Lisle's Larry Lato rides the rapids to photo contest victory
When Larry Lato decided to plan an autumn trip to check out the fall colors and take some pictures of Midwestern waterfalls, he turned to two books for advice.
One was called "Wisconsin Waterfalls." The other was called "A Guide to 199 Michigan Waterfalls."
What he really should have consulted was his watch.
The Lisle man says he was only a day into his October journey to Northern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan when he discovered two pretty important things.
First, there are a whole bunch of scenic waterfalls out there. Second, it's impossible to see all of them - or even a goodly number - in a short period of time. Scenic waterfalls, it turns out, aren't always in the easiest-to-reach places.
Happily for Lato, he was able to check out a handful of incredibly beautiful sites, including a place called Horse Race Rapids along the Paint River near Crystal Falls, Michigan.
"It took a while to find it," the Lisle man says. "It was off the beaten path a little bit."
Lato, an insurance claims adjuster who really started getting into the amateur photography hobby a little more than five years ago, grabbed his Canon 6D and snapped about 30 different images.
He used different exposures, of course, and tried different approaches - some verticals, some landscapes - before settling on the painting-like picture that won first place in our January Photo Finish contest.
"It was a little overcast and I think it added to the effect," he says. "It worked out OK."
DuPage Photo Director Scott Sanders says it worked out more than just OK.
"I like it because it is a great example of using a long shutter to blur motion on the water," Sanders says. "The colors are great. And the diagonal back to front composition works great, too."
For his efforts, Lato will receive a $50 gift certificate from PJ's Camera in Pickwick Place Plaza, 662 Roosevelt Road, Glen Ellyn.
Lato says he enjoys taking pictures of landscapes and the outdoors and especially likes experimenting with different ways to capture the perfect image. "I like being in control of the process," he says.
Of course, there are some things even the best photographer can't control, and one of them is the clock.
No one knows that better than Lato, who flat ran out of time before he could visit all the waterfalls on his list.
But far from being discouraged, he's excited about the opportunity to take another shot at it.
"I'm going back," he says, "in late spring or early summer."
About our contest
Each week the Neighbor section includes at least one entry in our Photo Finish photography contest. If you'd like to submit a photo, email it in .jpg format with at least 300 dpi resolution to dupagecontest@dailyherald.com.