Costco Connection - February 2009

First Place U.S. Shawn St. Peter Beaverton, OR

Second Place U.S. Sarah Cockle Renton, WA

International Grand Prize

pher. The photos at his Web site, www.shawnstpeter. com, show his talent at setting up good photographs. But capturing this first-place-winning photo of his daughter, which was taken at the beach in Gearhart, Oregon, required a different approach.

“My daughter, Bella, is a really active kid. To get this shot, I had to follow her around with my camera and hope to catch her at the right moment,” says St. Peter. That moment came just as she was about to jump off a rock.

“There was just enough time to grab the camera and … click. Then the moment’s gone,” St. Peter says.

For his first-place prize, St. Peter received a $1,500 Costco Cash card. He’s using the prize money to stock up on baby supplies, as he and his wife are expecting their second child this summer.

—Will Fifield

Jeong Sang-Woon Daejeon, Korea

A study in knowledge

When Renton, Washington, seventh-grade social studies teacher Sarah Cockle volunteered to teach at

the International Neo-Humanist School in the village of Ejura, Ghana, from September 2007 through February 2008, she had no idea it would lead to a second-place win in the Costco Photo Contest. The Seattle Costco member responded to The Connection via e-mail from Ghana, where she was back teaching for her winter break.

“I taught small groups of elementary [school] children reading, writing and English,” Cockle says. “This was a group of my sixth-grade boys reading out of a workbook during one of my lessons. The boys all crammed onto the bench and were sharing books. I was struck by their pose, and the combination of colors in their uniforms, sandals and dark skin against the background of the newly constructed classroom.”

Cockle grabbed her Sony Cybershot digital camera and captured the moment. When she heard she had won, her reaction was one of “disbelief and complete excitement.”