Foto Fest features bridal fashion, dolphins, baby cheeks

Tina Glastetter just happened to be playing around with her 35 millimeter camera at a friend's wedding in Kelso when she saw what had the potential to be a great picture.

Glastetter's image of a woman peeking outside from a window was one of the four semifinalists chosen in the fourth week of the Foto Fest photography contest. Other winners were Maura Leus and Jamie Plouffe, both of Cape Girardeau, and Beth Eeftink of Leopold.

Foto Fest is an amateur photography contest sponsored by the Southeast Missourian and Westfield Shoppingtown West Park. Other sponsors are Schnucks and Kasten Masonry Sales in Jackson.

All the Foto Fest images are on display at the mall and several honorable mentions are online at www.semissourian.com.

Glastetter said she had just stepped out the door to check on something for Tiffany Keller in the moments before Keller's outdoor wedding was to begin. "She stuck her head out the curtain and I said, 'Tiffany we're going to do that again and I'll take a picture.'"

Glastetter had no idea if she'd actually get a good shot or not, so she was delighted to see the picture had turned out like she'd expected.

Judges liked the "mini-fashion moment" in this photo and that Glastetter didn't get any reflections from the window.

Judges also liked the composition and unusual quality found in Eeftink's photo of her son, Brady. The picture captures the toddler in a bean field near the family farm.

"He couldn't ride in the combine and pick so he just played in the field while his dad was picking" beans, Eeftink said.

The photo was taken in October last year. "I just thought it was cute and a good picture that shows his fat baby cheeks."

Judges said the picture was more than "just another photo of a child." One judge said "it captures the essence of childhood."

Pictures from summer vacations have begun to appear among the 250 entries in this week's contest. Two were selected as semifinalists.

A photo by Maura Leus shows a woman feeding a dolphin. The picture was taken in June at the Gulfarium in Fort Walton Beach, Fla.

"I didn't know about the contest and was just taking pictures of the show and captured that moment. I decided it was good," Leus said.

The picture was entered last week as well but didn't get selected.

Jamie Plouffe's photo of a couple silhouetted at sunset showed "lots of emotion," judges said. The picture was taken at St. Petersburg Beach in Florida.

Entries for the contests must be received by 5 p.m. Friday for consideration in the following week's judging. Entry forms are available at drop-off locations, including Southeast Missourian offices in Cape Girardeau, Jackson, Marble Hill and Chaffee, Schnucks, Kasten Masonry and the customer service center at the mall.

Forms also are available at www.semissourian.com/fotofest.

ljohnston@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126