Hendersonville Times-News article – Local photographer wins contest, appears on magazine cover

From staff reports
Published: Thursday, October 25, 2012 at 11:15 p.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, October 25, 2012 at 9:26 p.m.
Professional nature photographer Rob Travis of Cedar Mountain took top honors in the Mountains’ Majesty photo contest, winning a $200 cash prize.
Travis’ work and the photos of eight other finalists have been published in Mountain Traditions magazine, which will be distributed to Times-News home delivery subscribers on Sunday. Additional copies may be purchased at the Times-News office in Henderson Crossing Plaza.

Travis won first prize for “Autumn Dream on the Parkway,” a layered sunset photographed from the Cowee Mountain overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Travis also shot the cover image, “Spirit of the Lake,” a golden tree captured at Beaver Lake in

November 2010. “I’m just blessed by being willing to be in the right place at the right time,” Travis said in an interview this week. “Autumn Dream” and “Spirit of the Lake” were photographed in locations that Travis has visited repeatedly, at different times of the day (and sometimes night), in his quest to capture exceptional images. “I’m doing what I love to do,” said Travis, 52. “I love crafting beautiful images. I can’t wait to take my next picture.” Before a business restructuring in 2001, Travis worked as a project manager for a Fortune 500 company in Asheville. After he turned down a transfer to Wisconsin, Travis started helping out at Glass Feather Studio Gallery, where he learned how to make kiln-fired fused glass from his father, the late Robert Travis, and his stepmother, Patricia Travis. In addition to exhibiting and selling his work at Glass Feather Studio Gallery on Cedar Mountain, Travis is a guest exhibitor at French Broad Place in Brevard.

Travis’ work also has appeared in WNC Magazine, Blue Ridge Country and Views Magazine. He is a member of the Land of Waterfalls Camera Club in Transylvania County, whose members helped him learn many of the technical aspects of photography. Several finalists in the Mountain Traditions photo contest are members of camera clubs in Transylvania and Henderson counties. The finalists — whose photos are published in the magazine — are John Ayre, Bonnie Cooper, Patricia Disbrow, Peter Jones, Doris Haydock King, Ed Law, Kimberly Maxwell and Mark Turnau. All photos submitted to the contest are in a photo gallery that may be viewed at BlueRidgeNow.com. More of Travis’ photos may be viewed at www.robtravis.com. http://www.blueridgenow.com/article/20121025/ARTICLES/121029842/1151?p=1&tc=pg