From close to 400 photo entries from this year’s calendar contest, the final 40 were voted on for who would make the 12 page edition for Sunrise Credit Union's 2023 Calendar. 

‘Stino Scaletta of Brandon is the winner of the 2022 Sunrise Credit Union, Our Manitoba Photo Contest,' announced Sunrise Credit Union in their news release this week.  

Scaletta shared some of his favorite strategies for getting that perfect shot!

"I like to go to the Manitoba Summer Fair during the fireworks. This allows me to enhance my long exposure shots of the rides with the fireworks," said Scaletta when describing his winning shot. "For this particular image, I wanted to capture the Ferris Wheel and other rides in motion with the fireworks in the background. So, I set my shutter speed at six seconds, and I was firing away (every six seconds) hoping to capture the motion of the rides with the firework explosions." 

The picture is alive with color and motion and celebration - no doubt an award winner!

Scaletta has been entering the Sunrise photo contest from the beginning, since 2013, and while he’s been a finalist previously, this is the first time one of his entries has been named the top photo, landing him the Grant Prize of a $500 One-Year Term Deposit from Sunrise Credit Union. 

"I enter the Sunrise Credit Union's 'Our Manitoba Photo Contest' to see how my pictures compare to the many submissions you get,' said Scaletta, "This contest has hundreds of amazing entries, and being shortlisted is an achievement for me. However, to be voted into [the 2023] calendar is the cherry on top." 

 Scaletta has reveled in photography for many years and has won other photo contests. He shared some of the keys to achieving quality photos.  

"I find photography similar to golf. You can't master it, but you can have fun trying. There are 'rules' you can follow to help compose an image. You can learn them in various ways (YouTube, books, or join a photography club – I've done all three)," said Scaletta. "An image with a nice composition will give you a decent chance of getting selected for a calendar. A second tip, for landscapes, get low. A lower perspective will enhance foreground elements which will take your images up a notch."  

Marketing Manager for Sunrise Credit Union, Terri Roulette-McCartney, says the intent of the Sunrise photo contest is to showcase the beauty of Manitoba through a camera lens. “Just beautiful images from all across the province. Interestingly enough, and we were happy about this, all of the winners of this year’s contest all happened to be from our corner of the province. So, they’re all from southwestern Manitoba, which was really nice.” 

“The winning photo is a very nice photo, full of color,” shares McCartney. “It captures family values and just a fun event. We all need some fun events these days, and that picture really captured it and the public voted that image in!” 

All 13 finalists will receive a canvas print of the winning photograph, be featured in the 2023 Sunrise Credit Union calendar, and have appeared on Sunrise Credit Union's branch TVs and social media channels.  

2022 marked the tenth edition of the Our Manitoba Photo Contest. The unveiling of the grand prize winner on Thursday (May 12) coincided with Manitoba Day