PHOTOS SELECTED IN SECOND WEEK OF CONTEST

Cindy Huber of Perryville knows that you have to catch children at just the right moment and they can do something extraordinary.

So when her children, MaKayla, 4, and Grant, 2, started peering up the chimney looking for Santa Claus last Christmas, she immediately grabbed her camera.

The photograph was chosen as a semifinalist winner in the second week of Foto Fest 2000, a contest sponsored by the Southeast Missourian and Westfield Shoppingtown West Park.

Other sponsors are Schnuck's, Mac's Smokehouse, Southeast Missouri Hospital and the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport.

Judges said the photograph showed "the anticipation of Christmas" and "captures the curiosity of children."

Huber, whose photograph of her son also won last week, said she likes taking pictures of her children. "I try to get them outside playing but the best ones are when you catch them doing something extraordinary -- and they do something extraordinary all the time."

Huber was one of four winners selected in the amateur photography contest. Other winners were Scott Holbrooks and Aaron Wunderlich, both of Cape Girardeau and Shirley McClain of Jackson.

The semifinalists' photographs are published in today's Southeast Missourian. All entries will be displayed this morning at the mall. Foto Fest 2000 is open to residents in Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois. Photographs entered in the contest cannot be returned.

Holbrooks said the photo he entered looks more dramatic in a print than it did in person.

The picture was taken last year at the Laguna Seca racetrack in Monterey, Calif. Holbrooks, who works as a product manager for Motorcyle Stuff, attended the race and just snapped some photographs.

"I have a whole series but that is the best one," he said. In sequence, the photos show the man barely sliding off the track, hitting gravel and then laying the bike on the ground before standing back.

Judges said the photo is "tough to get. It's half luck, half knowledge of the event and being prepared." Another judge wrote only word: Ouch.

"He wasn't hurt at all," Holbrooks said. "That's just part of what they do. It's pretty dramatic."

Aaron Wunderlich took a photo of his wife, Gina, and their son, Jacob, crossing the covered bridge at Bollinger Mill. Judges said, "You can almost hear the footsteps across the bridge."

Shirley McClain of Jackson saw one of the most beautiful sunrises ever and wanted to capture that moment on film.

Her photograph of a February sunrise was selected as a semifinalist. "It was just the most beautiful one I'd ever seen," she said. "I got up and noticed the sky was so bright that I just grabbed my camera and took a whole roll of film."

McClain said she snapped most of the photos from her yard so that she would have a better view of the sky. Judges liked the color and composition of the photograph.

Entry forms must accompany each photograph. Forms and official rules are available at each drop-off location, which include 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.

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

The contest ends Aug. 11.