INUVIK
Inuvik photographers showed they are no flash in the pan at the second Arctic Image Festival over this past weekend.

Danny Swainson of Inuvik took home the top prize in the people's choice category during the Arctic Images Festival on March 15. - Shawn Giilck/NNSL photo

Inuvik camera enthusiasts won nearly every category at the festival which opened March 13 and finished on Sunday March 15.

Danny Swainson, in his second year of attending the festival, took home the people's choice award for a stunning aurora shot he captured just outside of town.

"This is one of the first community events that I came to last year when I moved up here," Swainson said March 14 before winning the people's choice. "It's awesome again this year, and I think there's a better turnout than last year."

He's been a quick study with the camera over the last year, as shown by his win.

"I had just bought a new camera last year, and I was really interested in learning how to use it," Swainson said.

"I had a blast last year coming out to all the workshops and meeting photographers," he continued. "It was really exciting."

It took purchasing good equipment for Swainson to develop a passion for

the hobby.

"I wasn't someone who you could have said really enjoyed photography until I bought a digital SLR. I was just taking pictures to document my experiences rather than trying to take nice photographs. I just have more control over the settings to capture a better quality."

He's primarily a landscape and wildlife photographer, Swainson said. He's a wildlife biologist who has the opportunity to indulge in the hobby while he's working in the field.

"It's a beautiful, awesome ecosystem to explore," he added.

Jackie Challis, the town's economic development and tourism manager, won first place in the amateur people and culture category with a spectacular photo of someone looking at the ice road.

Nathalie Heiberg-Harrison, who works for the Inuvialuit Communications Society, won first place in professional people and culture division. Nick Westover, formerly of Inuvik, and Tony Devlin completed an Inuvik sweep in that division.

Heiberg-Harrison followed that win by taking second place in the professional nature division.

Kris Maier of Inuvik won the top prize in the amateur nature class.

Adam Hill of Hay River broke the Inuvik string with his first-place finish in the professional nature category.

The festival was chock-full of workshops for photographers over the weekend, as well as exhibits highlighting the region's elders and the 80th anniversary of reindeer herding in the delta.

Eric Hoogstraten, a former commercial photographer who is now working at Aurora College, was also taking in the workshops.

"It's a good way to kind of reconnect with photography and to find out who is in town and who is shooting, that kind of thing. I haven't done a whole lot of commercial shooting lately but I might get back into it."

John Ritchie, an enthusiastic amateur photographer in Inuvik, said he was enjoying the festival because he "enjoys talking to the people who know what they're doing."

"A lot of the time I do not know what I'm doing," he added. "And I'm very willing to admit that. It's one of those things where I don't know everything, and I know that I don't know everything. That's why I enjoy talking to other people."