Kelly Clampitt and the image Dawg with Plotts (below) took top honors receiving the designation of Best in Show. Kelly will take home a cash award of $1,000 furnished through competition proceeds.
Dawg with Plotts (Kelly Clampitt), Best in Show – Overall
William Mauney’s image The Table Rock Fire Star Trails (below) is the public’s pick in this year’s Footsloggers’ People’s Choice Award and will receive $350 cash award furnished by Footsloggers Outdoor and Travel Outfitters. Over 2,300 votes were cast in this year’s People’s Choice Award.
The Table Rock Fire Star Trails (William Mauney), Footsloggers People’s Choice Award
12th Annual Winners List
In the table below, we have listed all the winners for top honors, categories, and special mentions.
Your participation this year will help to make the Student Outdoor Learning Expeditions through ASU’s Outdoor Programs an experience of a lifetime for many students. Thank you for your unwavering support and enthusiasm!
AMPC is funded through the generous contributions of our partners, sponsors and supporters. You can provide needed operational support to AMPC by choosing to make a donation and/or offering us feedback on your user experience.
If you, or someone you know, would like to participate as a competition sponsor or supporter, please contact Rich Campbell, Competition Director, at 828-262-2475.
This year’s panel of esteemed jurors has completed preliminary judging and has chosen 42 images for exhibition from over 1,000 submissions. A complete list of finalists can be seen below and you can browse the photo gallery online.
Final judging to select this year’s Best In Show and individual category winners will take place prior to the public exhibition opening on March 6, 2015 at the Turchin Center for the Visual Arts in Boone, NC. The exhibition and voting for the People’s Choice Award opens on Friday, March 6 at 5:00 p.m. and closes on March 27, 2015 5:00 p.m.
Once voting for the People’s Choice Award ends on March 27, 2015, competition organizers will announce this year’s award winners on www.appmtnphotocomp.com and https://www.facebook.com/appmtphotocomp the following day.
Congratulations to this year’s finalists and thanks to everyone for submitting such great images! Your entry fees not only help raise funds for Appalachian State University’s Outdoor Programs SOLE Trips for students, but also show the world the unique people, places, and pursuits that distinguish the Southern Appalachians.
And the finalists are . . .
Adventure:: Imagery depicting mountain sports such as climbing, kayaking, mountain biking, skiing, snowboarding, etc.
Finalists for the 12th Annual Appalachian Mountain Photography Competition (AMPC) have been selected. We would like to thank all of the photographers who participated in the AMPC this year. With over 1,000 images submitted for this year’s competition, we were just shy of our record number making this the second largest number of submissions in AMPC’s 12 year history.
The finalists were selected on Wednesday, December 10th, 2014, after the jurors spent the better part of a day going through every image. Notifications were emailed earlier today to all of the photographers who were selected letting them know which images were chosen and how to submit them for the public exhibition. The exhibition will be opening on March 6th, 2015 and will go through June 6th, 2015 in the Mezzanine Gallery at the Turchin Center for the Visual Arts in Boone, NC.
The finalists’ photographs will be added to our website early next year once all submitted images have been received by the Turchin Center. In the meantime, you may enjoy browsing and commenting on finalists from prior competitions in the galleries on our new website.
We cannot thank everyone enough for their participation in this year’s competition. It is the photographers that continue to provide the margin of excellence that we strive to achieve.
If you, or someone you know, would like to participate as a competition sponsor or supporter, please contact Rich Campbell, Competition Director, at 828-262-2475.
Professional and amateur photographers are officially invited to participate in this year’s Appalachian Mountain Photography Competition! Every year the competition gets more fierce as photographers from all over the world submit hundreds of entries for review. What will you be submitting this year?
There are a couple of new developments for this year’s competition that we’d like to make everyone aware of. The competition will now offer “Early Bird” registration. We get tons of entries at the end of the competition, so we are offering a 15% discount on registration fees through August 22nd, 2014. In addition, we have now consolidated all of the AMPC files and have launched a newly designed website. We hope you enjoy the new, easier to navigate interface. We look forward to your feedback so we can continue to make this competition one to be enjoyed for years.
The prize for the Our Ecological Footprint category is larger than ever, totaling $500. Appalachian Voices will be furnishing $250 cash while Mast General Store will be contributing a gift certificate for $250 of gear. That makes this category the 3rd largest prize! If you need inspiration on capturing imagery that shows negative impacts on the environment in Southern Appalachia please visit the Appalachian Voices website for the latest news.
The Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation‘s category, Blue Ridge Parkway — Beyond the Blacktop, will challenge the photographer to capture a sense of place, leading viewers to not only discover the views and vistas but the Parkway’s connection to culture & history, natural resources, and recreational activities..
Please note that this year’s timeframe for submissions is a bit different as well. This year’s contest started with “Early Bird” registration in mid-April coinciding with a feature article in Our State Magazine.Normal registration started on August 22nd, 2014 with a deadline for submissions on November 21st, 2014 at 5:00pm.
As usual, please help us spread the word! We have press releases available on our Media page. If you’re promoting the comp on Twitter, please use the hashtag #appmtnphoto.
Remember that a portion of the proceeds raised from the AMPC support Outdoor Programs Student Learning Expeditions at Appalachian State University. SOLE trips take students around the world on educational journeys of discovery. Visit the Outdoor Programs website to learn more about this exciting program.
Thank you for your support this year and Happy Shooting!
Organizers of the Appalachian Mountain Photography Competition today announced the winners of the 11th annual competition. Charles Johnson and his image CJ Autumn Leaves (below) took top honors receiving the designation of Best in Show. Charles will take home a cash award of $1,000 furnished through competition proceeds.
CJ Autumn Leaves (Charles Johnson), 11th Annual AMPC Best in Show – Overall
Winners of the Blue Ridge Parkway category will receive a cash award sponsored by the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, and the Environmental Footprint category will receive a cash award and generous prize package furnished by Appalachian Voices and the Mast General Store, respectively. The remaining category winners receive generous Mast General Store prize packages.
Table Rock Fire (Lynn Willis), 11th Annual AMPC People’s Choice Award
Lynn Willis’ image Table Rock Fire (above) is the public’s pick in this year’s People’s Choice Award and will receive $350 furnished by Footsloggers Outdoor and Travel Outfitters. Almost 1,200 votes were cast in this year’s People’s Choice Award.
11th Annual Winners List
In the table below, we have listed all the winners for top honors, categories, and special mentions.
Your participation this year will help to make the Student Outdoor Learning Expeditions through ASU’s Outdoor Programs an experience of a lifetime for many students. Thank you for your unwavering support and enthusiasm!
AMPC is funded through the generous contributions of our partners, sponsors and supporters. You can provide needed operational support to AMPC by choosing to make a donation and/or offering us feedback on your user experience.
If you, or someone you know, would like to participate as a competition sponsor or supporter, please contact Rich Campbell, Competition Director, at 828-262-2475.
This year’s panel of esteemed jurors has completed preliminary judging and has chosen 49 images for exhibition from almost 800 submissions. A complete list of finalists can be seen below and you can browse the photo gallery online.
Final judging to select this year’s Best In Show and individual category winners will take place prior to the public exhibition opening on March 7th, 2014 at the Turchin Center for the Visual Arts in Boone, NC. The exhibition and voting for the People’s Choice Award will begin at 7:00 pm.
Once voting for the People’s Choice Award ends on March 28th, 2014, competition organizers will announce this year’s award winners the following week.
Congratulations to this year’s finalists and thanks to everyone for submitting such great images! Your entry fees not only help raise funds for Appalachian State University’s Outdoor Programs SOLE Trips for students, but also show the world the unique people, places, and pursuits that distinguish the Southern Appalachians.
And the finalists are . . .
Adventure:: Imagery depicting mountain sports such as climbing, kayaking, mountain biking, skiing, snowboarding, etc.
The 11th Annual Appalachian Mountain Photography Competition (AMPC) is currently open for registration and submissions. Visit appmtnphotocomp.org prior to the competition’s close at 5pm on Friday, November 22, 2013 for more information and to submit images online. The Appalachian Mountain Photography Competition offers numerous categories that will be chosen as winners with $4,000 in cash and prizes.
A partnership between Appalachian State University Outdoor Programs, the Turchin Center for the Visual Arts, and the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, AMPC celebrates the unique people, places, and pursuits that distinguish the Southern Appalachians and attracts entries from across the United States. The Appalachian Mountain Photography Competition has grown into one the region’s most prestigious photography competitions with approximately 800 submissions last year and viewed in person by over 10,000 people at the Turchin Center for Visual Arts. The AMPC is made possible through the sponsorship of Virtual Blue Ridge, the premier online resource for the Blue Ridge Parkway, and the Mast General Store. Supporters of the AMPC include: Appalachian Voices, Bistro Roca, Footsloggers, Peabody’s, and Stick Boy Bread Company.
