Laszlo’s “Cades Cove Magic” black and white photograph, taken with his 4×5 view camera at Cades Cove, Great Smoky Mountains NP, TN, was selected at the North Valley Art League (NVAL) 2015 International Juried Photography Show (Juror: Thom Sempere) for exhibition from April 28 – May 30, 2015 at the Carter House Gallery, (Caldwell Park, 48 Quartz Hill Road, Redding, CA 96003). (more info)

Show Co-chairs, Bernie & Charlotte Bryson emailed me the news: “Congratulations Laszlo! We are very happy to tell you that our juror, Thom Sempere, has accepted your work into this year’s exhibit. The following image has been chosen as a GOLD SELECTION: “Cades Cove Magic”

Artist Statement: “Cades Cove Magic” is part of my “Early Light, the Cades Cove Landscapes” series. It represents my remembrance of the foggy early mornings, the hikes to the fields where the people of Cades Cove live. During our multiple photography trips to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, like an “Old Timer” I photographed the mystery of Cades Cove on film with my large format 4×5 field camera.
I was there in dark at dawn waiting for the magic moment that’s visible only for a few minutes at first light, before the light turns too harsh. When I saw the light the slowly crawling ground fog just started to lift off and the millions of dewdrops changed to diamonds. I was completely alone with my upside-down reversed image on the ground glass. In that special moment the warming air pushed up some light fog from the ditch behind the tree legs and I felt something magical happening there. When I clicked the shutter I photographed that special moment from my heart. I imagined and observed the secrets transformed through photography, an expression of the world we live in and of what we see and experience.
In all aspects of our natural environments, I see, observe and feel the invisible. My images capture special invisible moments that are translated to visual experiences, which I’m happy to share through my “Cades Cove Magic”.

GOLD SELECTIONS: These 90+ images will be hung in the NVAL Carter House Gallery and also be displayed on the NVAL website in an online exhibit. These works are eligible for award. “SILVER SELECTIONS: These 50+ additional images will be included in the Carter House Gallery exhibit as a digital slide show and on the NVAL website in an online exhibit. No printing or framing is required.

“Photography: The Full Spectrum” NVAL 2015 International Juried Photography Show
Exhibit April 28 – May 30, 2015 Carter House Gallery, Redding, CA 96003

We are very pleased to announce the winners for this year’s show! Our juror, Thom Sempere, has done an exemplary job of selecting the exhibit and then the winners — both truly difficult tasks given the high quality of work submitted. And the winners are…..

First Place: “Untitled 1”, Merethe Wessel-Berg, Oslo, Norway
Second Place; “Colleen and Katie Take a Ride”, Bruce Barshop, San Antonio, Texas
“Lilley”, Sarah-Marie Land, Saint Louis, Missouri
Third Place: “Blue Book”, Thomas Spencer Ladd, North Easton, Massachusetts
“Taking It In”, Kathryn Osgood, Portland, Oregon
“Beneath the Earth”, Hendrik Paul, Greenbrae, California
Merit Awards: “Blue Daisies”, Helene Barrette, Gatineau, Canada
“Despair”, Lester Blum, New York, New York
“Beached Berg #2”, Steve Burkett, Centennial, Colorado
“Ralls Cemetery”, Ed Drake, Lubbock, Texas
“Communicate”, Matthew Emmett, Reading, United Kingdom
“Girl With Parakeet, Itaparica, Brazil”, Linda Hollinger, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
“Seeing Me”, Gillian Hyland, London, United Kingdom
“Wet”, Stephanie Luke, Cottonwood, California
“Cades Cove Magic”, Laszlo Perlaky, Houston, Texas
“Inside the Cat House”, Alan Wood, Allentown, Pennsylvania

The Winners Gallery will be posted ASAP (hopefully tomorrow) which will include the winning images along with the juror’s comments about each.

The 2015 show is now hanging in the Carter House Gallery!  We are so proud of the outstanding photography displayed in this exceptional exhibit. We hope that you will get the chance to visit the gallery to see it! We will be photographing the reception and the exhibit as it hangs in the gallery so that those of you that can’t attend will at least be able to experience the exhibit online. It has been a joy for Bernie and I to chair this show and see the fine work of so many talented artists. Also it has been a pleasure to “meet” many of you via email — lots of really nice people! Thank you so much to those of you that entered and have made this event possible.

