Villages Magazine wins award for color photography

STAFF REPORT

THE VILLAGES — The Villages Magazine recently was honored with the silver award for the Best Single, Original Color Photograph for magazines of 20,000 to 50,000 circulation by the Florida Magazine Association.

The winning photograph was taken by Marianne Lobaugh, the associate publisher of the magazine. The winning image appeared on the magazine’s July 2007 cover and was a photograph of artist Lisa Woodward painting in her home studio in the Village of Springdale.

Since its inception in 1954, the Florida Magazine Association has become the largest state magazine association in the nation, made up of more than 200 publishing professionals, all based in the Sunshine State.

“It is truly a great honor to be selected for this award,” Lobaugh said. “There are certainly a lot of great photographers shooting for magazines in the state of Florida. The photograph of Lisa was a favorite of mine and I couldn’t be happier about that image being chosen as a winner.”

Sponsored annually by the Florida Magazine Association, the Charlie Awards honor publishing excellence in the state of Florida. This year’s awards were presented at the FMA’s Annual Conference recently at Universal Orlando’s Portofino Bay Hotel.

The 2008 awards competition includes 75 categories in the areas of General Excellence, Editorial Excellence, Design Excellence and Printing Excellence.

The coveted Charlie Awards represent the pinnacle of achievement in Florida magazine publishing. Judges for this year’s competition comprise a “who’s who” of leading writers, editors, photographers and designers from outside Florida.

It was the first entry into the Charlie Awards for the magazine. The magazine was honored with two other awards this year from the Florida Newspaper Advertising and Marketing Executives, a gold in display advertising and a silver for Best Niche Publication.