COMPETITION FIERCE IN FINAL WEEKS OF FOTO FEST

Judges had a tough time selecting four semifinalist winners from among the 175 Foto Fest contest entries this week. Photos ranged from pictures of children and pets to landscapes and sunsets.

Competition is stiff as the final weeks of the Foto Fest contest arrive, said Joyce Hunter, director of marketing for Westfield Shoppingtown West Park, a contest sponsor.

Winners selected this week were David Baltzell, Kari Beussink and Deneke Murphy, all of Cape Girardeau, and Lara Thorn of Bloomfield, Mo.

The winning pictures are published on page 1C of today's Southeast Missourian, and additional photos can be seen on the newspaper's Web site at www.semissourian.com. The pictures are on display at Westfield Shoppingtown West Park.

Baltzell's photo shows the power of nature, judges said. It was taken at shut-ins on Indian Creek near a black powder mill outside Ellington, Mo.

"It's a nice place to take pictures," Baltzell said. He shot that photograph last fall during a hike through the area. He had intended to find the powder mill after reading about it in an article but decided it wasn't as picturesque as the shut-ins.

Baltzell was selected as a winner in the 1998 photography contest but didn't think he had anything worthy of entering until now. "I had a couple nice ones from last fall," he said.

Dog just sat down

Buessink's photograph of her son, Drew, with his arms around the family pet, Sally, was touching, judges said. It showed them as best friends.

Buessink had intended to get just a photograph of her 21-month-old son but the dog sat down next to him, which made the picture better, she said. "We have the cutest pictures of them together," she said. "The dog goes everywhere he goes."

Murphy's photograph showed a great use of color, judges said, and "just makes you smile."

Murphy carries a digital camera almost everywhere so she can photograph her children. The winning picture was taken on a Thursday afternoon while her daughter and several of Murphy's nieces and nephews played at the Fun Factory.

"She was doing a plunge into the balls," Murphy said of the photograph she entered.

Lara Thorn tried to enter a selection of photos in the contest and pulled some at random that were taken from family vacations and of her children.

"I take a lot of photos of my kids," she said. The photograph of her daughter, Sophia, 4, at the beach in Gulf Shores, Ala., was a hit with judges.

"It reminds me of being a kid on the beach years ago," one judge wrote. Another liked how the water was "tickling her toes."

Final deadline for entering the contest is 5 p.m. Friday. All entries must be submitted by that deadline to be considered in the final week of the contest.

The contest, sponsored by the Shoppingtown and the Southeast Missourian, is open to amateur photographers in Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois. Other sponsors are Schnucks, Albertson's, Mac's Smokehouse, Cape Girardeau Regional Airport and St. Francis Medical Center.