Updated Nov. 13, 2011
The city of Suwanee has been “snapped.”
Suwanee recently held its 2011 “Snap Suwanee” photo contest. The event required participants to take pictures from throughout the community. This year, 13 winners were selected from 114 photos submitted by 35 different photographers.
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The winners range from professional photographers to enthusiastic amateurs, yet they all share in common an appreciation for the milieu surrounding the city of Suwanee.
“We relocated from Texas last year and have fallen in love with our new city,” said Cris Koenigs, a winner.
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Photography is a hobby for Koenigs. She said that her winning photo titled "Snow on Main" was inspired by how “quiet and still” the empty town was as she, her husband Dan and son Evan took a walk though Main Street early in the morning during the snowfall last year.
“Our son Evan had never seen snow before being born and raised thus far in Texas - no one was around - I just snapped pictures as we went along, trying to capture the stillness around us.”
Koenigs said that Snap Suwanee is the first photography contest she’s ever won. “I don’t think I’ve won anything since the spelling bee in sixth grade.”
Keri McDaniel, 50, had never won a photography competition either. McDaniel said that the effects of the economy left her jobless in 2008, so she was forced to “reinvent” herself and “think outside the box.” McDaniel is now a professional photographer who takes maternity, newborn, engagement and special-event pictures.
“Anticipation,” McDaniel’s picture that won, displays an image of a beautiful day in May when a little girl headed slowly towards the fountain in Town Center Park after her mother had just warned, “Avery don’t get in the water,” said McDaniel.
“I have put so much into my photography over the last three years that it was a thrill to have one of my pictures recognized and appreciated by others.”
Steve White, 56, is a two-time winner. White was one of the winners in the first Snap Suwanee contest in 2009. He refers to himself as a “serious amateur.” He’s placed in other photography contests in Georgia and South Carolina.
The panorama-style winning image “View from City Hall” was taken when White escaped the rain by standing inside City Hall.
White is currently in Yellowstone National Park, where he’s had the thrill of taking a close-up of a moose. He hopes to continue to “photograph our wonderful and beautiful USA, especially the wildlife; however, my granddaughter is my favorite subject,” he said.
Another two-time winner is Janet George, who spends more time quilting and rubber-stamping. She won Snap Suwanee in 2010.
George said she was “ecstatic” to find out about winning again in 2011. “Since I’m just a “nobody” photographer, I really didn’t expect to win again,” she said. 'Autumn Jog' I entered only at the last minute, as an afterthought.”
“Autumn Jog” was an unexpected picture taken while she was walking the Suwanee Creek Greenway with her husband. George said that she was preparing to take a photo of the colorful leaves when the picture snapped as a jogger was rounding the corner.
“As a child I couldn’t wait to have my own camera ... my first camera was the kind you held at your waist and looked down into!”
“I probably will not be pursuing any other photography ventures. I have to be content with my little basic digital camera."
“I love that Suwanee offers such a nice contest to people in the community. Suwanee is a great place to live! Who wouldn't want to take photos in this town we call home.”
The remaining winning photos: "I Never Tire of This Park," by Laura Shinliver; "Proud Day for Annandale Villagers" by Sandy Weaver; "Perfect Afternoon in the Park" by Natasha Fullard; "Good Morning, Suwanee" by Michael Howard; "Suwanee en Blanc" by Chrissy Jones; "Blue Heron" by Dave Gillett; "Center of Attention" by Donna Charpentier; "Big Drink from the Big Splash" by Jessica Roth; and "Ride a Cow, Boy!" by Mary Shaffer.
Snap Suwanee 2011 winning photographs will be on exhibit in City Hall beginning March 1. Contact Lynne DeWilde for more information: LDeWilde@suwanee.com or 770-904-3386.