The Appalachian Mountain Photography Competition will culminate in a professionally curated exhibition, which will be available to the public from March 7 to June 7, 2014 in the Turchin Center for the Visual Arts. All of the images are selected by a panel of jurors who have a professional background in photography and love for the natural environment. The Appalachian Mountain Photography Competition is pleased to announce the jurors for the 11th annual competition as John Latimer, Kristin Espinosa, and Carl Galie.
John Latimer
John Latimer is the coordinator of the Commercial Photography Program at Appalachian State University. Prior to coming to Appalachian State, he taught photography and digital imaging at the Rochester Institute of Technology. He is a master printmaker and retoucher. His clients have included the George Eastman House, Jerry Uelsmann, Maggie Taylor, John Issac, Catherine Opie and other prominent photographers around the country. His own photography has been shown as far afield as China and Japan as well as being carried commercially by Bloomingdales. He has lectured and given workshops across the country on Photoshop, printing and color theory application in photography.
Kristin Espinosa
Kristin Espinosa is a self-taught, natural light photographer who has been working in the fine arts field for more than ten years. Her innate ability to embrace the authenticity of her subject’s emotions and suspend them in time distinguishes her work. Her style is organic, honest and, at times, raw. Along with a casual approach to life and photography that puts her clients at ease, Kristin has established a high standard for the quality of her work. While growing up, the High Country was her second home, but for the past thirteen years she and her husband, Santiago, have lived here exclusively. They, along with their two young children, spend most of their free time enjoying in the natural playground that is The High Country.
Carl Galie
Carl Galie is a North Carolina photographer who has devoted his work to conservation issues for the last 18 years. Galie’s photographs of the Roanoke River basin have helped protect and preserve that region since 1995 when he received an Emerging Artist Grant from the Winston-Salem, Forsyth County Arts Council and the North Carolina Arts Council. Galie’s photography of the Roanoke River Basin has been used in publications produced by The Nature Conservancy, Wildlife In North Carolina, Orion Afield magazine, the North Carolina Aquarium, Roanoke Canal Museum, Roanoke River Partners, The Southern Environmental Law Center, and by The National Park Service. In 2009 Galie began working with Appalachian Voices and The National Committee for the New River while documenting the vanishing beauty of coal country, focusing his attention on the devastating affect mountaintop removal of coal is having on our nation’s water resources.
“We are thrilled to announce our jurors this year. They have a very broad background in photography and will provide a strong and varied perspective from which to view the images,” states AMPC Competition Director, Rich Campbell. “We are excited to have these individuals be a part of the AMPC who will dedicate their time, talent, and expertise to the competition this year.”
The Appalachian Mountain Photography Competition offers numerous categories that will be chosen as winners with over $4,000 in cash and prizes. Jurors John Latimer, Kristin Espinosa, and Carl Galie will review all entries and narrow them down to approximately forty-six images that will be displayed in exhibition at the Turchin Center for the Visual Arts, March 7 to June 7, 2014. From those images, the judges will select the final winners which will be showcased during the exhibition and at the 18th annual Banff Film Festival March 28 and 29, 2014. Deadline for all AMPC submissions is November 22, 2013.
For more information about this photography competition, please visit appmtnphotocomp.org, or call Outdoor Programs at 828.262.2475.
The photograph above was taken by Percilla Sue Counts of Boone, N.C., formerly of the SandLick community in Dickenson County, VA. It was one of 46 images selected for the 10th annual Appalachian Mountain Photography Competition Exhibition.
The final 46 photographs were selected from more than 1,000 submissions. The exhibition will be on display at the Turchin Center for the Visual Arts at Appalachian State University, 423 W. King St., Boone, N.C., through mid-August.
Sue shares this amazing story behind her photograph. The photograph is titled: ” ‘Aunt’ Orelena’s Story,” the photograph was taken on Sept. 16, 2012 at Milepost 189.9 at the Puckett Cabin at Milepost 189.9 on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
‘Aunt’ Orelena’s Story (Sue Counts)
Shown in the photo is actor/playwright Phyllis Stump of Lexington, N.C., who walked up the path to the outdoor setting where she would perform her one-woman, one-act play titled, “They Call Me Aunt Orlene (spelling of her name varies depending on the historical source).”
