Bill Wages’ photograph, “Bubble Net Feeding Whales” was awarded Photo of the Year by the Nevada County Camera Club at their annual awards presentation Saturday night, January 10.
Wages’ photo was selected as the favorite by club members from over 800 photos submitted by members throughout the year. “We are pleased and excited that Bill’s photo won Photo of the Year,” stated Mike Oitzman, new president of Nevada County Camera Club. “Bill is an outstanding photographer and has recently astounded us all with his photos of wildlife and birds,” continued Oitzman.
The winners of the club’s sixteen photo categories were also announced. These awards included the favorites for: Assigned Subject – “Reflections at the Lake” by Jonathan Beth; Abstract – “Rainbow Ice on Banner Mountain” by Tom Quinn; Architecture – “Temple of Together 2024” by Douglas Hooper; Birds – “Jabiru at Sunset” by Anita DuPratt; Fauna – “Bubble Net Feeding Whales” by Bill Wages; Flora – “Desert Lily on the Edge of Oblivion” by Eric Engles in a tie with Ingrid Lockhart for “Intimate with an Iris”; Natural Landscape – “Ebb Tide” by Eric Lindberg; Night Photography – “King of the Tunnel” by Fred Finney; People – “Solo” by Mark Rideout in a tie with Douglas Hooper’s “Fabric on Fire”; Photojournalism – “Junior Buckaroo” by Lori Woodhall; Travel – “Mt. St. Michel Meanders in Winter” by Georges Pelpel; Creative Fantasy – “Every Move a Feeling” by Douglas Hooper; Manipulated But Realistic – “Hanging On” by Suzanne Hambleton in a tie with Robert Arnold’s “Model Blowing Bubbles”; Black and White – “Hello” by David Wong; Color – “Happiness runs in a circular motion” by Elany Prusa; and Phone Photo – “The World Outside Your Door” by Tom Quinn.
“Additional awards were also presented to Ellen Davis, Laura Greenman, Dave McLellan, and Grace Farag for their service to the club. And a special Outstanding Service Award was presented to Mike Shea as past president for the last two years. Mike went above and beyond the traditional role of president as he moved the club to an incorporated, nonprofit organization,” stated Oitzman.
As Mike Shea left the office as president, he summed up the past year, “This was another successful year for the Nevada County Camera Club. Besides our regular club meetings featuring an outstanding array of presenters, club members volunteered to take photos for community events, shared their art at solo and group exhibits at local venues, offered a number of field trips and photo walks for the public and members, and held our annual educational workshop.”
The club has about 150 members and aims to inspire, educate, and assist photographers in Nevada County. For more information on the Nevada County Camera Club and to see all the award winners – https://www.nccameraclub.com