The Photo Contest judges met yesterday at Chick-Fil-A headquarters
in Atlanta, where judge Greg Thompson is head of corporate
communications. What a talented panel we have - we were fortunate to get judges of this caliber. Judges Donna Lachance and Grant Miller drove in and
together they went through the 29 portfolios to select our finalists. Rather than draw out the process any further, however, they went ahead and selected the winners!

They have a number of comments to make when they announce them. But, please be patient, they are going to take a few more days to make sure they've got it right. Overall, they were extremely impressed with the quality of the pictures. They understand that in many cases, the portfolios were combined over a period of years. And they respect your effort and craftsmanship.

In the mean time, if you didn't enter and would like to nominate your own favorite portfolio from these finalists, feel free to do so in the comment section below. Please also share what you liked about it. We'd like to hear from you.

The theme is: "Thy kingdom come."

$3000 for first place

$1000 for second

$500 for third

$250 for 4th and 5th

The judges also selected Honorable Mentions

We'll be mailing out the prize money in about a week!

A Photo School/Mentoring

The judges are discussing how we might help those contestants who are serious about their craft, and especially those who qualified for the Portfolio Round to continue to improve as photographers. They are considering in working with AIM to offer a low cost school of missions photography that would scholarship those of you who have a demonstrated talent and passionf for photography. If you're interested, please go to Andi Wendel's blog and email her at this web page.

To see the portfolios that are in the running, go here.