"The winner is John Brantley". "The winner is John Brantley". This announcement was made six different times at the awards banquet but no one stood up to accept the gold medal as winner of the intermediate division or to receive five other honorable mentions for the winning images.

It is time we all meet him. He regularly attends our meetings, but his laid back personality means that many members may not know him personally. “I’m sorry I couldn’t attend the dinner but I already had other obligations out of town,” he said. “I had no idea that I had won anything.”

It is not surprising that John’s prints were chosen as he has a considerablef photographic experience. His interest in photography began more than 30 years ago. He had a dark room in his garage in the San Fernando Valley to develop his color prints.

“I moved to Banning two years ago but didn’t want to go through building another dark room, in addition to the fact that the chemicals were caustic and poisonous,” he explained. “That is when I went digital. This type of photography has opened up a lot of doors for me. It is so convenient.”

Born in Los Angeles, John is a retired math and science resource instructor, describing himself as a “Mr. Wizard Guy with batteries and bulbs.” He even set up a small photo lab for the students.

John has lived in many parts of the world but has always returned to California. His first camera was a Nikon F series built out of metal and steel. Next he graduated to a medium format Pentax 645 and now uses a Sony digital F828.

He has belonged to our club for over a year after hearing about us from Gene Lambert.

“I enjoy meeting other photographers at the camera club,” he said. “I love the critiquing and have never heard anyone say that a picture was lousy.”

“I am an outdoor guy and am intrigued with the macro world,” he added.