FOTO FEST SEMIFINALISTS TURN EYE ON CHILDREN

Children were the main focus in the four photographs chosen as semifinalists in the fourth week of the Foto Fest 2001 amateur photography contest.

Winners this week were Janet Lowes, Joan Talley and Carla Ford, all of Cape Girardeau, and Katrina E. Puls of Jackson.

Puls' photo featured two children playing in leaves, while Talley caught a child and his dog catching a nap on a couch. Ford's black and white photo of two children walking arm in arm down a gravel road drew comments like "nostalgic" from judges, who also liked the rarity of Lowe's photo of a rainbow that had appeared behind several palm trees.

This week's winners appear on Page 1C of today's Southeast Missourian.

A panel of judges selected from the community pared down more than 150 entries to four semifinalists. The winning pictures are published in the Southeast Missourian, and additional photos will be posted on the newspaper's Web site at www.semissourian.com. The photos also go on display at Westfield Shoppingtown West Park.

The contest, sponsored by the Shoppingtown and the Southeast Missourian, is open to amateur photographers who are residents of Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois. Other sponsors are Schnucks, Albertson's, Mac's Smokehouse, Cape Girardeau Regional Airport and St. Francis Medical Center.

There is no limit on the number of photographs that can be entered or the size or quality. Digital and print images are accepted. However, no photographs will be returned.

"There are only two weeks left, so we definitely want people who have been putting it off to get their photos in," said Joyce Hunter, marketing director at the Shoppingtown. "The entries so far have been very diverse and it's always fun to see what people submit."

Weekly semifinalist winners will receive $10 gift certificates to the Shoppingtown and certificates of recognition. Each semifinalist winner also will be entered in a contest to select six finalists and a grand prize winner. Prizes will be awarded at the end of the contest.