"Most people don't see what's underneath a flower," observes 13-year-old Lindsey Morgan.

"When you're a photographer," agrees her 11-year-old sister Kelsey, "you have a different perspective on things."

By now, the petite, energetic Morgan girls have the credentials to make such statements. Once again, they've come home from a state competition with top honors in both color and black-and-white photography.

Lindsey, a rising ninth grader at Conway Christian School, was waiting in line to tour the Washington Monument last fall when she took the shot that would go on to be named Best in Show for photography in the 2006 fine arts competition sponsored for middle and high school students by the S.C. Association of Christian Schools (SCACS).

The digital photo, taken on a Fuji S5000, looks like an ad for athletic shoes. Her models -- four of her classmates wearing blue jeans -- joined Lindsey in pushing their feet together in a visually-interesting circle.

Printed as an 11x14, the photo clicked with the judges, who liked its composition, its sharpness, its colors and its textures.

Two more of Lindsey's photos also took first place awards: a shot of

Conway's Main Street Memorial Bridge recorded on color film, and a moody close-up of a flute taken on black-and-white film.

Meanwhile, younger sister Kelsey was basking in the glow of four superior ratings earned at a separate SCACS competition for elementary school students.

The rising sixth grader matched her sister in bringing home the elementary level's "Best in Show" award for photography.

That photo, taken in the cemetery of All Saints Church on Pawleys Island, shows a rose lying on the gray granite face of a gravestone. Isolated drops of dew -- reminiscent of teardrops -- glisten on the red petals and the granite surface.

"I was walking by, and the redness of the rose caught my eye," Kelsey remembers of her stroll through the cemetery after a Sunday morning worship service. Since her mother generally keeps the car stocked with at least three cameras, Kelsey was armed with an Elan 2E loaded with color film. The SCACS judges found her shot both evocative and technically outstanding.

Kelsey's other three superior ratings were earned for a color film shot of a dock at the Conway Marina, a black-and-white film photo of deeply textured tree bark, and a monochromatic drawing of a violin.

Anne Morgan is delighted that her two girls share her love of visual images. A free-lance photographer for the past two years, as well as a frequent substitute at the girls' school, she enjoys teaching them composition and technical tips, noting that the most important rule is "not to leave home without a camera."

She notes that the girls take different approaches to the medium.

Kelsey, she says, is spontaneous.

"She just snaps and later goes back to look" at the results. Lindsey is "more of a planner, although she had gotten a lot more spontaneous this year."

The sisters are accumulating ribbons and certificates at a steady pace. Both girls brought home SCACS' Best in Show awards in 2005, as well.

Husband and father Lex is proud of his family of photographers, and isn't surprised that Lindsey and Kelsey have developed a through-the-viewfinder perspective on the physical world around them.

The Morgans live on Watson Drive in Conway.