Picture perfect

Lolita Harper

Ansel Adams better watch out because there is a handful of imaginative

Costa Mesa photographers who seem destined for greatness.

Five students walked away with top honors this week in the “Capturing

the Essence of Costa Mesa” photo contest. A dozen middle and high school

students entered the contest, sponsored by the city, the Newport-Mesa

Unified School District and the Costa Mesa Conference and Visitors

Bureau.

Each entry was as unique as the student behind the camera, ranging in

subjects from children to towering business buildings to montages.

Steven Thomas, the first-place winner in the black and white category,

said he and friend Devon Stephens -- who placed third in the same

category -- drove around the city at 5 a.m. looking for the perfect

location and the perfect light.

Thomas, 18, chose to shoot the Estancia Adobe, saying it was one of

the first structures in Costa Mesa and therefore indicative of the city’s

true essence.

“The city’s first settlers were in that building,” Thomas said. “The

history and the roots of the city can be found in that house.”

He took the photo at an angle, framing the 19th century adobe, as well

as the beautiful flowers that surround it.

“A lot of people take pictures dead on, which makes them boring,”

Thomas said. “I thought the angle gave it a better look.”

During their predawn trip, Devon also found his perfect subject in the

South Coast Business Center. Capturing the opposite of Thomas,

17-year-old Devon photographed a contemporary building in the business

district, with the light reflecting perfectly off the mirrored structure.

“It stands out as one of the newer buildings,” Devon said. “And the

sky looked cool in the background.”

Winning entries will be displayed halfway around the world, in sister

city Wyndham, Australia. Australian educators were in Costa Mesa this

week, touring the district as part of the fourth annual educator exchange

program. They will take the photos home to display in Wyndham’s school

district.

“I think that is really cool,” Thomas said. “If I ever go to

Australia, I would want to see my work hanging there.”

* Lolita Harper covers Costa Mesa. She may be reached at (949)

574-4275 or by e-mail at o7 lolita.harper@latimes.comf7 .

sh AT A GLANCE

PHOTO CONTEST WINNERS

COLOR

place*name*grade*school*name of photo

1st*Trevor Holmes*ninth*Estancia High*Fairview Park

2nd*Melissa Buchman*seventh*Costa Mesa High*Canyon Park

3rd*Trevor Holmes*ninth*Estancia High*OCC/TeWinkle Park montage

BLACK AND WHITE

1st*Steven Thomas*12th*Costa Mesa High*Estancia House

2nd*Tiffani Larson*11th*Costa Mesa High*My Backyard

2nd (tie)*Devon Stephens*12th*Costa Mesa High*South Coast Business

Center