Thank you to all the photographers that participated in the Cold vs Hot Photo Contest in collaboration with LaCie, sharing their best photos showing from lava and fire to ice and snow. Congratulations to the winners and finalists, and a special round of applause for the Grand Jury Winner who win great prizes from LaCie.

A special thanks to Spencer Pablo for his collaboration as a guest judge. Bashful unless stirred by technology and with a penchant to laugh at his jokes before anyone else gets it, Spencer Pablo may be one of the most oddly placed characters among the Sony Artisans of Imagery. Introduced to his colleagues as the “nerd” of the bunch, he has a knack to always be on the lookout for an opportunity to learn– anything from circuit board design to child rearing. Comfortable behind a lens for over 20 years, his images have appeared in newspapers and museums.His work spans from landscapes to travel to family portraiture, and anything from behind the camera to in front of a classroom.

Grand Jury Winner

"This is my pick for the grand prize. The excellent processing, the leading lines, and composition all hit the nail right on the head for me. There is sky interest, foreground interest, and it looks like the brief moment where you have the golden hour leaving and the blue hour about to enter. It’s excellent and must be printed in large format. The lighting on the iceberg’s flat surface­­ so nicely done." - Spencer Pablo

Runner Up

"This image is great. I love the juxtaposition of the town and the snow mountain range. If I had to nitpick, I would have tried to get a spot with less trees in the foreground (or more­­just anything that doesn’t show a cut portion of the tree) and perhaps some white balance adjustment on the mountain to bring out the “coldness” as the warm temperature seems to emote a little bit of a “desert” scene." - Spencer Pablo

Runner Up

"Who doesn’t like a little incendiary action? I dig the shape of the ice that leads the viewer to the action happening in the middle of the frame. The reflections coming from the gloss of the ice cave is so good. The colors are great and tastefully saturated. The dark bottom right, though, for some reason, begs for balance in my eyes. There’s just not too much going on there. There are plenty of elements in this image to keep my interest and have me staring at this image for a while­­which is what a good photograph should do." - Spencer Pablo

Runner Up

"I love this image. The composition is strong. The subject’s stare is perfect. I like the handling of the contrast of the image, as well as the use of negative space. This one is the third runner up for me because I am a fan of clean, minimalist images. To propel the interest in the image for me, however, it would need something else to make it “pop.” It’s difficult to say what to change, but perhaps some out of focus interest in the background." - Spencer Pablo

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