Cheers, Charlotte

QUESTIONS: Contact co-chairs, Bernie & Charlotte Bryson
Email: nvalphotoshow@sbcglobal.net
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The North Valley Art League is an all-volunteer, non-profit organization dedicated to furthering the visual arts in the northern California region. Your entry fees cover prize money and show expenses. Any remaining monies will help fund the operating expenses of the NVAL Carter House Gallery.

E-mail from Charlotte Bryson:

Hi Laszlo, I am very happy to tell you that your work “Cades Cove Magic” was selected by our juror, Thom Sempere, for a Merit Award in the NVAL 2015 International Juried Photography Show. Honestly, I have to tell you that your print is the most beautiful print in the exhibit — really stunning. Congratulations! We had a great turnout for the reception and your piece was admired by many. It is an honor to have such fine work in the NVAL Carter House Gallery! Thank you so much for submitting!! I will be creating a winners gallery as a preface to the Gold Selections web gallery on the NVAL website — www.nval.org. It will include the juror’s comments about your work. Hopefully I will have it up tomorrow. Again sincerest Congratulations! Charlotte

Comments from e-mails and FaceBook:

• That’s great dad, congratulations! (Daniel Perlaky Multimedia Design and Creative Director)
• I am so happy for you. Congratulations. (Narinder Sall)
• Cool that’s really beautiful – I love the blurryness at the base of the trees. (Daniel Perlaky Multimedia Design and Creative Director)
• Huge congratulations, Lazlo. We’ll have to cork champagne at our next get together. (Marty Corn Photography)
• Good deal. You’re going to be the next Ansel Adams. (Louis and Emilce Vest)
•  GRRRRR8! Nice image! Marie. (Marie and Glenn Curtis, Curtis Studios)
• Oszinte szivbol gratulalunk ehhez a nagyszeru sikerhez! (Horvath Gyozo)
• Wow, congratulations for continuing to put your work out there. Best, Joe (Aker Imaging)
• That’s fabulous Laszlo! Congratulations!!! Frank and Jo-Anne (Frank Sherwood White Photography)
• Congratulations Laszlo!! (Susana O’Docharty)
• Well done Laszlo… Congratulations! Dan. (Dan Groth Photography)
• We are very excited to know that your work will hang in the NVAL Carter House Gallery, Laszlo! “Cades Cove Magic” is a magical image and I love it! Charlotte (Charlotte Bryson Co-Chair NVAL/Carter House Gallery)
• Congrats Laszlo, terrific image !! SS (Steve Sherman, President NELFPC)
• Wonderful Laszlo, congratulations. (Milton Finegold)
• Nice image. It almost looks like one of the images taken during our trip to the Smokies a couple of years ago. Everything is going great here. Congratulations on your acceptance to the Carter House Gallery. (Emile Foisy)
• Wonderful news! thank you for sharing! Juliana. (Juliana Forero PhD, Director of Education, Houston Center for Photography)
• Super! Congratulations! I looks beautiful even on my small screen! I love how the trees pop out from the fog(?). How did the lower trunks come out defocus and the branch tips in focus? It’s enigmatic! (Oliver Rohn)
• Congratulations Laszlo! (Len Kowitz)
• That’s wonderful news (David Mann)
•  “Way to go, Laszlo Perlaky. Love it!!” (Kathy Adams Clark, KAC Productions)
•  Congratulations! if you attend the redding exhibition perhaps you can find time to visit us this time! (Hannes Vogel)
• Fantastic as always (Nathalie Brouard)
• Congratulations! Well done. (Bill Barber)
• Congratulations!! (Dion McInnis)
• A big congratulations! Well done! (Ron Fontenot)
• Congratulations again !! (Mike Marvins)
• Beautiful Laszlo! (Jaimie Ladysh)
• Laci, that is beautiful! B&W, I love it. So proud of and for you, my friend. I’ll share this with my daughter, Lorene, and my son, Lee, to let them know that the “towel” pictures were taken by a photographer who would become internationally known! Hugs! (Dolores Bertrand)
• Beautiful photo, Laszlo—congratulations!!! Well-deserved! (Sally Stubbs)
• Laszlo, Congratulations. This is great, but of course it does not surprise me knowing your quality of work. (Jerry Brown)
• Laszlo, Congratulations!!!  (John and Phyllis Freeman)
• Congratulations! … and may you, and Lexi, have many more to come! (Al Iverson Ivy Optics)
• Congratulations. I remember seeing the photo at the Aker Gallery last year. It was one of your best. (David Lobato)
• Congratulations, this is very exciting! (Rachel Burychka)
• That’s terrific Laszlo. (David Mann)
• Wow that’s great news dad – you put a lot of love and care into your experience, then the capturing of that experience, and then the selection and printing of that experience… and that shows to the viewers. love d (Daniel Perlaky Multimedia Design and Creative Director)
• Nice stuff! Let me tell you you cannot buy this type of endorsement. If you don’t have a section on your website for what people are saying about your work, start one. Make a little sign of what was said and when you are at art shows, put the signs near the photos and display the ones that have gotten the most recent comments. it may help sell them. People like to know what experts in the field are saying. enjoy the kudos. Marie (Curtis Photography)
• Yeh!!!!!!!????? (Nathalie Brourd)
• Congrats Laszlo!! John (Pr. John Freeman, Professor emeritus, Rice University)
• Wonderful Laszlo…thanks for sharing! Eleanor (Eleanor Brown Photography)
• Wow! Your work is so amazing! It certainly deserves the recognition! Trudy (Trudy LeDoux)
• Congratulations!!! You deserve it! Mary Anne (Mary Anne Weber, Houston Audubon)
• Wow! You will have to send me a jpg with the photo…. (Dr. Susan Blaney, Professor)
• Congrats – sounds like you should do this professionally !! (Alan Sweeney, Ener Mech Regional Vice President)
• Congratulations Laszlo, I would like to see a copy of the print. Kindest regards, (Dr. Leonard Goldberg, DermSurgery)
• I know how she feels. I have to say your print is the most beautiful one in my house… including my own work. I love it. (Louis and Emilce Vest)
• Terrific. !! Kind words indeed. Congrats !! (Steve Sherman Photography)
• congratulations Laci – I am proud of you. Bill (Dr. William C. Dewey Professor Emeritus UCSF)
• Congratulations Laszlo! Horrayyyyeee! Jean (Jean Caslin, Art Consultant)

