(first published in the August 2024 Equiery)
The Equiery’s August issue is always a pleasure to put together for Equiery staffers due to our annual Photo Contest! Each year, hundreds of photographs flood into the editor’s inbox from Equiery readers all over the country. This year, we received 129 photos from 49 different photographers.
Once again, most of our photographers were amateurs, with eight professionals submitting photos as well. This year, we only had one junior photographer entry.
Portraits is typically our most popular category, but this year the Farm Life category had the most entries (34), while Portraits came in a close second with 33 entries. Our Black & White category continues to grow each year, this year with 24 entries. The Equine Sports and Maryland Foals categories each saw 19 entries.
The winners were chosen by a panel of judges who looked at image quality, how each image best represented the category and overall composition. The selection process takes several days while judges narrow the entries down round by round until category winners and a Grand Champion are selected.
Be sure to follow The Equiery on Facebook where all entries will be posted throughout the month!
2024 Grand Champion
Over 100 photos were narrowed down round by round until two photos remained for our panel of judges to choose from for this year’s August cover photo. Ultimately, amateur photographer Katie Cohen’s “Into the Shadows” was named this year’s Grand Champion photo! Cohen, who is from Abingdon, took the photo in June of this year at Harmony Hill Stables in Churchville. Judges really liked the more authentic photo technique of the horse coming out of a genuine black background, stating it was a more “real” image than those who remove backgrounds to replace with blackness. In addition, the colors and composition of Cohen’s image are just stunning.
2024 Reserve Grand Champion & Top Amateur Photographer
Coming in a close second was “A Different Perspective” by Rebecca Lazarus of Olney. The photo is of Elisa Harvey’s Norwegian Fjord Jordbaer’s Rasmussen while on an early morning carriage ride from Windsor Manor Stables in Sandy Spring. Judges loved the morning light creating a soft natural haze across the image. In addition, the composition of Lazarus’ image makes for a striking cover. Lazarus submitted several photos that ended up as category winners or category runner ups, which makes her this year’s Top Amateur Photographer winner!
Top Professional Photographer
Catie Greenwell of Hagerstown submitted six photos to this year’s contest with two of them earning either category winner or runner up titles. Several of her other images were judges’ favorites including this one called “Determination” of Amber Martin on her way to winning a barrels competition during the Bullride Mania Rodeo on June 15 at the Washington County Ag Center in Sharpsburg. Judges loved how the photographer captured the energy and drama of barrel racing.
