder, Hadlyme
Honorable Mention: Cheryl Philopena, Salem
Honorable Mention: Dalton Patton, Guilford
Honorable Mention: Doug White, Westbrook
 
Plants:
First Place: Nicholas Avados, Norwich
Second Place: Hank Golet, Old Lyme
Third Place: Tammy Marseli, Rocky Hill
Honorable Mention: Erin Reemsnyder, Hadlyme
Honorable Mention: D. E. Palm, Old Lyme
Honorable Mention: Dalton Patton, Guilford
 
Wildlife:
First Place: Linda Waters, Salem
Second Place: Hank Golet, Old Lyme
Third Place (tie): Harcourt Davis, Old Lyme
Third place (tie): Bryant Heffernan, Lyme
Honorable Mention: Cheryl Philopena, Salem
Honorable Mention: Nancy Sowa, Colchester
 
The winning photos will be on display at the Lyme Library for the month of March and can be viewed through the Photo Contest link on Lyme Land Conservation Trust's website: www.lymelandtrust.org.