Phenomenal photography displayed in Mt. Lebanon
Dallas Knight with “The Price of Victory”
Tom Johnston took third place in the print image division with “Mandrill Confusion.”
Chuck Morreale took second place in the print division with “Hens and Chicks.” He is joined by his wife, Nancy.
Photographers enjoy when opportunity knocks, as it did for Dallas Knight at the 2015 Pittsburgh Marathon.
“I’m standing at the finish line, anticipating shooting people as they’re crossing,” he recalled. “Which I did, but none of them turned out to be terribly interesting, except for this scene that unfolded right in front of me.”
The president of the Photographic Section of the Academy of Science and Art of Pittsburgh had his camera ready as Greene County resident Clara Santucci won the women’s division.
“Another woman ran out to drape a flag over her,” Knight said, “and she ended up catching her to keep her from collapsing in the street.”
The image he captured, which he calls “The Price of Victory,” won first place for print photojournalism in the section’s annual Photographic Salon, held April 1 and 2 at the Mt. Lebanon Recreation Center, with the group hosting an open house the second day to show the members’ best work to the public.
Visitors had the opportunity to see images in a variety of categories, from landscapes and nature to flora and fauna, in full color and, as was the case for the marathon photo, black and white.
Professionals mix with hobby photographers to constitute the membership of the section, which traces its roots to 1885 with the start of the Pittsburgh Amateur Photographer’s Society. The group meets three times a month from September through May at the recreation center, and the programs often feature guest speakers sharing their expertise.
“We try to get people to come who will help make us all better photographers,” Frank Bruns of Mt. Lebanon said. He and his wife, Laurie, are the organizers for the salon and other special events.
Frank was the salon’s overall winner for print photography – projected images also are allowed as entries, judged separately – for “Pokhara at Dawn,” which he took during the couple’s visit last year to Nepal. More recently, they joined fellow section members Jeanine Leech and Perri Schelat to capture images in Iceland, and two of Leech’s turned out to be salon category winners.
Schelat happened to be giving the presentation during the first photographic section meeting that Knight attended.
“I sat down and watched this show, and I thought: Well, if I just get up quietly and leave right now, nobody will now I was here, because I can’t do this,” he said about the talent he saw on display. “Then somebody explained to me that she was probably, both in terms of skill and equipment, on the very leading edge of the membership of the club. I thought she was just typical.”
But no matter what the photographers’ relative skill levels, they tend to be strongly supportive of one another, with the goal of better pictures all around.
“The main thing, and I would like to hope this is true for everybody, is it really provides encouragement to try to pick up your game,” Knight said.
For more information about the Photographic Section of the Academy of Science and Art of Pittsburgh, visit pghphoto.org/wp.