Iowa Lakes students earn blue ribbons at Clay County Fair

(Spencer, Iowa) Two Iowa Lakes Community College Photography students recently earned blue ribbons for their work at the Clay County Fair.

Kim Ronan, of Fairmont, Minnesota, received multiple first-place ribbons for images of snow-capped mountains, tulips, portraiture and a sharply-contrasting black-and-white butterfly resting on a flower.

Sydney Sundblad, of Sioux Rapids, Iowa, earned multiple first-place ribbons for her flower photography and a close-up detail image of a vintage gas pump. She also received honorable mentions for pictures of lightning, dew-soaked flowers and a bridge enveloped in fog.

“The images were taken independently, not as part of an assignment,” said Dave Petrick, lead adjunct instructor of the Photography program at Iowa Lakes.

Petrick said the students’ work shows good use of color and composition to create appealing images with a strong center of attention. Both of them show an ability to see and capture color harmony, and they use the camera well to achieve their vision.

Kim Ronan, of Fairmont, Minnesota

Sydney Sundblad, of Sioux Rapids, Iowa