winners named in lands-preservation photo contest

An image of a lone fisherman in heavy mist has captured top honors in the adult amateur division of Scenic Tennessee’s 2008-2009 photo contest, “Lands Worth Preserving.”
The 32 winning photos, showcasing Tennessee’s unspoiled natural landscapes from wetlands to waterfalls to working family farms, will be on display November 6-22 at the East Tennessee History Center, 601 S. Gay Street in downtown Knoxville. Scenic Knoxville will host an opening reception Friday evening, November 6, from 6 to 7 p.m.
Crossville resident Dave Shannon, whose home overlooks Linger Lake in Cumberland County, said he had just let his dog out into the early-morning fog when he spotted the solitary fishing boat drifting toward shore.
“I ran and got my camera,” said Shannon, who retired to the Cumberland Plateau after a career with the National Nuclear Security Administration. “I knew I didn’t have much time before he was in the trees.”
The resulting image, aptly titled “Fisherman’s Dream,” was an immediate favorite with the contest’s three judges: Joy McKenzie, chair of the photography department at Watkins College of Art and Design in Nashville; Nancy Rhoda, retired Tennessean photographer; and Jeanie Nelson, executive director of The Land Trust for Tennessee, which partnered with Scenic Tennessee in cosponsoring this year's competition.
Other first-place winners, selected from the more than 170 images submitted, were Wade Hooper of Pegram in the professional division; eighth-grader Kara Ziler of Seymour in the middle-school division (Colonial Heights Middle); Thomas Coby Hart of Soddy-Daisy in the college/technical school division (Middle Tennessee State University); and Emily Murphy of Franklin, a senior at Independence High School in Thompson’s Station.
Two of Emily’s photographs, captured on an early spring morning at Basswood Farm in Williamson County, tied for first place in the high-school division. Basswood Farm's fields and farm ponds are among the more than 40,000 acres protected since 1999 by The Land Trust for Tennessee.  
This year’s judging also produced an ad hoc category, dubbed “Falling Waters,” to recognize an abundance of waterfall images, from Greeter Falls at Savage Gulf to Falls Branch Falls on the Cherohala Skyway.
All 32 images can be viewed online at www.scenictennessee.org.