One of the fun parts of the Worldwide Photo Walk is the contest. That is not why we go, but it seems wherever photographers gather there is sure to be a contest to follow. I always love browsing the photographs Scott Kelby picks as the winners. He also does something a little out of the ordinary with the contest, though: he posts an extra set of photos that do not technically win anything, but were just photos that left an impression on him.
Well, the winner of our Belton photo walk, Hylas Kessler, was featured in this extra set of photos, and it well deserves such recognition. In this extra set of photos, Scott Kelby picks photos in a witty set of categories, such as “Best Shot of a Bird Crying” or “Best Shot That’s So Obviously Seattle, but Still Really Good.” Among such outlandish pseudo-categories, the category for this photo was what I would consider core to the art of photography: “Best Simple Composition (and use of color).”
I would actually consider that a high honor. Well, and being the third photo in a list of more than twenty seems to say something as well. As for Hylas’s photography, a quick look through his photostream on Flickr will prove his bent toward simplicity. Many of us struggle for years to simplify our photos, to remove unnecessary details, and to de-clutter our backgrounds, but this seems to be Hylas’s strength. I do not know him well enough to know if that is a learned skill or more innate.
Congratulations to our Hylas Kessler. (Shh. Actually, he lives in Waco, up the road, but if he came to our walk, I am going to claim him for the time being.) And thank you to Scott Kelby for showing us more of the great photos that graced your screen when judging the contest.
