ARTS & CULTURE

Capturing the Moment

The winner of the 4th Annual Photo Contest shows off her work in this exclusive photo gallery

Amy Crawford

Contributing Writer

May 31, 2007

“During the day it’s a gorgeous valley,” Linhoff says, of this image. But “the lighting...was much more dramatic” at sunrise. “I also really like how tall the trees are,” she says. “The scale of the trees is so dramatic. They were like 200 feet tall.” Joelle Linhoff, age 18, Minnetonka, Minnesota, Photographed July 2005

This draft image captured an irrigation system, a bit of modern farm equipment that detracts from the pasture’s romance, evident in the winning shot. Joelle Linhoff, age 18, Minnetonka, Minnesota, Photographed July 2005

In this photo, Linhoff explains, “The silhouette pops out of the background. It’s one of the first things that you look at, even though normally you would look at the white part before your eye travels to the dark. To me, this photo represents solitude and reflection.” Joelle Linhoff, age 18, Minnetonka, Minnesota, Photographed July 2005

“The black line in this one was a building, a cement shed,” she says. “I kept it in on purpose, for framing. I really like this one except for the solar flares—they’re kind of distracting.” Joelle Linhoff, age 18, Minnetonka, Minnesota, Photographed July 2005

“We got a day off and went to the beach,” Linhoff recalls. “It was freezing, but it was fun. What I like about this picture is that most of those footprints are from people in our group, so it’s kind of like each of us leaving our mark.” Joelle Linhoff, age 18, Minnetonka, Minnesota, Photographed July 2005

Though the 18-year-old belongs to a digital generation, she remains a devotee of old-fashioned film—which presented a slight problem: “I didn’t know how the photos were turning out,” she says. “When I was looking at them after they had been developed, I was surprised that I only got the one great photo. I didn’t get that many really good ones.” She took this image on the second morning and again wound up with a solar flare. Joelle Linhoff, age 18, Minnetonka, Minnesota, Photographed July 2005

Though natural landscapes are her favorite genre and film her preferred medium, Linhoff captured this portrait of her cat, Tiger, with a webcam. “I was just playing with my computer,” she says, “but I love how it looks like the cat’s just going to climb out of the frame.”

Joelle Linhoff, winner of our 4th Annual Photo Contest, spent three days on a hill overlooking a New Zealand pasture before she snapped the photo that would net her the grand prize. "I just took as many photos as I could," she says, "using as much film as I had brought. I allotted one whole roll of film to the pasture."