And the winners of the photo scavenger hunt are...

LIGHTHOUSE: R. Priest

The Racine Camera Club held a photographic scavenger hunt this summer, drawing 159 entries from 21 local photographers. The rules allowed each entrant to submit one photo in each of 12 categories -- and here are the winners selected by members of the club, who judged them at their last meeting. One photographer, R. Priest, had three winning pictures, and one -- Sue Weisensel -- had five!

Although she wasn't a member of the Racine Camera Club at the time, the scavenger hunt was open to all. Sue told us, "My first camera was a Brownie Holiday that I got for Christmas when I was very young. To this day I still have pictures I took with that camera. I entered the digital area several years ago and photography and the 'digital darkroom' have now become a passion. I guess the creative side of me is always trying to come out in one way or another, and working with pictures is a great avenue for that." We asked her for a little information about each of her winning pictures, and have placed it below.

Here are all the winners, including two categories in which there was a tie:

INSECT: R. Priest

INSECT: Cabbage White Butterfly, by Paul M. Oemig

LEAVES: Vascular leaf, by Paul M. Oemig

SKY: North Beach sunrise, by Kurt O. Thomsen

SAND: Silken sand, by Sue Weisensel
This is a scene from Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado. It's a place that's hard to describe to anyone who hasn't seen those incredible sand dunes with their own eyes. The scenes there change with the time of day as the sun moves over the dunes so there are always "new" shots to be had.

BRIDGE: Dave Hoel

NATURE IN THE CITY: Cedar waxwing, by Sue Weisensel

This is my personal favorite. A few years ago while at an art festival on the lakefront, someone pointed out to me the Cedar Waxwings in a tree in the area. I didn't have a camera with me at the time, but the Cedar Waxwings never left my mind. This year, I purposely went to check out that same tree one day in early June and to my amazement, there they were... a large flock of them, feasting on the cherries on that tree. I went to that same location four days in a row, taking pleasure in photographing those amazingly beautiful birds.

BOAT: At the marina, by Sue Weisensel
The intense color in a rack full of kayaks caught my eye.
Such a display of color is like "eye candy" for me.

BOAT: Marilyn Wilson

LAWN CHAIR: Adirondacks in bloom, by Sue Weisensel
This was photographed in Colorado. Adirondacks are always photogenic it seems, and these even more so as they were surrounded by a field of beautiful Alpine flowers.

SHADOW: Kathy Brand

REFLECTION: R. Priest

FLOWER: Orchids for you, by Sue Weisensel

The Orchids picture is post-processed in Photoshop with a technique called "out-of-frame." More of my out-of-frame images can be seen here.