ICF’s inaugural Pro-Am Youth tournament was a single ranch event with all of the participants competing against each other. Participating in the tournament were; Ariana Garcia, Brianna Pena, Lorissa Pena, Nilani Sanchez, Nysha Sanchez, and Amanda Salinas.
They were guided by professional photographer, instructor, and ICF coach Ruth Hoyt. The girls had varying degrees of experience with wildlife photography coming into this event, but this was the first time that any of them had been on a ranch set up for wildlife photography.
Over the three days of the tournament the girls learned first hand about the private lands nature photography industry and captured some great images.
Daily and overall prizes were awarded for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places. The judges for this event were; Steve and Deb Freligh (Nature’s Best Photography), Susan McElhinney (National Wildlife Federations’ Ranger Rick Magazine), Kim Rothe (Texas Wildlife Association Magazine), Ryan Henry (South Texas Outdoors), and Keely Lewis.
Daily 3rd place winners were Nysha Sanchez and Lorissa Pena. Daily 2nd place winners were Nysha Sanchez, Lorissa Pena, and Amanda Salinas. Finally, daily 1st place winners were Lorissa Pena, Nilani Sanchez, and Nysha Sanchez.
Our overall winners were…….3rd place with 202 points, Nilani Sanchez; 2nd place with 206 points, Nysha Sanchez; and in 1st place with a total of 207 points, Lorissa Pena. All of the girls enjoyed the experience and took time to write their thoughts, we wanted to share this from Brianna Pena, ” I have taken so many photographs but I never paid attention to the details or how to improve my photography…..I was really excited to attend this event, and I am glad I came.”
