Maui students encouraged to enter photo contest

Maui Photo Festival & Workshops 2009 scholarship student Zach Pezzillo, who has been accepted into the Rochester Institute of Technology’s photography arts program, captured this image of hula dancers at Randy Jay Braun’s “The Quintessential Hawaiian Photo Shoot — Hula on the Beach at Sunset.”
KAANAPALI — Your original photographs may be just the ticket to free admission to the third Maui Photo Festival & Workshops (MPF) next month.
Two separate competitions — one for Maui County high school students, and one for Hawaii residents at large — offer scholarships to the five-day event or admission to the event’s opening reception.
The festival is set for Aug. 24-28, 2011 at the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort & Spa.
More than 30 Maui County high school students have earned full scholarships since the first festival in 2009, and more than 75 residents earned admission to the MPF opening reception, when their images were chosen for the “Hawaii by Hawaii Photographers” multimedia image show.
Show photographers also received a DVD of the finished production.
High school students ages 15 to 19 at the time of the festival, including recently graduated seniors, can submit one image each in up to four categories: The un-self portrait; There’s no place like home; Shoot for the stars; and Looking from the outside in.
Complete rules and category descriptions are posted at www.mauiphotofestival.com. Entrants can submit images in one category or all four, but only one image per category.
Only one image per category will be accepted.
Scholarship seekers must also include a short, 250-word essay on why they should be chosen to attend the festival.
The second competition, for residents of the entire state, will create the “Hawaii by Hawaii Photographers” multimedia show that is part of the MPF opening reception on Wednesday, Aug. 24, at 7 p.m.
Canon Explorer of Light Eddie Tapp will again produce the show, which last year included over 250 images by Hawaii residents.
Tapp asks that each photographer submit up to ten images, with up to five included in the final presentation. The show will also include the photographer’s name, home island and photographic specialty.
The deadline for submission for both competitions is Aug. 1, 2011. Images may be 1,600 pixels at the widest dimension and/or about one megabyte in size.
Digital entries may be sent to mauiphotofestival@gmail.com. Hard copy submissions may be sent to MPF, P.O. Box 185, Kahului, HI 96733. Submissions will not be returned.
Kama’aina admission to the event is $495, and an educational rate of $395 is also available. More than 250 photographers are expected to attend. Complete information is available at www.mauiphotofestival.com or by calling (808) 633-1339.