KALONA

For middle and high school students attending Pathway, Hillcrest Academy, and Mid-Prairie schools (including the home school), the time has come to get out their cameras and submit photos to the Kalona Optimist Club’s 3rd Annual Student Photography Contest. Entries may be submitted on the Kalona Optimist Facebook page through May 17.

Mark Gromko, Vice President of the Iowa City Camera Club (ICCC), will narrow down the entries to the top twelve; he is looking forward to seeing what students submit.

“I look forward to seeing them and enjoying the pictures,” he says. “There is a sense in which I am acting as judge, but for these age groups, I tend to see it more as an opportunity to encourage and help young folks develop, to explore their creative interests and to encourage them in proceeding with that and improving with that.”

The comments he provides to each photographer who enters go a long way in this regard.

Last year’s finalists had the community talking. Gromko evaluated entries in two age groups – 5th to 8th grade and 9th to 12th grade – and chose six finalists in each group. Those entries were matted and framed, then displayed outside the Kalona Chamber of Commerce building during Kalona Days, where 153 attendees voted for their favorite in each category.

Maelys Beachy’s gray kitten photo won the middle school category, and Peighton Ford’s pig drinking from a hose photo won the high school category. Both photos were memorable, and the student photographers each received a People’s Choice Award plaque and $100 gift certificate.

This year’s contest will follow the same process; after the entries are submitted and finalists chosen, the top six photos in each category will be displayed at Kalona Days on June 21-22, and the winner will be announced at the festival on Saturday afternoon. Those photos will then be on display at the Kalona Public Library the week of June 24; CBI Bank & Trust the week of July 1; and Hills Bank the week of July 8.

Gromko is a seasoned evaluator of adult photography. However, he recognizes that students see the world a bit differently than adults do.

“It’s a really different experience, seeing what beginning photographers have access to and what kind of stories they can tell,” he says.

Telling a story is the artistic side of taking a good photograph; however, “if you haven’t got the tools to express that in your chosen media, then the story doesn’t come through,” Gromko says. Part of his role in judging the entries is to determine if a student has “enough of a handle on the technical abilities that they can actually tell that story with photography.”

In order to capture a beautiful, exciting, or emotional moment in a photo, Gromko’s advice to students is “as much as you can, carry your camera with you. Take advantage of being lucky. . . And just be alert in your day-to-day activities of unusual moments.”

Using a cellphone makes impromptu photo-taking especially convenient.

“Sometimes I think cellphones are a superior choice,” the photographer admits.

The Optimists’ Photography Contest provides students with motivation to pick up a camera and see what they might capture; in the process, they also learn to appreciate art. For Ken Wehr, an Optimist Club member who helps with the contest, this is an important aspect.

Wehr’s late wife, Shirley, was an accomplished artist; Wehr tells a story of how she took some 40 rolls of 35mm film while on a two-week trip to England.

“She painted at least two dozen pictures [inspired by] those 40 rolls,” he says.

Roger Weber, an Optimist Club member who organizes the contest, notes that art such as photography also leaves a lasting legacy; his late uncle took thousands of photos around Fort Madison in the 1950’s and 60’s, and the local art association created a display of them years after his death for people to view.

There are many benefits to learning an art form such as photography, both personal and professional.

“Sharing your life with your family and your close friends is a big benefit,” Gromko says, explaining that photos can easily be used to create unique and personal greeting cards that the recipients will find meaningful, and framed photography makes for wonderful gifts.

Real estate photography is a paying career, Weber notes; graduation and wedding photography is “where most of the money is,” Gromko says.

Weber, Wehr, and Gromko all encourage local students to submit entries to the Optimist Photography contest this year. All participating schools and teachers have submission information; it is also available on the Kalona Optimist Facebook page. The deadline for entry is May 17.

“The emphasis should be on making pictures, exploring your own creativity, and sharing it with people,” Gromko says. In that respect, “Everybody wins.”