The Dubuque Camera Club competes in North Central Camera Club Council (N4C) photography contests. Below you can view some of our members’ winning entries from the past season, as well as some of the top “Best of the Best” winners from our club.
To view the top winners from ALL clubs, visit the Winners Galleries on the N4C website and scroll down to Best of the Best N4C.
2022/2023 – “Best of the Best” Club Winners
Photos from the following Dubuque Camera Club members received recognition in the 2022-23 N4C end-of-the-season “Best of the Best” contest:
- Dubuque Camera Club – Large Club of the Year
- Stephonie A Schmitz – Photographer of the Year
- Ron Tigges, 1st Place, Prints Journalism, “Rear View Flip”
- Stephonie A Schmitz, 1st Place, Panorama Prints, “Starry Night at Toadstools, UT”
- James Durrant, 2nd Place, Prints Travel, “Night Time Falling Water, Mill Run, PA”
- Stephonie A Schmitz, 2nd Place, Photo Essay, “Come Fly with Me”
- James Durrant, 3rd Place, Photo Journalism Story, “Heroes for History”
- Kevin McTague, 3rd Place, Digital Pictorial, “Zion, N.P.”
- Ron Tigges, 3rd Place, Panorama Prints, “Twin Springs Autumn Twilight”
- Ron Tigges, 3rd Place, Digital Journalism, “Near Miss – Young skier dodges his dad on a tricky maneuver”
- Henry Matthiessen III, Honorable Mention, Prints Travel, “El Capitan – Yosemite, CA”
- James Durrant, Honorable Mention, Prints Journalism, “Ouch! That was a Fastball!”
- Kenneth Kiss, Honorable Mention, Prints Nature, “Prothonotary Warbler”
- Kevin McTague, Honorable Mention, Digital Nature, “Fruit Bat”
- Sam Fenstenmacher, Honorable Mention, Photo Essay, “Summertime Dubuque Destinations”
- Stephonie A Schmitz, Honorable Mention, Digital Black + White, “Scripps Pier in BW”
- Stephonie A Schmitz, Honorable Mention, Digital Nature, “Bull Moose in Rim Light at Sprague Lake RMNP”
- Stephonie A Schmitz, Honorable Mention, Prints Journalism, “Whoooah There!”
- Stephonie A Schmitz, Honorable Mention, Prints Travel, “A Path to Dream Lake – RMNP, CO”
View ALL N4C “Best of the Best” Winners from the 2022-23 Season: N4C_2023_BestOfBest
2021/2022 – “Best of the Best” Club Winners
Photos from the following Dubuque Camera Club members received recognition in the 2021-22 N4C end-of-the-season “Best of the Best” contest:
- Kevin McTague, honorable mention, Digital Altered Reality, “See Jane Run”
- Will Hoyer, honorable mention, Digital Pictorial, “Morning Color at -16 degrees Fahrenheit”
- Kenneth Kiss, honorable mention, Digital Pictorial, “Lifting Fog at Green Island”
- Kenneth Kiss, honorable mention, Digital Nature, “Yep, All Feathers Counted”
2020/2021 – “Best of the Best” Club Winners
| Award | Contest Category | Month | Title | Club member | |
| 1st | Digital Travel | Sept. 2020 | Horseshoe Bend, Arizona | Stephonie Schmitz | |
| 1st | Digital Travel | Oct. 2020 | Inspiration Point – Bryce Canyon, Utah | Stephonie Schmitz | |
| 1st | Digital Travel | Jan. 2021 | Delicate Arch at Sunset – Utah | Stephonie Schmitz | |
| 1st | Digital Travel | Feb. 2021 | Fire Sky – Garden of the Gods – Colorado | Stephonie Schmitz | |
| 2nd | Digital Pictorial | Nov. 2020 | Motor Mill sunset on the turkey river | Ron Tigges | |
| 2nd | Digital Travel | Apr. 2021 | Chicago River Wrigley building view – Chicago, Illinois | Ron Tigges | |
| 2nd | Digital Altered Reality | May 2021 | See Jane Run | Kevin McTague | |
| 2nd | Digital Pictorial | Mar. 2021 | Cloud Gods Rise | Henry Matthiessen III | |
| 3rd | Digital Travel | Jan. 2021 | Hydes Mill, Ridgeway, Wisconsin | Kevin McTague | |
| 3rd | Digital Nature | May 2021 | Giraffe Pool – Massai Mara, Africa | Stephonie Schmitz | |
| 3rd | Digital Nature | Jan. 2021 | Reflections of the Fallen | Will Hoyer |
The following Dubuque Camera Club members received one or more Honorable Mention awards during the 2020/2021 N4C season:
- Ron Tigges
- Kenneth Kiss
- Kevin McTague
- Andreas Exner
- Casey Klein
- James Durrant
- Stephone Schmitz
- Will Hoyer
2019/2020 – “Best of the Best” Club Winners — virtual
The 2020 N4C convention was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Winners from the 2019/2020 season were recognized in a virtual presentation on October 14, 2020. The presentation was made into a 28-minute video. See a complete list of “Best of” winners for 2019/2020 on the N4C website.
Dubuque Camera Club members who were recognized by the N4C in 2019/2020:
- Ronald Tigges, 3rd place, Digital Journalism, “Good Night.”
- James Durrant, 3rd place, Digital Travel, “Nighttime at Falling Water, Pennsylvania.”
- Stephonie Schmitz, honorable mention, Digital Travel, “Monument Valley, Arizona.”
2018/2019 – “Best of the Best” Club Winners
The Dubuque Camera Club earned three end-of-the-year awards at the 2019 N4C convention:
- David Smethers, Honorable Mention, Digital Journalism, “Rock climber scales sheer cliff face to summit rim of Grand Canyon”
- Jose Garcia, Second Place, Digital Black and White, “Smoke”
- Dubuque Camera Club, Honorable Mention, Digital Newsletter, written by Pamela Brandt
At the 2019 N4C summer mini-con, our club also took home a panoramic print award:
- Ronald Tigges, 3rd Place, Panorama Print, “Christmas in July”
2017/2018 “Best of the Best” Club Winners — Blufftops & Visions
In September 2018, the Dubuque Camera Club hosted Blufftops & Visions, the 62nd annual N4C photography convention, in Dubuque, Iowa. See the Blufftops & Visions photo gallery for images taken during this event.
At the 2018 Blufftops & Visions convention, our club earned a total of 11 awards. The following photographers were recognized in the “Best of N4C” annual competition:
- First place, Digital Travel — “Ciudaddelas Ciencias Spain” by Jose Garcia
- Second place, Digital Altered Reality — “Racing into Reality” by Ronald Tigges
- Honorable Mention awards went to Pamela Brandt, Kevin McTague, David Smethers, Ron Tigges, and Jose Garcia.
2016/2017 – “Best of the Best” Club Winners
The following Dubuque Camera Club members were recognized in 2016/2017 during the N4C annual competition:
Digital Black and White
First place: Gary Fagan, “Braving the Storm”
Honorable mention: José García, “Picking Flowers”
Digital Nature
Second place: José García, “Winter Sunrise”
Honorable mention: Gary Fagan, “Protect Me”
Digital Travel
Third place: José García, “Alhambra, Spain”
Honorable mention: Robert Felderman, “San Diego Skyline and Sailboats at Sunset”
Honorable mention: Kevin McTague, “John Hopkins Glacier, Alaska”