HOUSE FIRE PHOTO LEADS WEEK'S TOPS IN CONTEST

You can almost feel the heat of a house fire that Dawn Sander of Patton, Mo., photographed. The weathered-gray exterior contrasts sharply with the intensity of the flames seen through a window.

One judge of the Foto Fest 2000 contest said the picture shows "the demons inside." Another said it gives a "spooky feeling that captures what a fire can do."

Sander, a member of the volunteer fire department in Sedgewickville, Mo., captured the blaze during a controlled-burn exercise.

"We take the pictures for training," she said, but when she saw the roll of film developed, she knew these pictures were different.

"It just looks so cool," she said. The fire was at an old farmhouse and no one was injured during the winter training exercise.

The photograph was chosen as one of four semifinalists in the fourth week of the Foto Fest 2000 contest sponsored by Westfield Shoppingtown West Park and the Southeast Missourian.

Other winners were Janice Meyr of Jackson, Mo., Cindy Huber of Perryville, Mo., and Julia Brashear of Scott City, Mo.

Schnuck's, Mac's Smokehouse, Southeast Missouri Hospital and the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport also sponsor the amateur photography contest, which is open to residents in Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois. The contests ends Aug. 11.

Many of the nearly 210 entries judged this week showed children at play or family pets, nature shots of flowers or sunsets and area landmarks. More than 780 photographs have been entered during the first four weeks of the contest, breaking all records from previous contests, said Joyce Hunter, marketing director for Westfield Shoppingtown West Park.

"There's definitely an audience out there," she said.

Meyr, who snapped a picture of the Mississippi River shoreline during sunset on Mother's Day, said the scenery "seemed peaceful."

The photograph was taken during a family outing at Star Landing northeast of Altenburg, Mo. "I just liked the reflection and the train on the side," she said.

Huber was selected as a semifinalist for the fourth consecutive week. Her black and white photographs most often depict her children, MaKayla and Grant. This week's photo shows the children sitting on a wooden bench examining the petals of a flower.

In her photograph, Julia Brashear shows a man walking along a paved stretch while the American flag whips in the breeze. The man is Jose Arreaza, a tourist who had been videotaping the Mississippi River and the St. Louis Arch.

Brashear liked the photograph because it clearly shows Arreaza and the "bridge is far enough away that you can still see it but it wasn't crisply in focus," she said.

The photograph was taken with a newer camera that Brashear owns, and she used a telephoto lens. "With that lens I have to be far enough away so I get a lot of impromptu photos," she said. "I don't like to pose something."

Each week of the contest, four winners are chosen by a panel of judges. At the conclusion of the contest, the semifinalist winners are published in today's Southeast Missourian, and will go on display today at the mall.

There is no limit on the number of photos participants can enter, nor are there any requirements limiting the size of photographs entered. Color copies and reprints are also accepted.

Photos entered in the contest cannot be returned, however.

Entry forms must accompany each photograph. Forms and official rules are available at each drop-off site, which includes the Customer Service Center at West Park Mall, Schnuck's, Southeast Missourian offices at 301 Broadway in Cape Girardeau, 108 S. Hope in Jackson, Scott County Signal in Chaffee and the Banner Press in Marble Hill. Information and entry forms are also available at www.semissourian.com.

Entries can also be mailed to Foto Fest 2000; c/o Westfield Shoppingtown West Park, 134 West Park Mall; Cape Girardeau, Mo. 63701.