Costco Connection - February 2010

Monkey business Costco member Rubin Zacarias Francisco Ramón, who lives in Monterrey, Mexico, shot this International Grand Prize– winning photo at the Wameru Zoo in Querétaro, Mexico. “It captures a complicated mix of feelings of the chimpanzee about being captive, like anger, sadness, desperation and impo- tence,” Ramón says. “I also believe that the bars match very well with [this] idea.” Ramón, who shot the image with a Canon EOS Rebel XTi digital camera, has been into photography for about four years. For his place as International Grand Prize Winner, he will receive a US$1,500 Costco Cash card.—Will Fi;eld

U.S. Second Place

Ken Saunders Los Angeles, California

Corner story

If you’re going to name a small Jack Russell terrier after a famous 6-foot-6-inch basketball player, there had better be a good reason.

“He’s got a great jump,” says Ken Saunders, owner of Kobe (for Los Angeles Laker Kobe Bryant), the 7-year-old pooch featured in his second-place-winning photo.

Saunders, 56, who runs his own tool and abrasive supply business, is also a semiprofessional photographer. He notes, “It’s something I’ve done since I was 13.

“I had seen him look around the corner,” says Saunders of Kobe and his prizewinning shot, for which he received a $1,000 Costco Cash card. “He has this cute look that I wanted to capture.” Using a Canon 5D, Saunders took the shot, then switched the photo from color to black and white, allowing only Kobe’s eye to retain color.

“It’s a very special picture,” says Saunders.—T. Foster Jones

U.S. Third Place 

Joseph Cressman, Oak Park, Illinois

Paint a pretty picture

When ;e Connection caught up with Joseph Cressman, this year’s U.S. third-place winner, he’d just returned from a trip to ;ailand. It seems only ;tting, as his winning photo was taken on his third trip to the country.

Cressman says he and his wife, Rachel, were in a small Muslim ;shing village in the southern part of the country when he took this photo in 2003.

Although he’s an avid photographer, Cressman, who will receive a $500 Costco Cash card for his win, says he’s entered only a few contests. “I take photos because I think they have something about them that evokes a feeling. Others may see it, or they may not. In this instance I saw nice, kind people who were hard at work.”