[KHTS] – George Cummings – photographer, Canyon Theatre actor, web designer, KHTS AM-1220 radio personality and host of the SCV NewsBreak on SCVTV and KHTS – learned over the weekend that he won the Los Angeles County Fair’s photography contest.

“It makes me feel good that I was able to take the blue ribbon on that one,” he said, adding that he never expected to win at the L.A. County Fair.

The photo, titled “Spirit of Sunlight,” was taken at Alcatraz island in the San Francisco bay, almost immediately after he stepped off the boat, Cummings said.

“People were there taking photos with their smartphones, but I had brought my camera with me and was able to take the shot,” he said.

The shot in question is light passing through the branches of a tree as the morning light burns through the bay’s infamous fog.

This is the second year Cummings has submitted to the L.A. County Fair, but said he “wasn’t really prepared last year.”

He did not have a large portfolio to draw from that year, but has since taken more photos to expand it, including this year’s winning piece, he said

Participants of the contest brought a framed print of their photo for display and judging, instead of submitting online.

Cummings actually originally submitted the photo to the Orange County Fair, but received a rejection letter. Because they wanted digital photos, he said, they probably received an overwhelming number of submissions.

Cummings has submitted to several contests in the past, he said. He photographs interior and exterior landscapes as well as headshots. However, landscapes were his first photography experience and he believes people seem to like them the most.

Cummings said that he began learning how to shoot photography as a way of furthering his web design business, so that he did not need to rely on others to take photos for him.

“I just started taking pictures on my own,” he said. “I started doing landscapes to improve my skill.”

– Chris McCrory