Check out some photos from talented Stockton Record guest photographers

Clifford Oto, The Stockton Record
·2 min read

The current Readers Photo Challenge was an open one, leaving the the choice of subject up to each entrant to come up with themselves.

Subjects ranged from closeups to birds to landscapes and more. Nine readers sent in 24 photos. Here are the top picks.

Carolyn Silva of Jackson used a Nikon D7500 DSLR camera to photograph natural patterns of frost on a glass patio table in her backyard.
Carolyn Silva of Jackson used a Nikon D7500 DSLR camera to photograph natural patterns of frost on a glass patio table in her backyard.

On a recent chilly morning, Carolyn Silva’s husband stepped into the backyard of their Jackson home to empty a rain gauge. Soon he called to her to come out and to bring her camera with her.

Their normally dusty glass patio table was covered with frost in an unusual pattern. The ice crystals swirled about in intricate and detailed forms that looked like a baroque tapestry.

With her Nikon D7500 DSLR camera, Silva captured the tabletop scene as first beams of sunlight began to grace the ice. The patterns quickly melted under the sun.

Susan Scott of Stockton used a Canon EOS Rebel XS DSLR camera to photograph a robin in a pear tree in her front yard.
Susan Scott of Stockton used a Canon EOS Rebel XS DSLR camera to photograph a robin in a pear tree in her front yard.

Susan Scott found that even in the middle of winter, an ornamental pear tree in her front yard was a perfect place to attract birds and to take pictures of them. Several species of birds feasted on the berries of the tree.

With her Canon EOS Rebel XS DSLR camera, she photographed a harbinger of spring, a red-breasted robin as it perched in the branches of the tree.

TomLaBounty of Stockton used a Google Pixel 6 Pro phone to photograph the Point Lobos State Natural Reserve near Carmel-By-The-Sea.
TomLaBounty of Stockton used a Google Pixel 6 Pro phone to photograph the Point Lobos State Natural Reserve near Carmel-By-The-Sea.

Tom LaBounty showed one of the reasons that California is the envy of the country.

While much of the rest of the nation is suffering frigid conditions, LaBounty focused on Point Lobos State Natural Reserve in Monterey County. With a Google Pixel 6 Pro phone, he captured detail in the rocky seaside bluffs lined with green cypress trees and the bright blue of the Pacific Ocean.

Carol Biggs of Stockton used an Apple iPhone 13 to photograph an oak tree at O'Connor Woods at dusk in Stockton.
Carol Biggs of Stockton used an Apple iPhone 13 to photograph an oak tree at O'Connor Woods at dusk in Stockton.

Carol Biggs photographed a oak tree set against a winter evening sky with her Apple iPhone 13. Its leafless, gnarled branches twist in every direction across the frame giving every corner of the photo something interesting to look at.

Janet Baniewich of Billings, Montana, used an Apple iPhone 13 to photograph condensation and ice on a window at her home on a negative 27 degree day.
Janet Baniewich of Billings, Montana, used an Apple iPhone 13 to photograph condensation and ice on a window at her home on a negative 27 degree day.

Janet Baniewich, a former Stocktonian, was probably thinking of the warmer California climes when she took her photo for the challenge. The interior window of her home was covered in ice and frost from the -27 degree outdoor temperatures of Montana, which gave her an impressionistic view of the wintry conditions outside.

For first place, Carolyn Silva receives a gift certificate to UlmerPhoto for a 16x20 print as well as a $25 gift card to a local restaurant. Susan Scott receives an 11x14 print for second place and Tom LaBounty gets an 8x10 print for 3rd place.

All of the photos entered can be seen in an online gallery at recordnet.com. A new challenge assignment will be issued on Feb 6.

This article originally appeared on The Record: Readers submit photos in latest Stockton Record contest