The Cayucos Land Conservancy held its first ever juried photography show, exhibition, and sale. CLC received entries from all over California for the themed show “Anything and Everything Cayucos” - 23 images have been selected for the wall show and all applicants have been invited to show prints in display bins. All artwork is for sale to help benefit the CLC.
Professional Photographer Forrest Doud juried the show and shared the following comments at the opening in Cayucos on May 20th: It was with great pleasure I was invited to jury the 1st Annual Photography Exhibition for the Cayucos Land Conservancy. Having raised a family in Cayucos I have seen the evolution of a sleepy town to a vibrant caring community that is very concerned about the surrounding environment and the future of development. This event is hopefully carrying on the goals on the Cayucos Land Conservancy and the passionate legacy of all people who have adopted this cause.
A jury system was subscribed online in order to receive entries. Entrants could enter up to 3 images and the system presented the images online to me for a Blind Juried Show. Images were listed as numbers and the entrants were not identified. Many people did submit more than one image and something that stood out was that several exhibited a style that stood out as a group of 3 for that person. Artistically that is a very good thing in that many participants were serious about their work and not just lucking out on a snapshot that looked good.
Some works were rejected for obvious reasons. Out of focus, obvious lack of digital image quality or not conforming to the theme of 'Everything Cayucos'. Basic jury criteria for me included composition, subject matter and attention to technical aspects of lighting, focus and color.
Because of limited space to hang the show we had to stick to under 25 pieces to be shown. After jury selection of online samples the selected entries were required to provide a framed print of high quality not to exceed 11" x14". It was apparent that it may be possible to include almost all entrants with at least one selection. It was decided to try to accommodate that goal even though some entrants had two or three very outstanding photos.
In the end I kept leaning toward many pier views mainly because I felt that the Cayucos Pier events of the last couple years really galvanized the community and the iconic structure itself symbolizes so much of what is 'Everything Cayucos'.
1st Place - Tom Lott took the honor and he chose to show the 'Cayucos Pier'. As written earlier, I had a favorable look towards pier shots. This would not have been a contender if not for the low tide exposed pebbles and the exquisite lighting reflected off the sand. I also appreciate the natural color that to me is real and not exaggerated by digital manipulation. This also applies to all the selected images that won awards.
2nd Place was submitted by Kristopher Lyon - 'Estero Bluffs Sunset' shows the expansive bluffs north of Cayucos after sunset. He took advantage of the magical time when the light is balanced on land and sky. Given his other entries he knew this and planned a great shot. It is the heart of land conservancy.
3rd Place is the image from Danna Dykstra-Coy - 'Cayucos Swings in Storm'. This was a riveting image that I first thought to be a manipulated composite. Full of emotion in the middle of winter it is an image you can explore visually for a long time. After the opening of the show the comments led me to believe it was the crowd favorite.
Honorable Mention was awarded to Joel Germond for the image 'Blue Birds' an image that had superb composition of birds on some barbed wire. The focus was in the left third of the image and leads the viewer into the background that softens out of focus. Interesting that this image consists of three colors RGB, Red Green and Blue. All digital images are based on this.
Based on the results and all the energy put into this event I am confident that this may be an annual event that should not be missed. Photographers….start shooting for next year!
Thanks to everyone for participating in the 1st Annual Photography Exhibition for the Cayucos Land Conservancy!
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Thanks to the following businesses for supporting the Photography Show:
Cayucos Visitors Center and History Museum
Forrest Doud Photography - Morro Bay
Cafe della Via - Cayucos
Cayucos Cellars - Cayucos
Ruddell’s Smoke House - Cayucos
Schooner’s Wharf - Cayucos
Gail Johnson Framing - SLO
ASAP Reprograpics - Morro Bay
Art Central - SLO
