‘Monsters Inc.’ wins $500 prize

Go to www.heraldguide.com now to submit photos for 2015 contest

The road to victory began with a 3-year-old’s love for a green, one-eyed monster from a Disney movie.

“My youngest had picked out the Mike Wazowski costume,” said Lindy Bourgeois, a computer application developer and the photographer behind this year’s winning entry in the 2014 Camera Shootout Contest. “The other two kids actually came up with the idea to dress up with him on their own.”

The result was a picture of the Bourgeois children—Preston, 9, Sophie, 7, and Reid, 4—standing in front of the family’s home as characters from the movie “Monsters Inc.”

Though the James P. “Sully” Sullivan costume could be ordered online, the Celia Mae costume, worn by Sophie, had to be hand-made.

“We’ve coordinated a few times, and a few times they each wear their own things,”  Bourgeois said.

Bourgeois credits the success of the photo to getting the word out to friends and family about the contest through Facebook. In its initial run in the Halloween edition of the St. Charles Herald-Guide, the photo garnered more than 1,200 votes—the highest votes for any single picture all year.

In the final contest, the photo finished with 322 votes, which was enough to claim the contest win and the $500 Walmart gift card that goes along with it.

The Bourgeois family lives in Luling and snapped the winning picture  with a  Nikon D60 before heading out to go trick or treating.

In addition to taking the overall prize, the “Monster’s Inc.” photo holds a special place in Bourgeois’ heart.“It is my favorite Halloween costume that they’ve done over the years, so it’s one of my favorite pictures,” Bourgeois said. “I know, I’m biased.”

Runner’s up included a photo by Amy Burgess, who’s  holiday classic “Christmas Cheer” fell 22 votes shy of the win.

“My little boy brings so much joy to my life. He is such a character,” Burgess said. “This picture says it all.”

An early entrant to the contest, Amy McNulty’s “Best Friends” took third place. In that picture, a 3-year-old girl makes a birthday-time friend.

“They became best buds while going to the same wonderful sitter that they call, ‘Granny,’” McNulty said. “Molly has become very nurturing to Jett.”