I shoot a lot of competitions this time of year, but most of them involve sweaty guys on a grass field or kids with live fish. It’s not often that I shoot in door contests where the winners are determined by how nice they look in an evening gown and how well they answer a question. But Saturday night that was the case when I shot the Miss Kyle/Miss Kyle Teen pageant.
Of course the most exciting moment of the night was when the winners were announced. Everyone who’s ever watched a beauty pageant knows the face the winner makes – mouth open, hand over mouth, eyes wide open. It’s as if they can not believe what’s happening.
Yep, that’s the one.
That’s Miss Kyle 2011 Jessica Cantu (right) as they announced her name and First Runner Up Caitlyn Pesl (left). I don’t know the whole story or how the scores tallied, but Cantu had by far the best answer to the dreaded final question and I believe she was honestly shocked to win.
Miss Kyle Teen 2011 Michaela Castillo (the one in the top photo), however, was a front runner from the beginning. She was a clear favorite to the crowd, the judges and her competitors. She went home with several special awards that night, including the crown.
Here she is getting a hug from Miss Kyle Teen 2010 Christina Nunez. Miss Kyle 2010 was Jennifer Hamzy.
The truth is, beauty pageants were never really my thing. I feel more comfortable in jeans and flip flops than fancy dresses and sparkly tiaras, but these girls did a great job and were wonderful to photograph. I got a lot more photos from the whole Miss Kyle/Miss Kyle Teen process and I will be sharing those in tomorrow’s blog entitled “Behind the Tiara.”