More than 100 entries from students, alumni and faculty poured in for the Virginia Magazine Photo Contest, which sought pictures that captured the spirit of the University.

The contest was judged by professional photographers Robert Llewellyn and Luca DiCecco, U.Va. photography professor William Wylie and members of the magazine staff. Although students captured first, second and third places, alumni and faculty are well represented in the images that follow the prize winners.

First Place ($200 prize)
M. Sean Peach (Col ’04)
The pond near the Curry School is one of Sean Peach’s favorite places on Grounds because he says it “has become a place where students meet, where friendships grow and couples find comfort in each other.” The star trails in the night sky resulted from the earth’s rotation during the hour of combined exposure that produced this picture, taken with a Canon 5D. “I decided to try to picture the pond at night because that usually brings out more vivid colors than what we can see with our eyes,” says Peach, who is currently pursuing an M.D./Ph.D. at U.Va. “I almost gave up on the shot because it got extremely cold that night and my toes toward the end were freezing. But once I got home and viewed it on the computer, it was well worth it.”

Second Place ($150 prize)
Daniel L. Garner (Col ’11)
While taking photos with his Nikon D50 during an early morning last fall, Garner says he was suddenly taken by the red row of trees beside the brick path to the Corner, framed between the pillars. “I had never seen the pillars like this before,” says Garner, who is majoring in English and religion. “It is hard to believe things we look at every day can be so much more if we see them under the right light.”

Third Place ($100 prize)
David Sawchak (Col ’11)
“The clouds, backlit by the moon, presented a stunning backdrop for the Rotunda, and I wanted to capture that in an image,” says Sawchak, who is majoring in computer science. “The students meeting on the steps shows that even the most historic of the University’s buildings are still popular meeting places.” This photograph was taken with a Canon Digital Rebel XTi. Sawchak, who particularly enjoys photographing theatrical performances, is the darkroom manager for the Virginia Photo Club.

The Best of the Rest

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