The Desert Companion staff’s favorite part of the photo contest is culling photos for the judges. We turn out the office lights, gather around a large(ish) flat-screen TV, and Art Director Chris Smith digitally flips through the pictures in each category, one by one. We react to and discuss them, spontaneously at first, then with increasing discernment. And inevitably, some that elicit spontaneous Ooohs and Ahhhs don’t make the final cut.
Here are a few of this year’s that made us smile — in the best possible way — at a time when smiles were hard to come by. Thanks, photographers!
