Silver Springs-area photo contest

The first-place winner of the Silver Springs Area Chamber of Commerce Fall Photo Contest had only to walk onto her back deck to get the winning shot.

Betty Retzer has a 360-degree view of the mountains from her home in Stagecoach and takes photos regularly of the hills, especially the sunsets reflected on them.

"My favorite time of the evening is when the sun is going down. When it's clear out, it kind of sparkles like diamonds," said Retzer, with Bob Retzer Computer Consultants.

Her photo of a sunset over the silhouetted Pine Nut Mountains was shot with a Sony Cybershot digital camera, she said.

The theme for the chamber's fall photo contest was "The Hills Are Alive." Entrants for the chamber's second photo contest submitted shots showing the multi-colored hues of the hills in the Silver Springs, Stagecoach and Lahontan Valley Areas.

Leandra Carr won second place for a photo of a rainbow plunging behind a hill. Carr said she took the shot last spring from her home, which is just two blocks from Lake Lahontan State Park in Silver Springs.

"It was taken in my back yard. Where the rainbow was, was over Lake Lahontan," Carr said. "I just happened to see it at the right time. There are a lot of rainbows out there."

As a real estate agent with ERA Pioneer Properties in Silver Springs, Carr keeps her Sony Mavica digital camera handy and puts it to use for scenics at those just-right moments.

Kim Robinson of K & J Computer Systems, Inc. placed third with a photo of rabbit brush in bloom with area bluffs in the background. Robinson was not available for comment on the photo.

Prizes included a photo gift basket valued at $50, donated by Schaefer Construction, for first place. A $40 gift certificate for a camera cleaning and checkup was donated by Nevada Camera & Repair for second place, and the third-place photographer was awarded with a $25 gift certificate for FedExKinkos services, donated by Field of Thorns.

According to E. Marie Brierley, chairwoman of the chamber's communications committee, the chamber had an excellent response to the contest. The committee had difficulty judging the 40 excellent photos, she said.

Winners were announced Oct. 9 at the Silver Springs Area Chamber of Commerce Fall Business Expo.

Details for the two 2005 contests were also announced. The theme for the spring contest is historical Lyon County landmarks. The fall photo theme is desert foliage in the county. The contests are open to anyone, not just chamber members.

"We open the contest up to the community. We're really trying to engage the community and to create a positive buzz about Silver Springs," Brierley said.

Submissions for the 2005 contests will be considered for publication as postcards and a 2006 calendar of the area.

Additional information on future photo contests and the chamber is available at www.silverspringsnevada.com or by calling the chamber at 577-4336.