Last week, Central Wyoming College professor Lonnie Slack and photography students attended the Wyoming Professional Photographers Association annual convention in Casper. Photographers from across the state entered work into a print competition comprised of several categories. The students work was entered into a student category which was judged using professional standards and criteria.
“I was so proud of how my students competed in the annual WPPA print competition,” said Lonnie Slack, professor of photography.” The preparation for the competition began in early January, when students could submit images to the competition. Some of the images came from my classes and some were images they created on their own.”
Before the competition Slack brought in Ken Stoecklin a board member for WPPA and a commercial photographer from Casper. He spent time with the students helping them choose six images to enter for the competition and helped the students to refine their images.
Each student was encouraged to entry six entries. CWC student Alec Gaddie received awards in five categories including judges choice and best in show for her photograph titled “Arise.”
“I took this photograph for a low key project and it turned out a lot better than I thought,” Gaddie said. “It was different than the other photographs I had done.”
Gaddie also was recognized for student photographer of the year. She will advance to a regional photography competition.
Dillan Barlow also received judges choice and first place for best female portrait for his work titled “Paint a Picture.”
“I fell in love with it,” Barlow said. “It was something really different.”
“I am extremely excited about Dillan and Alec each winning a judge award,” Slack said. “They were up against master photographers with more than fifteen years of experience.”
Not only did the students enter their photographs for competition but they also attended workshops during the event. Some of the workshops included learning how to price artwork, senior portraits and Adobe Lightroom.
“We learned so much and took a lot of notes,” Barlow said. “The main thing is not to underestimate yourself. Alec and I both did well out of 260 or more photographs that were entered. The judges choice were against master photographers and for the judges to pick ours was amazing.”
Both students are currently in the criminal justice program and took photography courses.
“We just love photography,” Gaddie said. “It’s something we enjoyed doing before so we decided to take photography classes.”
“Lonnie is an amazing teacher and we wouldn’t have done so well without him,” Barlow said.
All of the students work is on display in the Robert A. Peck Arts Center gallery. The Gallery also has our end of the year Student Art Show showcasing all student artwork.
“Paint a Picture” by Dillan Barlow
“Arise” by Alec Gaddie
Student Division Awards
Best Female Portrait
1st Place – Dillon Barlow, “Paint a Picture”
2nd Place – Alec Gaddie, “Hood Ornament”
3rd Places – Tina Arellano, “What if we…”
Best Child Portrait
1st Place – Tina Arellano, “Baby Blue Eyes”
2nd Place Rylee Watson, “Sweet Lullaby”
3rd Place Robert Wands, “Keys to my Soul”
Best Illustrative Image
1st Place – Alec Gaddie, “Arise”
2nd Place – Tina Arellano, “Reflections”
3rd Place – Chelsea Ellis, “The Light Within”
Best Landscape
1st Place – Rylee Watson, “Beauty in Dark Times”
2nd Place – Rylee Watson, “Joyful Soul”
3rd Place – Chelsea Ellis, “Simply Reflect”
Best Pet Portrait
1st Place – Robert Wands, “Jake”
2nd Place -Darrylynn Fabrizius, “Haley”
3rd Place – Tina Arellano, “My Best Friend”
Best of Show
Alec Gaddie for “Arise”
Student Photographer of the Year
Alec Gaddie
central Wyoming College 
Congratulations to our very talented photography students and the excellent instruction provided to them by Lonnie Slack. He has given these students a valuable skill.