GO Laurel Highlands photo contest: Light makes right for Clare Kaczmarek
For the third consecutive year, Latrobe resident Clare Kaczmarek captured first place in the Places category in the GO Laurel Highlands Photo Contest, with sunlight playing a critical role each time. This year’s winning entry was a sunrise photo taken in May at Somerset County’s Baughman Rock Overlook.
Kaczmarek estimated that she had to get up at 4 a.m. in order to reach the location in time for the photo, which features the sun peeking above a distant ridge and a fog-covered valley.
“I am very partial to mornings,” said Kaczmarek, who won with a photo of snow-covered Laurel Mountain Ski Area in 2021 and with a picture of sun and clouds reflected in Mammoth Lake at Westmoreland County’s Mammoth Park in 2020.
She was one of nine winners honored by GO Laurel Highlands in the 18th annual Laurel Highlands Photo Contest. The top images will be published in the destination marketing organization’s 2023 Destination Guide, on golaurelhighlands.com and displayed at the organization’s visitors center on the Diamond in Ligonier. Winning photos may also be featured on the bureau’s social media, billboards and more.
First place in each of the four categories received $500; second place, $200; and third place, $100. Winners were chosen among more than 700 entries by the GO Laurel Highlands’ marketing team and professional photographers Brenda Torrey, Paul Wiegman, and Alex Byers, who also serves as the organization’s content and design specialist.
“The annual photo contest ensures GO Laurel Highlands continues to have a library filled with authentic and unique images that capture all the rich experiences and landscapes our region has to offer,” said Ann Nemanic, executive director of GO Laurel Highlands. “This year we hosted a private reception for our contest winners. Hearing the stories from each photographer about the image they captured was truly a gift. So many wonderful stories behind those beautiful images gave me a renewed appreciation for our photographers.”
Carol Saylor, of Meyersdale, won first place in the People category for her shot of her neighbor leaping off a bench at High Point Lake Overlook in Somerset County. Saylor said she was inspired to try the shot after seeing a similar photo taken at beach location.
Flanna Soliday, of Irwin, had to be sly as a fox to capture the winning shot for the Plants and Animals category. After hearing that a family of foxes was making its home at Twin Lakes Park, she grabbed her camera and headed out to the Latrobe destination, where she was able to get a great photo of two of the young animals on a moss-covered rock.
GO Laurel Highlands began accepting entries for the 2023 Photo Contest on Thursday.
2022 Laurel Highlands Photo Contest Winners
• Category 1: People
1st Place: Carol Saylor, of Meyersdale – silhouette leap at High Point Lake Overlook
2nd Place: John Keck, of Butler – reenactment at Fort Ligonier
3rd Place: Stephanie Lambert, of Berlin – visitors at Flight 93 National Memorial
• Category 2: Places
1st Place: Clare Kaczmarek, of Latrobe — foggy sunrise at Baughman Rock
2nd Place: Thomas Bush IV, of Uniontown – wintry day at Forbes State Forest
3rd Place: Adrienne Golembiewski, of Morgantown, W.Va. – starry skies above Mount Davis Observation Tower
• Category 3: Plants and Animals
1st Place: 1st - Flanna Soliday, of Irwin – two foxes at Twin Lakes Park
2nd Place: Linda Seanor, of Berlin – bluebirds on suet near Shanksville
3rd Place: Ron Bruner, of Rockwood – sunflower at Golden Valley Farms, Somerset
Only photos that were taken in the Laurel Highlands — Pennsylvania’s Fayette, Somerset or Westmoreland counties — were eligible. Participants were permitted to submit an unlimited number of high-quality images for the contest. Photos of private property were not eligible. Black and white photos were not accepted.
This article originally appeared on The Daily American: GO Laurel Highlands 2022 photo contest
