The Shadow
‘UNIQUELY ALLEGHANY!’ CONTEST WINNERS — The Alleghany Highlands Chamber of Commerce and Tourism has announced the winners of its third annual “Uniquely Alleghany!” Photo Contest. The winner were announced October 30 during a reception held at the Alleghany Highlands Visitors Center. Winners include, from left: Maria Culliss, Donna Rhodes, Kevin Persinger, Darren Seay, Susan Tolley, Angie Hinebaugh. (Gavin Dressler Photo)
‘UNIQUELY ALLEGHANY!’ CONTEST WINNERS — The Alleghany Highlands Chamber of Commerce and Tourism has announced the winners of its third annual “Uniquely Alleghany!” Photo Contest. The winner were announced October 30 during a reception held at the Alleghany Highlands Visitors Center. Winners include, from left: Maria Culliss, Donna Rhodes, Kevin Persinger, Darren Seay, Susan Tolley, Angie Hinebaugh. (Gavin Dressler Photo)
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The Alleghany Highlands Chamber of Commerce and Tourism has announced the winners of the third annual “Uniquely Alleghany!” photo contest. Over 80 entries were received from local and Virginia photographers.
Locals, visitors, amateurs, and professionals were invited to enter the contest.
Each photographer could enter up to five images and all entries were eligible for the Grand Prize.
The Grand Prize entry will be on the cover with a small bio about the photographer. The Grand Prize winner also received a cash award.
“We had so many beautiful images of the Alleghany Highlands and we enjoyed seeing how photographers viewed what makes the Alleghany Highlands so unique,” said Kara Asboth, photo contest coordinator.
The winners were an-nounced Thursday, Oct. 30, at a Business After Hours reception held at the Alleg-hany Highlands Visitors Center.
Darren Seay was named the Grand Prize winner with his image entitled “Winter Love,” which is an image of the LOVEworks in the snow at Humpback Bridge.
Darren has been a resident of the Alleghany High-lands his entire life. He grew up in South Covington where he enjoyed the great outdoors.
His dad Bert gave him a small 35mm camera he got from the mill as a safety prize. It was just a simple little camera, nothing fancy. Darren would take it with him on his many outdoor adventures when he was a teenager.
He later bought a better 35mm camera and started doing some wildlife photography. When the digital age came, Darren bought a Pentax digital SLR camera and a good landscape lens. Digital really got him hooked on photography and opened a whole new world for him.
He has met a lot of great photographers and learned many new things in the recent years. Most of all, he has some awesome Face-book friends and family who keep him going with their “likes” and comments. Darren works at Mead-Westvaco and lives in Covington with his wife Pam and his son Brandon.
The following photographers won the 12 monthly spots: Susan Tolley, Sue Brown, Chuck Almarez, Michelle Caruthers, Maria Culliss, Donna Rhodes, Kevin Persinger, two images; Angie Hinebaugh, two images; and Darren Seay, two images.
“With all the great images this year, we have once again included thumbnail images within each month to further show what makes us ‘Uniquely Alleghany!’,” Asboth said.
These images are from photographers Sue Higgins, Gavin Dressler, Cole Bradley, Greg Persinger, Marcy Thompson, Sue Brown and Susan Tolley.
New to this year’s photo contest are cash prize category awards.
Winners included:
“Best Seasonal, Fall” — Darren Seay.
“Best Seasonal, Winter” — Susan Tolley.
“Best Outdoor Recreation” — Angie Hinebaugh. Each winner received a cash award.
“The calendars have been very popular the past two years and make great Christmas gifts.
The chamber is hoping to have the 2015 calendar ready by the second week of November and will make an announcement when they are ready for purchase.
“We thank the community for your support of this project,” said Teresa Hammond, chamber executive director.
“Don’t forget to start taking photos now for next year’s contest,” added Asboth.
