A scenic picture of West Virginia’s iconic Blackwater Falls has been selected the winner of the WVU’s 2009 Mountaineer Week photo contest.

The photo of the site near CanaanValley was taken by Daniel Kersey, a visual art major from Ashland, Ky. The judges said the clear quality of the picture and the detail of the billowing clouds and trees really made this photo stand out from the rest.

This year’s judges were: Michael Sherwin, a photography teacher at WVU; Molly Hott, a student at WVU who has placed third in the nation twice in photography contests; and Debbie Ryan, who works in Student Organizations Services and has been exposed to many types of photography.

The photographs were judged based on the “West Virginia Beauty” theme of the contest. They were also judged on technique, including basic photography skills, lighting and composition.

“For people who were always somewhat interested in photography but never got the chance to try it, I think that this contest opened a door for them to get out there and try their hand at it,” Hott said.

The WVU community was also invited to act as judges and vote for their favorite photograph. The photo with the most votes was deemed the People’s Choice winner.

This year’s People’s Choice winner is a picture of Woodburn Hall that has peculiar lighting, making the building look ironically haunted and foreboding. The picture was taken by Eric Perkuhn, an engineering major of Morgantown.

“The Woodburn photo was actually taken around this time last year during the first snowfall. The lighting seemed to be perfect and the building had an eerie glow to it,” Perkuhn said.

Perkuhn’s photograph received 53 votes from the more than 200 votes cast, 11 ahead of the runner up.

“I think that the contest was a great way to get people out and really look at their state in a different way,” Hott said.

-WVU-

ep/11/21/09

CONTACT: Sonja Wilson, Mountainlair
304-293-2702, sonja.wilson@mail.wvu.edu