I had heard about the play from my Aunt Frenchie, who had read about it in Blue Ridge Country Magazine. Aunt Frenchie and I had visited the Puckett Cabin in the fall of 2011 during our trip on the Blue Ridge Parkway, and she knew of my interest in this woman.
It was a very cloudy morning in Boone, and the clouds thickened and fog gathered as I drove to Milepost 189.9 with my picnic, camera and lawn chair. When I arrived at Puckett Cabin, it was so foggy that I really felt the play would be cancelled. The Blue Ridge Park Ranger, however, assured me that it was going on as scheduled.
I enjoyed my picnic in my car. Afterward, I got out with my lawn chair, camera and hooded raincoat and found a front row seat. A few other people (maybe 30) had gathered with their chairs, and we waited for Phyllis Stump to appear.
I started snapping a few pictures as the fog created a mysterious look and feeling to the surroundings. Then I saw Ms. Stump walking up the path to the area where she would share the amazing story of Aunt Orlene. I continued to take pictures until she reached the rocking chair.
The photographs were wonderful and the performance magnificent!
According to Phyllis Stump’s play, “They Call Me Aunt Orlene” and Karen Cecil Smith’s book, “Orlean Puckett … The Life of a Mountain Midwife,” Aunt Orlean Hawks Puckett lived from 1844 until 1939 in the area of Carroll and Patrick counties, Va., along what is now Milepost 189.9 of the Blue Ridge Parkway.
She got married at age 16 and had 24 children. Her first child, Julia Ann, was born in 1862 and lived only a few months. It is believed that she died of diphtheria.
Aunt Orlean had 23 other pregnancies, but none of the children survived more than a few days, possibly as a result of Rh hemolytic disease. Aunt Orlean’s last child was born in October 1881 when she was around 37 years old.
In 1889, when Aunt Orlean was 45 years of age, she was asked to assist in the home birth of Kinney Bowman. Aunt Orlean had finally found her mission in life – being a “granny woman” to assist in bringing healthy babies into the world. Aunt Orlean delivered around 1,000 babies – the last one, Maxwell Hawks – on Aug. 30, 1938, a year before she died at age 95. Her mission in life had been fulfilled!
Years after her death, Aunt Orlean continues to be recognized and honored for her valuable work. The Orelena Hawks Puckett Institute) in Asheville, N.C., is a nonprofit engaging in activities that enhance and promote healthy child, parent and family functioning.
In 2012, Aunt Orleana Hawks Puckett was honored with the “Virginia Women in History” recognition after being nominated by Larnette Snow, librarian with the Blue Ridge and Meadow of Dan Elementary Schools.
I’ve always been fascinated by the miracle of birth. When I was 16, I was allowed to be present at the “home delivery” of my niece, Ramona Jean Branham. My sister, her husband and their 1-1/2-year-old daughter, Deborah Sue, lived up the road from us. They did not have a lot of household money, and it had been arranged for Dr. Tivis Colley “T.C.” Sutherland to come to their home to deliver the new baby. On Sept. 12, 1959, my sister let us know that the time for the birth had come.
I accompanied my grandmother, Carrie Arrington Edwards, mother Allene Edwards Counts Sykes, great aunt Myrtle Arrington Edwards and neighbor May Edwards Colley to my sister’s home to wait with her for the miracle of birth. Mother had promised Dr. “Tiv” that she would not call on him until the time was upon us. So we women waited, told stories of other births, caught up on the neighborhood gossip, cooked a pot of soup beans and made cornbread to have ready for Dr. Tiv after he delivered the baby … and boiled water.
Dr. Tiv got there at the very end, and I was by my sister’s side when Mona presented herself to the world – a healthy 9 lb. 4 oz. baby girl.
Mona was among the last babies that the old mountain doctor delivered in the rural area of SandLick in Dickenson County, Va. in the Appalachian Mountains. He died a year later on Oct. 21, 1960 at age 80.
It wasn’t until the fall of 1962 that I finally visited the beautiful Blue Ridge Parkway. Oh, I had heard many stories because my father, Ray Clinton Counts, had been a member of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) that helped to build it.
