I have encountered during my lifetime a handful of young people I realized possess a great deal of talent. One of those individuals is Matt Walsh, the son of a friend who is completing his degree in journalism at the University of Florida. Matt’s creativity flows through his camera. He has the true eye of an artist and that sixth sense that enables him to be in the right place at the right time to capture the one-in-a-million shot.

On April 5^th of this year, Matt captured this image from a rooftop as the shuttle Discovery climbed into the early morning darkness over Florida’s Space Coast. The image appeared the next day in The New York Times.

Along with about 14,000 other people, Matt recently entered the photograph in a National Geographic contest for best picture. He is now one of two finalists in the Action/Energy category! I like what Geographic photographer Jim Richardson had to say in describing Matt’s shot: “The vast energy of a shuttle lighting up the sea and the beaches is just one part of the beauty of this image. Add to that the coming dawn, the tide and waves of the sea washing ashore, and the wonder and awe that you can just feel in all of the people transfixed by the scene and you have a profound sense of great forces at work.”

So this is where you come in; would you do me a favor and help Matt win the contest by voting for his picture? If you will go to his website (www.m2collective.com) and click on the shuttle image, it will take you to the page where you can cast your ballot. You are only allowed to vote once from each of your computers, but if you use more than one browser (i.e. Explorer, Firefox), you can vote each time. The deadline for voting is Sept. 15, so don’t delay. Please help him out; he would appreciate your vote and so would I.

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