Boise Squared Photography Contest Recap

What would you do if you had a 20-hour time frame to get the winning shots? What if you didn’t know where you would be shooting until it was time to start? What would your strategy be?

Earlier this month, 49 photographers were in this exact situation. The Boise Squared Photography Contest divided seven square miles of downtown Boise into 49 "squares." Then the 49 participating photographers were each assigned a square at random. Shooting began at 5 p.m. on Friday and ended on Saturday at 2 p.m. The photographers then had three hours to edit their best shots for a chance to win more than $8,000 in prizes.

As an event sponsor, we were thrilled to be a part of the Boise Squared Photography Contest. Even with a time crunch and unknown locale, the photographers were still able to produce some fantastic shots for each of the 11 categories—enjoy!

Best of Show, Professional: Boise Squared – Chad Estes

Chad Estes of Starry Night Media, specializes in photojournalism and lifestyle photography. His work with breast cancer survivors can be seen at Reveal Mission  and his project on body image is available at Raw Beauty.

Best of Show, Emerging: Boise Squared – Brooke Burton

Brooke Burton lives 24.8 miles from her birthplace and spent 1980 to present learning things the hard way (which she learned from her father.) In 2007 she earned an MFA in photography from Boise State University. As an artist, she continues in the tradition of any person who has asked themselves a series of deceptively simple questions. She likes to think of her work as a transformation of questions rather than of materials. Her work has been exhibited at the Boise Art Museum and around the nation.

Fine Art/Abstract, Professional – Lynn Cameron

Native Idahoan, Lynn Cameron, uses his photographic art to reveal and honor beauty in the natural world. He respects his fellow sojourners on Earth and tells their stories with his photographs. His artistic sense is influenced by formal art and photography education, seminars with renowned professional photographers, personal study and six decades of photography begun a age eight. He is equally at ease with high mountains, deserts, lakes, streams, agricultural lands, sporting, family and cultural events, military venues, boardrooms, travel and foreign lands. He and his wife, Susan Cameron, live in Moscow, Idaho. A sampling of his work can be seen at gotacameron.com.

Fine Art/Abstract, Professional (Honorable Mention) – Richard Davis

Fine Art/Abstract, Emerging – Lisa Stein

I love to find beauty in unexpected places. Patterns, textures, and balance in the smaller details of a scene are a particular delight for me. Although I picked up a camera in earnest fairly recently, I am now rarely without one. Last year I embarked on a photo-a-day project that began as a pleasant creative outlet but soon became my passion. I consider myself very much a student of photography, eager to learn and grow in my art. I am a Boise native who has wandered some but am now happily settled in my hometown with my husband and two sons.

Fine Art/Abstract, Emerging (Honorable Mention) – Chris Wethered

Smartphone – Denise Young

Hello, I’m Denise Young from Twin Falls, Idaho. I would consider myself an "emerging photographer" because I don’t make ANY money from my work but just KNOW I will someday! Until then, I will enjoy photography in my spare time.

My love of pictures is in my everyday life, even if it’s through a cell phone lens. With the age of social media photographs is a way to draw people into an experience. I enjoy sharing events and experiences with my fans. Even cellphone pictures evoke an emotion or create an experience.  It’s my eye on the world.

Smartphone (Honorable Mention) – Amanda Morgan

Urban – Brooke Burton

Urban (Honorable Mention) – Teysha Vinson

Boise – Mike Shipman

Mike Shipman is a full-time freelance commercial, editorial, and fine art photographer with a degree in wildlife biology.His photographic interests are wide-ranging, from landscapes and environmental issues to abstracts, industry, and the human figure. He works in the studio and on location with digital technology and analog processes like Polaroid and cyanotype.

Mike has been teaching photography classes and leading workshops since 1998 and an Idaho Commission on the Arts Teaching Artist since 2010.

He is active in the local art community and is a past president of the Idaho Photographic Workshop, a founding board member of the Treasure Valley Artists’ Alliance, and is the current president of the Mountain West Chapter of the American Society of Media Professionals.

Documentary – Richard Davis

"I've always had a passion for photography. However it really took off in 2007 after being introduced to a digital SLR camera for the first time. Since then I've been hooked and have spent the past several years having fun with my camera and learning as much as I can. My passion has led me down several paths and I'm fortunate enough to be a full time photographer shooting mostly Real Estate, Interior Design & Architecture." See more of Richard’s work.

Portrait – Emma Hood

Emma Hood is attending Boise state University pursuing a Fine Arts degree with a concentration in photography. Her passion for photography was discovered in her early adolescence, where she studied under Patricia Thorpe the photography instructor at Timberline High school. Emma has been recognized by a number of organizations for her high quality and creative photography. She has received regional, state and national acknowledgments through a number of organizations including NFPW, Skills USA, Scholastic Art and Writing and most recently Boise Squared photography. Emma’s local work includes special events, senior portraits, professional marketing and portfolios. She has also assisted in a wedding along side a professional Idaho photographer. Emma is still discovering her visual aesthetic and continues to experiment on her own with new techniques.

Portrait (Honorable Mention) – Caleb Abernathy

Landscape – Warran Lassen

An Idaho native, Warren graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Boise State University in 1974. He has worked as an art director and creative director for several large advertising agencies, ran a small graphic art studio and currently owns Warren Lassen Communications, a small marketing firm.

In 2000 he began to explore again an early passion, photography, doing self -directed work for the love of the medium.

Warren has been recognized with dozens of marketing and advertising awards, both regionally and nationally. He recently had two photos accepted into the Boise Art Museum, 2013 Idaho Triennial.

Landscape (Honorable Mention) – Jonathan Conti

Lensbaby Professional – Keith S. Walklet

Though most well-known for his traditional color landscapes of his former home, Yosemite National Park, Boise-based photographer/author, Keith S. Walklet has an eclectic portfolio that expresses his imagery in a variety of media. He and his wife, Annette Bottaro-Walklet are represented by The Ansel Adams Gallery in Yosemite and Sun To Moon Gallery in Dallas, Texas, both for whom Keith also teaches.

A former board-member of Idaho Photographic Workshop, Keith is an approved artist for the Boise City Department of Art & History traffic box cover art program and his work is part of the growing "Boise Visual Chronicle" collection.

Lensbaby Professional (Honorable Mention) – Teysha Vinson

Lensbaby Emerging – Warran Lassen

Lensbaby Emerging (Honorable Mention) – Micahel Aaron