Burma, aka Myanmar, is long way from Rochester, N.Y., home of Dick Bennett Photography, but Bennett struck photography gold there recently. Bennett was awarded a LexJet Sunset Award at the Photo North East competition for the image he captured during a trip with a group of photographers last November and December to Burma’s Shan Plateau. It was the only image out of about a thousand in the competition to score 100. Though it’s somewhat monochromatic, the shades of golden hues that permeate the image, along with the perfection of its composition, were elements that obviously impressed the judges. “It gets very warm in the afternoon and cold at night, creating a real nice mist in the morning. We got up for each of the sunrises, and one day about half an hour after sunrise I saw a hut on stilts with a pyramid shaped roof,” recalls Bennett. “It was a real golden hour for the light. It lasted about a minute and a half and when the person in the hut moved into the perfect position I took...

Elaine and Robert Hughes made a dramatic shift in their photography and art about five years ago. Highly decorated and certified professional photographers who used to specialize in high-end wedding photography, the pair now specializes in creating surreal digital artwork. The pair’s work is an anticipated addition to the various competitions they’ve entered. This past year, Elaine Hughes won a LexJet Sunset Award at the PPA North East District competition for Illustrative Artist. The award-winning print, called Dream World, is a wildly colorful example of Elaine’s original art. “Lately I’ve developed a series connected with water and dreams. It’s chaotic, disconnected and fun, with symbolism you can’t really put your finger on, like in your dreams. I left it open to your own interpretation. The door, for instance, could be the girl’s next journey, your next journey, or you could go in and out of the dream through that door,” Elaine explains. Elaine says developing the art is quite...