Creativity was in full swing on Wednesday, December 18th at Give Me Astoria’s office as the nominees for the first-ever Give Me Fall photography contest came together to celebrate their nominations.

Photographers had the opportunity to mingle and view the printed versions of their nominated photographs on display throughout the office. The first-ever #GiveMeFall photography contest award was presented to Theo Sahos, for his ‘Born of Leaves’ submission which won with a combined total of 1,937 likes and 68 comments on all of Give Me Astoria’s social media profiles.

The photography contest spanned throughout the duration of the fall, and received nearly 100 submissions from photographers in the area. Submissions were accepted from September through the first week of December. Photographs were featured on Give Me Astoria’s Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter profiles, and votes were tallied based on the number of likes and comments for each photo.

Give Me Astoria would like to thank all who submitted their wonderful photography and who participated in a fun initiative to bring our creative, vibrant community together. A very special thank you to all involved, but specifically to the ten #GiveMeFall nominees:

• Theo Sahos, ‘Born of Leaves’
• Justin Wilson, ‘The Candied Apple’
• Brendan Quigley, ‘Hell Gate as the Leaves Turn’
• Mark DiConzo, ‘Falling Between Two Bridges’
• Vito Oliva, ‘Astoria Park: Fall Hell Gate’
• Jade Oliver, ‘Fall Under the Hell Gate’
• Gildo Spado, ‘Fire Gate’
• John Randazzo, ‘Autumn at Astoria Park’
• Raphael Gonzalez, ‘The Colors of Fall’
• Gracie Coston, ‘On Top of the Astoria Park Pool’

Give Me Astoria would also like to give a huge thank you to photographer George Pantelakis for his photography work throughout the evening!

For those who are interested in participating, Give Me Astoria currently has its first-ever winter photography contest, Give Me Winter, underway. Participants have a chance to submit their best Astoria winter photo in order for an opportunity to be featured on Give Me Astoria’s social media profiles and a chance to be nominated.