JUDGES PRAISE PHOTOS' COMPOSITION

Judges liked the "picture postcard perfect" composition and quality in the four pictures chosen as semifinalists in the second week of the Foto Fest 2001 amateur photography contest.

Winners this week were Emily Bolton, Doug Dixon and John Bruenderman, all of Cape Girardeau and Al Nicolai of Jackson, Mo. Their photos ranged from foggy settings on the water to butterflies lighting on flowers. They appear on Page 1C of today's Southeast Missourian.

Judges said Doug Dixon's black and white image of the covered bridge was "professional," and took them back to "a more peaceful place."

Dixon, who moved recently to the area from southwest Texas, was afraid the picture of the Bollinger Mill bridge wouldn't win because it was too-often photographed. He entered two photos in the contest, taken with black and white film.

"I experimented with it for the first time for some family photographs taken at a local park and had some extras," he said. "It was raining and that was a neat effect."

Emily Bolton and John Bruenderman didn't even remember entering their pictures in the contest and suspect a family member might have done so.

"It sounds like something my grandma would do," Belton said.

Judges liked Bruenderman's photo for its "picture postcard perfect" look. Bruenderman wasn't even aware it had been entered in the contest.

The photo of an abandoned rowboat afloat in Peggy's Cove in Nova Scotia was taken during a vacation. "It was a foggy, lonely kind of day," he said, adding that the boat depicted the feeling exactly.

Al Nicolai of Jackson, Mo., only spent two hours in Pisa, Italy, during a June vacation but it was enough to shoot several vibrant photographs.

Nicolai entered three photos this week but the shot of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, taken with a digital camera, was likely his favorite, he said.

"I've entered both weeks but this makes me feel like I know what I'm doing," he said.

A panel of judges selected from the community pared down the 150 entries to four semifinalists. The winning pictures are published in the Southeast Missourian, and additional photos will be posted on the newspaper's Web site at www.semissourian.com. The photos also go on display at Westfield Shoppingtown West Park.

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

There is no limit on the number of photographs that can be entered or the size or quality. Digital and print images are accepted. However, no photographs will be returned.

"People are still calling about it and are very excited," said Joyce Hunter, marketing director at the Shoppingtown. "It just shows the interest and that people are anxious to see the photos."

Weekly semifinalist winners will receive $10 gift certificates to the Shoppingtown and certificates of recognition. Each semifinalist winner will also be entered in a contest to select six finalists and a grand prize winner. Prizes will be awarded at the end of the contest.