Otterville girl, 13, wins teen photo contest

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Natasha Oomen won this year’s Oxford County Library photo contest with the promise of ice cream for her younger brothers.

Oomen, 13, rounded up her brothers and cousin for a trip to Market by the Falls in Otterville in early August, where, with ice cream in their hands, she snapped a photo to submit to the library’s teen photography contest in the “local eats” category.

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Otterville girl, 13, wins teen photo contest Back to video

Oomen eventually won the overall contest for her photo of the six boys, shirtless, eating ice cream on the bench in front of the market.

“It looks like fun, and family that are … hanging out, having ice cream,” Oomen said of why she liked her photo.

Oomen said she took the photo from across the street to get the best angle, ensuring enough background without making it look cramped, though she tried several angles and viewpoints.

There was some silliness in taking the photo too, she said. Her cousin Jesse, on the left, told her he’d be trying to make sure his “six pack” made it into the photo.

Oomen said she started taking photos last summer with her grandmother, and actually enjoys nature photography more than portraits.

“It is just really fun because I can look at the earth and everything in it.”

After borrowing her grandmother’s basic point-and-shoot digital camera, Oomen got a camera of her own on Christmas last year and uses it every day.

The family will be moving to Malawi later this year, and Oomen said she’s excited for all the new scenery to take photos of there – especially going on a safari.

As for her win? She might owe them another ice cream for that.

“They thought it would be really fun to be in the photo, and they said ‘if you win, we get to share the prize money.’ So we’re coming to a deal on that,” Oomen said, “but I did say ice cream one more time.”