'Playing the Blues' earns first place in photo contest

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Katrina Heikkinen
  • 341st Missile Wing Public Affairs
MALMSTROM AIR FORCE BASE, Mont. --  Tech. Sgt. Damien Mitchell, 819th RED HORSE Squadron airfields NCO in charge, was recently named the 341st Missile Wing Public Affairs Quarterly Amateur Photo Contest winner. His submission "Playing the Blues" features a man playing guitar on a porch, and encompassing last quarter's theme 'Black and White.'

Mitchell, who has been in the Air Force for nearly 17 years, was both excited and humbled to win the contest.

"It was a shock to win," Nelson said. "But I feel really good for winning the contest."

Mitchell fell in love with photography after using digital cameras to snap photos of his children playing sports. After learning the ins and outs of digital, single-lens reflex camera photography, he started to bring his camera everywhere he went. Mitchell's candid photograph of a street musician was taken in early fall 2012 in downtown Omaha, Neb.

"He looked interesting," Mitchell said. "Catching people doing what they love to do in their raw state is so much better than a posed photo."

Over the years, his passion has progressed from a hobby into a desire to create his own business.

"I've been taking pictures my whole life," he said. "But I got to a point where I thought, 'I want to start doing this as a career,' so I started to take family portraits and now I have my own website."

Mitchell plans to continue improving his skills and earn a bachelor's degree in photography.

"A picture tells a thousand words," he said. "I want to be able to enhance people's lives through my photography. I can take a photograph 1,000 times and it'll look different to everyone who sees it. My goal for this year is to get more exposure. One day I hope to have my own business so I can make this a full-time career."

Along with a certificate and coin for a first place entry, Mitchell's winning photograph will remain on display on the Official Malmstrom Air Force Base Facebook website.

This quarter's competition theme is "Outdoor Adventures." The Public Affairs office will be accepting submissions from May 1 to June 1. Submissions can be emailed to the Public Affairs office at 341mwpa@us.af.mil for individual photo evaluation. All entries should include name, rank, phone number, and photo title and description. The contest is open to all active-duty members stationed at Malmstrom Air Force Base, their dependents, base civilians and retirees. Photos must be sized to 5x7 and in JPEG file format at 300 dpi. Before entering a photo, be sure to read the competition rules, which can be found on the Official MAFB Facebook site at www.facebook.com/MalmstromAirForceBase.

For more information about the quarterly photo contest, call the Public Affairs office at 731-4050.