I was really thrilled to find out that I recently won FIRST PLACE in both categories I entered in an Upper Cape Camera Club competition!!

You saw it here first. The image above, a picture I took of the Wings Neck Lighthouse during the year I lived just three houses away from it, was honored with a first place. The category was “Cape Cod Icon”. I took the picture with film, and have done very little tweaking to it – a small crop, and a slight intensification of the sky. Other than that, this is what that sunset really looked like. It still takes my breath away.

I also like the window in the lighthouse. At home, this is one of three images that are hung as a triptych, each getting closer, so the last one is a close-up of just the window. It’s quite abstract and “painterly”: you see the window, as well as through the window to the interior of the lighthouse and out the window on the other side to the sunset – and the reflection behind. It’s one of my all-time favorite shots, and why it became my signature photo on my Falmouth Fine Properties newsletter.

This is a shot of the iconic restaurant in Provincetown. The competition category was “Essence of Cape Cod”. I thought that both a lobster pot AND the restaurant captured the category, and I’ve always liked this image. The close cropping and the neon make it dramatic, I think. Most viewers are familiar with the sign, but we “see” it anew when looking at the photo.

For a few years, the image was hanging on a wall in my house, but I sold it recently. And then was a bit regretful. So when this category came up in the camera club competition, it was motivation for me to print it again. You can imagine my surprise and pleasure when it won first place. This time it’s staying home with me!