Sharing scenes from the swamp

To Chaffee, Mo., artist Aaron Horrell, Stoddard County's Mingo National Wildlife Refuge is one of Southeast Missouri's great natural wonders.

Few places in the region are as pristine, or as rich with inspiring nature scenes, as the expansive swamp near Puxico, Horrell said. And few places provide as much material for nature photography as Mingo.

"You can go to Mingo any time of the year, any day, wind blowing, storm on the horizon, or a bright sunny day, any time ... there would be awesome photographs there just waiting for you," Horrell said. "If you look for the photograph you're going to find it, and it may be as small as a spider, it may be as large as a 10-point buck or a landscape."

Earlier this year, Horrell and the Mingo Swamp Friends, a group of private citizens interested in conserving the refuge, decided to have a photo contest to raise interest in Mingo's potential as a photographer's paradise. Horrell is vice president of the Mingo Swamp Friends.

The result was more than 100 photo submissions from professional and amateur photographers. The scenes captured on film varied from a close up of dew drops on a spider's web to a buck nearly shrouded in fog. People from Southeast Missouri and other areas of the state submitted photos for the contest in a response that surprised the organizers.

The photos have been on display at Mingo since mid-August. Through a partnership with the local office of the Missouri Department of Conservation, they'll be on display starting Sunday and throughout October at the Conservation Campus Nature Center in Cape County Park North.

Vergial Harp, a ranger with the U.S. Forest Service who specializes in public outreach at Mingo, said the contest is a new way to fulfill the mission of connecting people with the natural resources Mingo has to offer.

"It's an opportunity for people to not only see and take part in being outdoors, but to share that experience with others, and you can use that as a teaching tool, as well," Harp said.

Rochelle Steffen, a junior art major at Southeast Missouri State University, had two prize-winning photographs in the contest. Before she heard about the contest, Steffen said she'd never been to Mingo. Steffen calls Mingo "a little gem" in Southeast Missouri.

"There was everything that a photographer dreams about," Steffen said of Mingo. "It's all lumped into one specific location. I plan on definitely going back over and over to utilize their location."

Chaffee resident Tim Vollink took best of show in the contest with his photograph "Cypress Cove."

Horrell and Harp said Mingo plans to have another contest next year, made possible by sponsorship from Drury Southwest.

msanders@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182