THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 12, 1996 TAG: 9601110158
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: THUMBS UP
SOURCE: BY JO-ANN CLEGG, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 109 lines
WHEN PARADE magazine announced the 100 winners in its ninth annual photography contest recently, two were from Virginia Beach.
If those figures don't seem particularly impressive, consider this.
The popular Sunday supplement's nearly 40 million readers contributed more than 150,000 pictures for judging by a panel which included photographer Eddie Adams, psychologist Joyce Brothers, ``Living Single'' star Kim Fields, ``Entertainment Tonight's'' Leeza Gibbons and radio super disc jockey Casey Kasem.
And while you're in a considering mood, try this as well. Both of the winners - Navy Lt. j.g. Dan Burgett and Tidewater Community College visual arts student Joann McEwen - are Kempsville residents. Burgett and his family live in the Charlestown Lakes South neighborhood. McEwen and her cats, Buick and Tigger, live in Arrowhead.
Both submitted pictures that adhered to the contest's ``Party Time'' theme which was loosely interpreted to include shots of anybody, anywhere having fun.
In Burgett's case, the winning picture was that of his wife, Barbara, and kids Danielle and C.J., mugging at him through a tire on the playground at Mount Trashmore.
McEwen won for a picture of Buick, looking regal and just a bit bored amid a sea of confetti and streamers. The bored look, McEwen insists, was just an act.
``She really was enjoying what she was doing,'' the Norfolk bagel shop employee said. McEwen acquired the now 6-month-old calico after an overwhelmed feline mother abandoned her in the back seat of a junked sedan.
``A friend of mine who works in an auto parts place found her,'' she explained. ``She was only two or three weeks old and about as big as my palm.''
The mother cat was nowhere to be found.
A few days later, workers found the tabby and the rest of the litter in another part of the yard, but by that time Buick was safe, sound and asserting her superiority in McEwen's apartment.
When McEwen heard about the contest just a few days before the October deadline , she bought some confetti and streamers, enlisted the help of a friend and started tossing confetti and streamers in Buick's direction.
While Buick played, McEwen shot with her Canon AE1. The winning picture was snapped when Buick stopped for a few moments to plan her next move.
``She loves having her picture taken,'' the 21-year-old McEwen, who hails from Northern Virginia and hopes for a career in photography, said. ``She seems to know she's famous.''
McEwen received $100 award money and an additional $200 publication fee when the picture appeared in Parade, which is distributed with Sunday papers nationwide, including The Virginian-Pilot, on Dec. 10.
Burgett received a similar reward for his picture, shot with a Canon EOS Elan, which occupied a place of honor - top left-hand corner of the story's title page - in the same issue.
``I take a lot of pictures of the kids anyway,'' said the Navy officer who is currently attached to the Navy Family Services Center at Sewells Point. ``We went out to Mount Trashmore after I learned about the contest and I just kept shooting.
``The picture wasn't posed,'' he explained. ``The kids were looking through the tire and I got underneath to shoot up at them. When my wife stuck her head in there, too, I got my shot. We had no idea how symmetrical it was until we got the pictures back,'' he added.
Burgett began taking pictures back in Sumner, Ill., when he started accompanying his brother who was a sports writer and photographer for their hometown newspaper.
``After awhile I ended up taking the pictures and doing the writing and my brother processed them,'' Burgett said.
He enlisted in the Navy after high school and worked his way up to an electrician's mate second class before receiving a commission. In the meantime he had met and married Barbara, an engineman second class.
``I'm a stay-at-home-mom,'' Barbara Burgett said proudly. Danielle, who is in kindergarten at Centerville Elementary, and C.J., who stays at home with mom, keep her busy, as does what she hopes may become a modeling career for her daughter.
``We've tried out for a couple of things, but she hasn't been chosen yet,'' Burgett said.
In the meantime, millions of Parade readers have had a chance to see how well the child with the huge eyes and soaring cheekbones photographs.
So have thousands of visitors to Disney World.
In addition to the cash awards which McEwen and Burgett received, their photos went on display in early December at the Innovations East pavilion at Epcot in the Walt Disney World Resort. ILLUSTRATION: PARADE WINNER
Joann McEwen, 21, won for a picture of her 6-month-old calico cat,
Buick, looking regal and just a bit bored while playing amid a sea
of confetti and streamers.
Photo by JO-ANN CLEGG
Joann McEwen, a TCC visual arts student, lives in Kempsville's
Arrowhead neighborhood.
PARADE WINNER
Dan Burgett's winning picture showed his wife and kids mugging at
him through a tire on the playground at Mount Trashmore.
Photo by JO-ANN CLEGG
Navy Lt. j.g. Dan Burgett and his family, Barbara, left, Danielle,
and C.J., live in Kempsville's Charlestown Lakes South
neighborhood.
by CNB