The judging panel for the first annual National Sunset Print Award described the First Place Grand Prize winner – Permanent Bond by Tammy Bevins – as "flawless," "masterful" and "fully resolved." The image depicts the bond her twin sons have had since before they were born.

In fact, there was little debate about the print, other than how each element of the image – from composition to lighting – was absolutely spot-on.

Permanent Bond was one of 29 prints judged at LexJet headquarters in Sarasota, Fla., on Thursday, Nov. 13. All of the entries in the National Sunset Print Award competition won a Sunset Print Award at state and regional competitions across the U.S. in 2014, making them eligible for the national competition.

Permanent Bond won a Sunset Print Award at the Professional Photographers of South Carolina (PPSC) competition.

"It took four minutes to photograph something, but it took me four years to come up with the idea," says Bevins. "For several years I've been trying to come up with a concept to show the bond my twins have with each other and what it means to be a twin. It's one of the most amazing experiences to have twins that look so much alike and have been best friends. Over the years I didn't come up with something I was inspired to do until I came up with Permanent Bond. I wanted to position them like they were in the womb together, and I used rope to signify the umbilical cord."

Bevins runs Nuvo Images in Charleston, S.C., with her daughter and son-in-law, both of whom are award-winning photographers as well. Bevins has nine children – six girls and three boys – ranging in age from 13to 29. The twins are the third and fourth out of the nine. For the full story behind the winning print, go to http://lexjet.net/SPAPBTB.

Bevins' accomplishment at the National Sunset Print Awards is made all the more remarkable by the quality and variety of the images entered in the competition, from fine art photography to portraits and landscapes.

Julia Kelleher of Jewel Images in Bend, Ore., won second place for He Has Arrived. Click here to read the story behind Kelleher's award-winning print that scored a 100 at the PPA Western District print competition.

Pete Wright won third for his retro image, Temptress, which won a Sunset Print Award at the PPA Southeast District competition. Click here to read the story behind this stunning image.

Go to www.sunsetprint.com/previous-winners/ to see all the winners from 2014 and earlier years, and the stories behind the photography.

This year's judges were: Tom Carabasi of Ringling College of Art + Design; Julie Hughes,Abbey of London, Jensen Beach, Fla.; Rich Newell, Professional Photographers of America; Carmen Schettino, Carmen Schettino Photography, Sarasota; Jessica Vogel, Jessica Vogel Photography, Shelbyville, Ky.

For more information about the 2015 Sunset Print Award and the competitions where it is being presented, go to sunsetprint.com.

Photo captions

The National Sunset Print Award judging panel – from left to right, Carmen Schettino, Julie Hughes, Jessica Vogel, Tom Carabasi and Rich Newell – with their choice for First Place and the Grand Prize, Permanent Bond by Tammy Bevins. Photo by Billy Elkins.

Permanent Bond , by Tammy Bevins.

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