Mound shutterbug Chris Grace took this photo, November Splendor, which won first place in the Wildlife & Nature category of our 2017 Lens on Lake Minnetonka photo contest.
On an evening last fall, as Grace watched the sunset over West Arm Bay near her home, she captured the array of colors spreading across the sky. “The light around us was magical. You just don’t see it very often, and it was very moving,” Grace says.
Her sister-in-law, who was with her that night to watch the sunset, later used Grace’s photo for reference and completed an oil painting of the scene that now hangs in Grace’s living room.
Grace has been practicing photography since she was in high school—back then, she says, she shot black and white film on a 35 mm camera and developed her prints in the dark room. Even today, when she uses digital cameras like the Olympus C750 ultra zoom, she never uses Photoshop, because she likes to mimic the unaltered state of her film photos.
She’s had a lifelong love for the outdoors, and she still walks 10 miles a day, usually with her camera, to capture nature-focused images. Many of her photos are shots of animals. She also loves capturing candid images of her family and friends.
Grace is always eager to share her work with others and especially enjoys submitting to the Lens on Lake Minnetonka photo contest because it is local. “The way I come about pictures is walking in the area, so this contest is appropriate. It makes me happy,” Grace says.
Submit your photos this month to our 2018 Lens on Lake Minnetonka contest! Get all the info here.
