Hooper selected as judge's pick in annual photo contest

Port St. Joe’s Debbie Hooper and her husband Jon were flying back from Carrabelle one day some months back.

The couple was cruising over St. George Island and adjacent Bird Island when an image below grabbed Hooper’s photographer’s eye.

Wave action along the shoreline of Bird Island was churning the coast, creating almost an accordion of water and sand rippling along the shore beneath a bright sun.

Hooper, a photographer who specializes in part in aerial photos, pointed her lens out the window of the plane and began pressing the shutter.

“I noticed it was really cool to see the wave action,” Hooper said. “It just really caught my eye.”

After arriving home and queuing up the shots on her computer, Hooper noticed something else.

The wave action combined with the natural geography of the shoreline and sunlight had combined to provide the optical illusion of a horse’s head, or a woman in repose, or, as is the case with much of art, whatever beauty could be found in the eye of the beholder.

“I didn’t see the horse head until I looked at it on the computer,” Hooper said, acknowledging that it was only on the computer that she realized the full composition of her photograph, which she came to entitle “Horse Dream.”

In fact, the print literally leaves to the viewer to gauge what they are gazing at. One PAPA colleague noted to Hooper that he liked the print even though he could not see the horse head.

Another judge thought she could see a woman relaxing, her arm, elbow jutting out, supporting her head.

“That’s what makes it kind of cool, you can look at it and see different things,” Hooper said. “That’s what makes it art.”

That print, one of thousands Hooper snapped in the past year, recently earned prestigious recognition at the annual convention and showcase for the Professional Aerial Photographers Association (PAPA).

Hooper’s print scored 97 points out of 100, placing it in a tie for second place overall and recognizing it as a “Master Print.”

To earn distinction as a Master Print – and after nine years in competition this was Hooper’s first – the print must earn 95-100 points.

Hooper was recognized in the “Superior Print” category – 90-94 points – several years ago and has had photos earn distinction as an “Excellent Print” category – 80-89 points – the past two years but this was the first photograph to place Hooper in the top category.

“I am getting better and better, I am getting close to the top,” Hooper said. “Tied for second, just one point away from first – I’m been striving to get to that top prize.”

“Horse Dream” did not just reach the Master Print pinnacle as an entry in the Artistic Print category – described by PAPA as “pictorial, stunning, original images, images that push the envelope, photos that hang on walls of not just your clients. Digital manipulation is allowed.” (Hooper did some minor Photoshop work on the print).

Hooper was also decreed to have the finest photograph in competition by one of the four judges.

In each competition, each of the four judges selects what they believe to be the best photograph of the year, regardless of category. One of the judges saw Hooper’s “Horse Dream” as the finest of the year.

That made Hooper and “Horse Dream” a judge’s choice selection, one of the highest and most prestigious honors in the competition.

“That’s probably more important that getting second place or having it rated as a Master Print,” Hooper said. “It made me feel good. I just had this feeling it was a winner.”

Unfortunately, due to time and work constraints Hooper was not able to attend the convention – held in Las Vegas this year – and bask in the accolades in person.

However, such was her affection for the photograph that she sent it solo to Las Vegas for the competition.

“I felt good about it so I figured if I couldn’t go my print would go,” Hooper said with a chuckle. “I work hard. There are lots of times I’ve watched other people win. I wish I had been there, but either way it is very nice to be recognized.”

The man whom Hooper calls her mentor in aerial photography, Allen Macbean of Photographic Solutions in Orem, Utah, noted in an e-mail that Hooper’s print was a standout to all the judges and participants at the PAPA convention.

“I remember (the) print, Horse Dream, very well. In fact, so will most people,” Macbean wrote. “It scored very well, and (one of the judges) Yvonne picked it as her Judges Choice! Congratulations.”

For Hooper, the honors only means with a little more work …

“My highest score before this was 92 and I was only one point away from first place this year,” Hooper said. “I’m getting close.”