2011 Quilt Trails Calendar Photo Contest!

This year's Quilt Trails calendar photo contest was a great success and we are doing it again! We want you to send us your best shots. We need pictures of the quilt blocks through all 12 months. The best will be chosen for publication in the calendar for 2011 and each photographer will get credit for their pictures. The calendar will be sold as a fund-raiser for Quilt Trails next year.

The quilt block itself can be large or small in the photo. Above all we are looking for beautiful and appealing scenes of Yancey and Mitchell Counties that suggest what folks who tour the Quilt Trails can enjoy seeing. For instance, a straight-on view of a particular barn and its block may be just the thing to display the structure’s character and hint at its history and years of service. But a scene that features a wooden fencepost or farm implements or livestock with the barn and block clearly visible in the background would be another way to share the feeling and spirit of the place.

Photos that include recognizable people will require a signed model release form for each individual. To avoid that complication, we are mostly looking for scenes without recognizable people.

The basics for submitting digital photos:

Shoot at the highest quality setting your camera offers and send us the unmodified JPEG or JPG files that the camera produces. Copy the files to a CD. Write your name, address, phone number, and email address on the CD. You do not need to identify the locations of the photos - we will recognize the blocks. Mail the CD to us at Quilt Trails, Calendar Contest, PO Box 986, Burnsville, NC 28714. Please, no submissions by email.

Technical details for those who are interested:

Ideally, for the main calendar photos we need 8 megapixel images (2560 x 1920 pixels) or larger, in horizontal (landscape) orientation. We may also use some smaller images and a small vertical shot in the calendar and possibly elsewhere. Please send us the original camera resolution; do not resample to a higher resolution. Do not convert to CMYK.

Send us the original camera JPEG (or TIFF if you shoot in that mode). If you normally shoot in RAW mode, please send us a TIFF version along with a note; if your image is selected, we may want to consult with you for production. If you wish to submit an edited image (please do not apply sharpening) please save it as uncompressed TIFF and send us the original camera image as well.

Usage: When you submit photos you are telling us this is your original work and you are giving permission to Quilt Trails of Western North Carolina to use the images for the calendar and for other publicity, including use on the internet. Photos used in the calendar will be prominently credited to the photographer, with a notation: “Photos are copyright by the individual photographers and are used by permission.” Credit for other uses may not always be practical. Note that you are granting Quilt Trails nonexclusive permission to use the images, and you can continue to use the images yourself. If you sell prints or sell other uses of the images, we request that you donate a portion of the proceeds to Quilt Trails of WNC. Submitted CDs will be retained by Quilt Trails.

Please submit only digital files - not slides or prints. If you shoot slide film or negative film, you can submit a medium-resolution scan (using a drugstore scanning service, for instance). Then if your image is selected for a calendar page, we will need to borrow the slide or negative to make a high-resolution scan.

Deadline for entries is Monday, October 1, 2010 at noon.

The "Moon & Star Over the Mountain" quilt square on the Yancey County Mountain Heritage Center in Burnsville

Winners of the 2010 Calendar Photo Contest:

• Hugh Smith for his photo of Cat Tracks and Snail's Trails, the block on the Penland Weaving Shed;
  
  
• Dick Kennedy for his photos of Grandmother's Quilt on the barn at George's Fork and Highway 19, and his photo of the McIntosh Star on the McIntosh Barn at the edge of Burnsville;
  
  
• Margaret vonRosen for her photo of Fireman's Blanket on the Little Switzerland Fire Department;
  
  
• Stuart DeWitt for his photos of the NC Star on the Toe River Arts Council building in Burnsville, Star of Relief on the old Relief Post Office in Green Mountain, Mountain Heritage on the Mountain Heritage High School barn, The Railroad Quilt on the barn on the Toe River Rd. in Green Mountain, and Old Maid's Ramble on the barn at Price's Creek and Hwy 19;
  
  
• Rachel Garland for her photo of Twelve Crowns, the block on her house at 509 Hidden Creek Lane;
  
  
• Alisa Upson for her photos of Corn and Beans on Fox Country Store, Dogwood on the Mitchell County Historical Society in Bakersville, and Fish on the Peterson's Barn on Pensacola Rd.;
  
  
• Phil Evaul for his photo of the Tree of Life on the cabin at Beech Creek in Buladean; Angie Higgins and Joe Bennett for their photo of Butterfly on the Hospice building; Marsha Burns for her photo of Sunflower on her barn on Highway 261 in Mitchell County;
  
  
• Jeff Boone for his photo of Arbuckle Coffee Pot on his mother's barn;
  
  
• Barbara Webster for her photos of Old Maid's Ramble on the barn at Price's Creek, Dozer, on Young & McQueen, Summer Sun on Ray Vance Miller's barn on Pensacola Rd., Spinning Color Wheel on the barn on Pizzle View in Bakersville, Peony on the home of Jeanette Strobel, Dahlia on the barn on Hwy 261, Fields and Mountains, on the entrance gate to Mountain Heritage Estates on Baker's Creek Rd., and Amish Star on Ye Olde Country Store.