WEEK THREE OF PHOTO CONTEST DRAWS A RECORD 190 ENTRIES

Week Three of the local Kodak International Newspaper Snapshot Awards drew a record number of entries: 190.

That compares to 114 entries in Week One and 119 last week.

The number of entries made the judges' work all the more challenging, said Joyce Hunter, KINSA contest coordinator at the Southeast Missourian.

Hunter said the judges have no idea who submitted the photographs. The names of entrants are hidden on the back of the photographs. When the judges make their selection, the photographs are afixed to giant foam core boards.

This week's winners included:

-- Dr. Charles Kupchella of Cape Girardeau

-- Jan Chamberlain of Cape Girardeau

-- Cheri Fuemmeler of Cape Girardeau

-- Maggie Friend of Cape Girardeau

Week Five of the contest begins today. Weekly winners are announced each Friday in the Southeast Missourian.

The contest runs six weeks. The panel of judges will then choose 8 photos from the 24 semi-finalists to advance to Kodak's international judging.

-- "A tender moment captured" is how one judge described Cheri Fuemmeler's photograph of her 16-month-old granddaughter.

Abigail Hart, known as Abby, lives in St. Louis with her parents, and is often the star of Fuemmeler's photographs.

This particular shot shows the youngster smelling a daisy in Fuemmelers' front yard in Cape Girardeau. "She loves to explore," she said.

Fuemmeler enjoys taking photographs on vacation with her husband, David. "But the main topic of photographs these days is our only grandchild," she said.

She works as superintendent of schools at Oak Ridge, and has been an educator for more than 27 years.

-- A striking photograph of a weathered boat, deep blue sky and ocean attracted the judges' attention. It was taken by Dr. Charles Kupchella in Akumal, Mexico, in the Yucatan.

One judge said the photograph stirred images of author Ernest Hemingway.

For the past five years, Kupchella has served as Provost at Southeast Missouri State University. But he is a biologist by training, and enjoys capturing and wildlife and nature on film.

"I enjoy taking photographs of animals and flowers, but I have a lot of people pictures, too. I love to take photographs when I'm traveling," he said.

A few years ago, he spent six weeks in China -- filling three photo albums with his favorite shots.

The ugly beauty of the boat really struck Kupchella.

"You had the sense there was a story there," he said. "Here's this boat and you're looking at the Atlantic beyond. You had a sense of lonliness and possibilities."

The deep blue water and big thunderhead in the background provided a good balance to the solitary boat, he said.

-- Jan Chamberlain's closeup of the shiny grill of a green antique Buick also earned semi-finalist recognition.

The Cape Girardeau woman took the photograph in historic Ste. Genevieve.

"I have a friend who lives in England who likes American cars," she said. "I shoot a lot of cars for him."

As an artist and former art education, Chamberlain is attracted to shapes, designs and creative composition.

-- Maggie Friend qualified as a semi-finalist for a second time with a photograph taken on July 4th at Arena Park.

The flag seems almost illuminated in the foreground as fireworks explode in the night sky. One judge observed the photograph was "truly representative of Americana."

She credits the V.F.W. and other organizations that sponsor the fireworks demonstrations each year at Arena Park for "doing such a fabulous job."

Friend and her family attend every year.

At the start of KINSA, Friend decided to enter three photographs per week without fail. She took this photograph strictly to enter in the contest.

"I used Kodak's new 1000 speed film, which I had never tried before, along with a flash," she said. "Everyone told me fireworks were terribly difficult to take, and they were right. About half my roll was just awful."

Friend is an avid photographer, taking hundreds of snapshots each year. She works in the marketing and communications department at Southeast Missouri Hospital.

All photographs entered in the contest will be displayed at the West Park Mall Aug. 26-Sept. 2. A People's Choice will be awarded at the mall show -- a night's stay in St. Louis.

In addition, many of the photographs will be included in a keepsake KINSA edition to be published Aug. 24 in the Southeast Missourian.

For more information on KINSA, contact Hunter at 573-334-7115 or 1-800-444-4812.