E-mail from the Organizers:

“Photography: The Full Spectrum”
NVAL 2015 International Juried Photography Show, Exhibit April 28 – May 30, 2015
Carter House Gallery, Redding, CA 96003

Hi Laszlo,

The 2015 show is now hanging in the Carter House Gallery!
We are so proud of the outstanding photography displayed in this exceptional exhibit. We hope that you will get the chance to visit the gallery to see it!

The Web Galleries for both the Gold Selections and Silver Selections are now posted on the NVAL website www.nval.org under Photography Shows.

We will be photographing the reception and the exhibit as it hangs in the gallery so that those of you that can’t attend will at least be able to experience the exhibit online.

The Reception will be this Saturday, May 2 from 6 to 8 pm at the NVAL Carter House Gallery. Awards will be announced, and our juror, Thom Sempere, will give a short talk explaining why he chose each of the award winners.

Hors d’oeuvres and beverages will be served making for a great evening. We hope that you and any guests that you choose to invite will attend. Directions to the gallery are on our website www.nval.org under Contact.

The award-winning images will be posted as part of the online Gold Selections gallery by May 4 along with the juror’s comments about each of the winning pieces.

Award winners unable to attend the reception will be contacted May 3 by email.

It has been a joy for Bernie and I to chair this show and see the fine work of so many talented artists. Also it has been a pleasure to “meet” many of you via email — lots of really nice people! Thank you so much to those of you that entered and have made this event possible.

Cheers,
Charlotte

QUESTIONS: Contact co-chairs, Bernie & Charlotte Bryson
Email: nvalphotoshow@sbcglobal.net