Photo Costco’s 2006
Photo Contest
finishwinners
“GIVE US YOUR BEST SHOT” was the theme of Costco’s
2006 Photo Contest, making entering as simple as picking up
your camera and snapping whatever struck your fancy.
The photos came from members in every country where there
is a Costco, and the pictures themselves capture people and
scenes from all around the world. More than 30,000 photos
were received, through the mail and on-line.
Our thanks to all the photographers and their subjects, the
team of judges and the many sponsors, including Fuji, who
made this event possible.—T. Foster Jones
First place
Broken down and gone to heaven▲ Fall colour (above right)
THIS PHOTO STANDS as an example of things: winning the lottery or going back to COSTCO MEMBER Kitty Christou passed
the wonders of digital photography— the time when the biggest thing to worry by this bucolic horse farm near Kelowna,
meshing together three aspects of breath- about was getting a certain number of pho- British Columbia, several times in the
taking Canadian scenery. tos taken in a day. autumn, waiting for just the right moment for
Greg Pichnej of Newcastle, Ontario, saw When he retired in 2000, Pichnej a photo she saw in her mind’s eye.
the farmhouse along the Trans-Canada returned to photography. While he says that Finally, one mid-October day, everything
High-way, where it stands on a stretch of he’s operating as a hobbyist, not a profes- came together: the rust colour of the leaves
land that separates the eastbound and west- sional, he has seen his share of success. In set against the white tree bark, a slight
bound lanes. It was threatening to rain, but addition to winning a couple of contests, shadow from the fence lending symmetry to
he insisted on stopping to capture the iso- Pichnej has shown his work in a handful of the photo and just the right lighting. And so
lated structure. The sky, he explains, is taken galleries. Additionally, a toy company has she captured the moment, which took sec-from an image he snapped of the Inside purchased several of his works, including ond place in the 2006 Costco Photo Contest.
Passage, while the background was shot on this winning photo, to be used on a series of “At that particular instance, the colours
the prairie. jigsaw puzzles. and everything were perfect,” says Christou.
Pichnej worked as a professional pho- “Isortof won the lottery,”says Pichnej.“I “There was an overall feeling of everything
tographer in the late 1960s. In 1970 he put feel like I’ve gone back 30 years, and I’m doing coming together at that moment just as I
down his camera and entered the corporate exactly what I want to do.” hoped it would. The lines were perfect; the
world, spending the next 30 years working in For his first-place photo, Pichnej will light was perfect.”
areas such as communications and project receive a $1,500 Costco Cash card. For her second-place photo, Christou
management. During those years, Pichnej —Stephanie E. Ponder will receive a $1,000 Costco Cash card.
says, he used to meditate on one of two —Tim Talevich
