Wintercraft Photo Contest 2015 RESULTS!

The summer of 2015 has come and gone in a flash, and we are excited to announce the outcome of the Wintercraft Photo Contest for 2015.  Special thanks to the judges for reviewing the submitted photos. Below are reflections by Jennifer Shea Hedberg, Wintercraft founder, on the winning photos.  Also, visit wintercraft.com/photocontest - we'll kick off the 2016 contest soon! Have some fun and share the beauty of ice lanterns! Here are the winners!

THE GRAND PRIZE
($100 Wintercraft Gift Certificate) is awarded to Gail Murton of Finland, Minnesota. This photo has so many wonderful elements, but I will start with the inventive use of a Globe Ice Lantern. I had never heard or seen anyone use a Globe Ice Lantern as a bird feeder before, and I love it! My father is crazy about birds and I am looking forward to building him an icy bird feeder for outside his window this winter. I am imagining a few stacked on top of each other with the top globe positioned in the traditional display mode with the bottom side up, as Gail has done. The stack of ice should make a slippery surface for invading squirrels :)  The beauty of this photo is self evident--the bird captured in mid-flight and the sun shining through the ice--simply wonderful. A big thank you again to Gail for posting this image on the Cornell Lab of Ornithology Facebook page and mentioning Wintercraft--so thoughtful!

FIRST PLACE OUTDOOR CATEGORY
($50 Wintercraft Gift Certificate) is awarded to Bob Hayes of Minneapolis, Minnesota who wandered down to the Middlemoon Creekwalk last March and captured this stunning rainbow effect in a globe ice lantern amidst some shards of ice glass (the ice lantern was I believe made by my husband Tom).   Amazing! I will add that this image did bring up the topic of whether the photographer is required to make the globe ice lantern him/herself. The rule for the Wintercraft Photo Contest 2015 pertaining to this issue states: "All photos must contain one or more Globe Ice Lanterns made using Wintercraft® products."  Given that Tom Hedberg of Wintercraft made this globe, we know for sure that it was made with Wintercraft products!

FIRST PLACE INDOOR CATEGORY
($50 Wintercraft Gift Certificate) was awarded to Michele Klein of Morton, Illinois. A huge part of my personal enjoyment of Globe Ice Lanterns is that they can be brought inside, so I always look forward to seeing how other people do so. Michele created a stunning globe and set it off with a floral arrangement of roses and sparkly bits as a centerpiece. Beautifully done, Michele and congratulations!

We did not plan to give Honorable Mentions this year, but we had so many amazing photos submitted . . . so to honor all those that were too honorable not to mention, we created a VIDEO with the winners plus all the Honorable Mention photos. I also think we should seriously consider offering a Creativity Award for 2016. I would love to honor those that incorporate fun new ideas for making and displaying Globe Ice Lanterns as it exciting to see the varied uses, regardless of the photographic outcome.

Enjoy the video!

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