BY ANN STOKES

Special to The Pilot

Jill Margeson of Seven Lakes, a member of the Sandhills Photography Club in Southern Pines, took first place in the macro/close-up category of the Members' Competition held in March during the annual conference of the Carolinas Nature Photography Association (CNPA) in Charlotte.

Margeson's image of a butterfly, titled "Black Swallowtail," was her second CNPA win. In the Triangle Region's monthly digital competition in September, she took second place with "Galapagos Sea Lion at Rest."

Margeson, inspired by her dad Chris Christiansen, has been a photographer all her life. During her childhood she was her dad's assistant, carrying cameras, lenses, and tripods and helping develop film in his darkroom. As an adult, motherhood interrupted her focus on photography, and after a move during which the box that contained all her photographs was lost, she decided to stop taking pictures.

"I felt it was important to enjoy the moment rather than depend on memories based on my photographs," she says.

A former teacher in Apex, Margeson moved to Seven Lakes four years ago to be near her father, a long-time member of the Sandhills Photography Club, where he has collected over 100 competition points with his winning photographs. Within a year, she bought a Nikon D50 and got back into photography. She is now a member of the SPC and the CNPA and has collected quite a few competition points of her own.

In the past two years, Margeson has photographed amazing animals in the Galapagos Islands and the people, scenery, and architecture of Tuscany and Venice in Italy. The trip to Italy included no time for general sightseeing.

"No history, no shops -- just photography," Margeson says with a laugh.

She has also taken field trips and workshops arranged by the Sandhills Photography Club, the most recent being a three-day club excursion to Nags Head with nature photographer Mark Buckler.

Margeson is currently taking online classes in "Developing Your Creativity" with photographer Carol Leigh. Topics are assigned to sharpen the photographer's ability to notice details in a variety of locations: a cemetery, a junkyard, a garden, a garage. Margeson is also experimenting with camera motion and watercolor effects.

Margeson takes to heart the words of CNPA conference speaker Frans Lanting, a National Geographic photographer, who stated that a photographer's most important job is to document change.

"People aren't paying attention to what's disappearing from our environment," she says.

"Our photographs document natural things that may not be here for another generation to observe."

Margeson hopes that her prize-winning images will achieve her goal of documenting the world for the future.