Photo, titled By the Window, by Amelia Hazlitt of East Lake High School took first place in a digital photography contest for high school students put on by the Suncoast Camera Club of Clearwater.  Amelia also received Honorable Mention for Reflection.  Students in Pinellas public high schools were eligible to enter.  Seventy-four students from six schools submitted a total of 196 images.  Three awards and 21 honorable mentions were given.  The second-and-third place winners also attend East Lake High School and are students of Katie Murphy Tracy.  Laura Davis took second place with The Natives, and Honorable Mention for Unmasked.  Third place went to Madison Vorbrich for A Man with a Vision.  When Tracy was notified that three of her students were award winners she responded, “That is great the two students I have told are so excited.”  The third student was out-of-town.
Tampa Bay Times article January 5, 2012

1st Place By the Window Amelia Hazlitt East Lake H.S.

2nd Place The Natives Laura Davis East Lake H.S.

3rd Place A Man with a Vision Madison Vorbrich East Lake H.S.

Back row: Katie Murphy Tracy (East Lake H.S. Art Teacher), Mary Burke (SCC H.S. Photo Contest Organizer), Jo Devine (SCC 2012 President) Front row: Laura Davis (2nd place), Madison Vorbrich (3rd place), Amelia Hazlitt (1st place)	Judges left to right: Pat Priscoe – Retired Art Teacher with a 30-year tenure in the Pinellas County School System Teresa Hodges – Associate, Florida Center of Creative Photography Jeff Donald – Director of the Florida Center of Creative Photography

People who worked on contest: Mary Burke, George Burke, Jim Goins, Dave Hart, Matt Muskovac, and Tom Russell (award night pictures)

Submitted by: Mary Burke, Chairperson of Contest – Suncoast Camera Club of Clearwater

Nature's Best Photography magazine has announced the Windland Smith Rice International Awards 2011 Winners. Larry Lynch is recognized in the 2011 Fall/Winter Collectors' Edition of Nature's Best Photography magazine on page 29 in the Bird category. Over the years, some of the most notable photographers in the world are recognized as with this issue; i.e. Arthur Morris, Andy Rouse, as well as others. SCC congratulates Larry on this very notable accomplishment.

The members of SCC have elected the following officers for 2012.
They will assume office starting January 1, 2012.
Jo-Ann Devine, President
Jim Mahoney, VP Programs
George McKenna, VP Competition
David Erdman, Secretary
Robin Rebeck, Treasurer

The Standing Committee positions will remain the same with the exceptions of: Karen Hallett for Judge's Credentials and Liz Ryland for Membership/Hospitality.  The Special Events position is open at this time.

Our thanks to Karen Hallett, Chair of the Nominating Committee, and Tom Russell, Committee Member, for their recommendations of the 2012 slate of officers and standing committee chairpersons.

Larry Becker, the Executive Director of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP), presented Scott Kelby's popular Seven Point System for Camera Raw. The presentation was very informative and many people gained some new insights on how to better use Adobe Camera Raw to image their images and workflow. Larry also presented  Corey Barker' line art technique, sharpening clouds using a high pass filter, and portrait retouching.  A special thanks goes out to George Burke for making the arrangements for this presentation.

At the 2011 Photographic Society of America Annual Conference, Nick Muskovac was awarded the distinguished honor of becoming a Fellow in PSA (FPSA).  The award was presented by Fred Greene, PSA President.  The membership of SCC congratulates Nick on this major achievement as we know first hand the wonderful contributions Nick has made to the photography world.

The format of the monthly winning electronic images has been updated to a more modern look.  The results page layout was designed by Roy Colbert and Matt Muskovac modified the slide show look.  Matt did all of the programming required to produce the new look.  This latest version of his Club Viewer program has simplified the monthly gallery creation process.  Go to the gallery and enjoy a trip down memory lane on past winners since 2006.