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Chris’ image Fog Waves was awarded First Place in the Natural Landscapes category.  

"I made this on Mount Tamalpais last September when I was hoping to capture the standard sunset fog colors. Unfortunately, the wildfire smoke prevented much of that, but I was able to achieve a few more intimate shots using my 100-400 lens and a 10-stop ND to achieve a 30 second exposure."

Chris submitted this image, Tokyo Hustle, in the Abstract category, but the judges moved it to Travel and awarded it First Place.  

Ken’s image Thirsty Bee was awarded Honorable Mention in the Wildlife category.

"Thirsty Bee was taken in my back yard birdbath with a 400mm telephoto lens and about 6 inches of extension tube to shift the focal range of the lens close enough to capture a closeup of the bee."

Thirsty Bee was also the Third Place winner in the Fauna category of the PACC 2020 Annual Competition.

Ken’s image Able was awarded Honorable Mention in the Wildlife category.

"Able was also taken in my back yard. In spite of missing one of his back jumper legs, this cricket got around just fine. He flew away shortly after I took the shot."

Jim’s image Rise Up was awarded an Honorable Mention in the Landscape category. 

"I took this photograph in 2016 at the Navajo Reservation near the Glen Canyon Dam in Arizona.  I was taken by the dramatic contrast between the steam from the power plant and the darkening sky and by the steam rising up to join the brighter parts of the sky.  Rise Up is one of the popular songs from the musical Hamilton."

Brandon’s image Cylinder #1 was awarded First Place in the Abstract category. 

"I made the image in early 2021 in Palo Alto.  I was experimenting with abstract motion blur at the time, and out of the thousands of frames I took over the course of several months, this was one of the best.  I am fascinated by abstracts because of their intangible nature – it can be difficult or impossible to say (at least objectively) what makes a particular abstract pleasing.  I think we connect with abstracts at a visceral, subconscious level, and each viewer’s experience is unique.  I love that."

Cylinder #1 was also Image of the Month & First Place winner in the Open category of the PACC February 10, 2021, Digital Competition.

Brandon’s image Grid received an Honorable Mention in the Abstract category.

"I made the image in early 2021 in Palo Alto. This composition caught my eye because of the juxtaposition of curvilinear forms and straight, perpendicular lines."

John’s image She is ready for her close-up was awarded Honorable Mention in the Travel category.

"This image was taken on October 25, 2017/ Florence, Italy.  This scene reminded me of the transient nature of popular artistic taste.  This sculpture of an alluring woman is completely ignored by museum goers.  It reminded me of Nora Desmond, played by Gloria Swanson, in Sunset Boulevard, which is where the title comes from."

She is ready for her close-up was also the Third Place winner of the PACC January 13, 2021, Digital Competition in the Travel category. 

Bob’s image Dance of the Veils was awarded First Place in the Portrait category.

"This was shot at a meetup just before the shutdown early in 2020.  Long exposure with a constant light on the left and a flash to freeze the motion at the end."

Dance of the Veils also received an Honorable Mention in the Open category of the 2020 PACC Annual Competition (entitled The Joy of Dance).

Bob’s image Milky Way over the Lone Cypress was awarded Honorable Mention in the Landscape category.

"This was taken in September at Pebble Beach. The stars were 10 images at 15 seconds stacked to remove noise and the foreground was a 1 minute exposure.  It is so amazing how the camera can capture in the night sky that we cannot see with our eyes."