My college roommate in Hillcrest Hall on the Virginia Tech campus was from Floyd County, and she invited me to go home with her that fall. Her parents, the Harmons, were some of the sweetest people I’ve ever met. They took me up on the Blue Ridge Parkway to see the sights and to visit Mabry Mill and Milepost 189.9. Needless to say, the beauty of the fall foliage was breathtaking along this magnificent wonder.
They were making apple butter at Mabry Mill, and there were other “mountain” demonstrations. I really enjoyed all of that, but what really got my attention was the story about Aunt Orlean Puckett at Milepost 189.9. I recall Mrs. Harmon sharing the story about Aunt Orlean, a midwife who gave birth to 24 of her own children – none of whom survived – but who went on to help birth 1,000 healthy babies in these mountains where there were no doctors or other midwives.
According to the Virginia Women in History website: “Women have played an integral part in Virginia from its beginnings, yet their contributions have often been overlooked in the history books. Until well into the 20th Century, written histories tended to focus on the historically male-dominated fields of government and politics, the military and large-scale landholding to the virtual exclusion of all other venues of leadership or achievement. They ignored women’s critical roles as wives, mothers, educators, nurses, lay leaders, farmers, artists, writers, reformers, pioneers, business leaders, laborers and community builders. But this National Women’s History Month, join us in celebrating these Women in History Honorees.” Visit the Virginia Women in History website for more information.
A footnote: The spelling of Orelena varies depending on the source, and appears in the following variations: Orlene, Orlean, Orleana, Orelena, or as some of the Census takers recorded, Olinah, Pauline, Aulina, Orlena, Aulina, Orlenna Orlean, Orlene. The Virginia Women in History chose Orleana Hawks Puckett. Take your pick.
Organizers of the Appalachian Mountain Photography Competition today announced the winners of the 10th annual competition. Sharon Canter and her image Another Autumn (below) took top honors receiving the designation of Best in Show. Sharon will take home a cash award of $1,000 furnished through competition proceeds.
Another Autumn (Sharon Canter) – 10th Annual Best In Show Winner
Looking Glass Rock Sunrise (Kenneth Voltz) – 10th Annual People’s Choice Award
Kenneth Voltz image The Looking Glass Sunrise (above) is the public’s pick in this year’s People’s Choice Award and will receive $350 furnished by Footsloggers Outdoor and Travel Outfitters. Almost 2,000 votes were cast in this year’s People’s Choice Award.
10th Annual Winners List
In the table below, we have listed all the winners for top honors, categories, and special mentions.
Your participation this year will help to make the Student Outdoor Learning Expeditions through ASU’s Outdoor Programs an experience of a lifetime for many students. Thank you for your unwavering support and enthusiasm!
AMPC is funded through the generous contributions of our partners, sponsors and supporters. You can provide needed operational support to AMPC by choosing to make a donation and/or offering us feedback on your user experience.
If you, or someone you know, would like to participate as a competition sponsor or supporter, please contact Rich Campbell, Competition Director, at 828-262-2475.
The Appalachian Mountain Photography Competition (AMPC) opening reception will take place Friday, March, 1 at 7 p.m. in the Turchin Center for the Visual Arts at Appalachian State University.
The opening will feature images from the 10th annual competition’s 46 finalists, as well as a chance for visitors to cast their votes for the coveted AMPC People’s Choice Award.
People’s Choice voting officially starts March 1, and a kiosk will be available at the opening for attendees to cast their votes. In addition, voting will be available online until 5 p.m. on May 17.
A panel of jurors selected the finalists’ photos from more than 800 submissions. The jurors will soon return for the final round of judging to select category winners, award special mention honors and select one image as Best in Show.
According to contest organizers, the AMPC has grown into one the region’s most prestigious photography competitions, with 2012’s images having been viewed by more than 10,000 people at the Turchin Center.
“Our mission is to promote discovery through human-powered adventure, and photography is an active process of discovery,” said Rich Campbell, associate director of Outdoor Programs. “By promoting photography, we are encouraging people to go out and engage with the world around them.”
Proceeds from the annual competition are used to support students who wish to experience Student Outdoor Learning Expeditions (SOLE) at Appalachian State University.
SOLE trips are 10- to 55-day active educational adventures of discovery, where students spend extended time exploring rugged and remote wilderness and become immersed in new and exciting cultures – domestically and internationally – while gaining academic credit.
Organizers of the Appalachian Mountain Photography Competition today announced the winners of the 12th annual competition.
Organizers of the 
