Category Archives: Feature

2012 Q4 Clip Contest Winners

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Wrapping up a great year, here are the smoking, screaming, shooting results from the 4th quarter contest.

Using the system where each 1st place award receives 3 points, 2nd place receives 2 points and 3rd place receives 1 point, here are the top scorers from 2012 (complete standings below):

  1. Parker Michels-Boyce (24 pts)
  2. Kyle Green (23 pts)
  3. Ross Taylor (12 pts)

Big thanks to our judges this round from the Concord Monitor, photographers John Tully, Andrea Morales and Samantha Goresh.

ILLUSTRATION

  1. Kyle Green/Roanoke Times – The color, the lighting, and the concept was well executed.
  2. Ross Taylor/The Virginian-Pilot - The humor and subtle details were emphasized by the organized and well-lit frame. Organized chaos.
  3. Ross Taylor/The Virginian-Pilot – Nice light and interesting concept that connects back to the story. We understood the hand coming in the frame on the left, but could have done without it.

Comments: Mixed and interesting entries overall. The ones that rose to the top were executed the best. Colors and organization in the frame also helped.

FEATURE

  1. Rebecca Barnett/The Roanoke Times – Uses light really well and conveys a level of intimacy.
  2. Bob Martin/Free Lance-Star - Nice seeing. The lighting, the color, and composition all line up and work together.
  3. Ross Taylor/The Virginian-Pilot – Couldn’t figure out what the dog is doing, but we awarded this because of a level of commitment to the story. We would have liked to a little more of a connection to the people, but the ritual and idea of hunting as a family came across in the photo.

Comments: The category was fairly weak, with the award-winners rising quickly to the top. Most of the images feel like straight-forward event coverage or shoot-and-scoot mentality. We didn’t feel like the photographers brought much to the situations to tell a story.

PORTRAIT

  1. Parker Michels-Boyce/The News & Advance – Works alright with space framing the artist’s head.

Comments:We had a tough time awarding images in the category because the portraits seemed like more fleeting moments that didn’t give enough sense of who the subject was.

SPORTS

  1. Kyle Green/The Roanoke Times – Great moment, nice light, with a clean enough background. Other emotions add to the excitement.
  2. Sam O’Keefe/The News & Advance - This is a common photo we see from cross country meets, but the frame was well-done and unusual. The light was used well and it was a well composed frame.
  3. Sabrina Schaeffer/The Daily Progress – Great moment. The eyes made it.
  4. (HM) Ross Taylor/The Virginian-Pilot – Sweet story but we wished it was composed a little better.

Comments: The category had a lot of nice images to choose from. The feature photos definitely stood out more than the action photos.

NEWS

  1. Ross Taylor/The Virginian-Pilot – Nice composition that draws us in to an emotional moment.
  2. Andrew Shurtleff/Daily Progress - We awarded this because it was an interesting take on a news event. Went beyond the obvious photos we often see from spot-news events.
  3. (tie)P. Kevin Morley/Richmond Times-Dispatch – Pretty funny moment in a sea of chaos from an overly-staged event.
  4. (tie)Ross Taylor/The Virginian-Pilot – Hilarious moment from an annual, often treated mundane, assignment.

Comments: The photos that rose to the top did so because the photographer was able to step away from the obvious, yet still doing justice to the subject.

MULTIPLE

  1. Parker Michels-Boyce/The News & Advance – Found an interesting character and stuck with it to get a little bit beyond the surface. A few nice images with some minor redundancies.
  2. Rebecca Barnett/The Roanoke Times - Nice photos in a tight edit. Follows the process with a few surprises. Really liked the photo of J.D. kissing Jillian while outside.
  3. Kyle Green/The Roanoke Times – Some nice visual photos and details. Strong beginning, but a stronger narrative with a tighter edit would have carried this story in the category.

Comments: We liked a lot of photos throughout the entries, but we like to see more emphasis on telling a story rather than just a collection of images. Some entries would have benefited from a tighter, more thoughtful edits.

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All scorers from 2012:

  • Parker Michels-Boyce (24 pts)
  • Kyle Green (23 pts)
  • Ross Taylor (12 pts)
  • Sam O’Keefe (8 pts)
  • Rebecca Barnett (8 pts)
  • Andrew Shurtleff (8 pts)
  • Jay Diem (7 pts)
  • Sangjib Min (5 pts)
  • Rob Ostermaier (5 pts)
  • Jill Nance (4 pts)
  • P. Kevin Morley (4 pts)
  • Bob Martin (4 pts)
  • Earl Neikirk (4 pts)
  • Ryan Kelly (3 pts)
  • Jeff Mankie (2 pts)
  • Stephanie Klein-Davis (2 pts)
  • Sabrina Schaeffer (1 pts)

River Men

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I had to hike a mile down a mountain and along train tracks in the rain to photograph a crew of guys who are taking a batteau 360 miles upriver. It was probably the best day of work I have ever had.

More on my blog and at The News & Advance.

Kevin Ferrel (right) holds onto a guide rope that keeps the specially designed batteau aimed straight as crew members behind him struggle to hold their position against the strong rapids of Balcony Falls on the James River near Glasgow, Va.

Members and friends of the expedition stand on the shore of the James River before setting up camp for the night.

2011 Q4 Clip Contest Winners

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…and last but not least, our winners for quarter four!

Thank you to our judges from the Indianapolis Star (who also gave our entries some wonderful titles!):
Matt Detrich – Staff Photographer
Danese Kenon – Assistant Director of Photography
Robert Scheer – Staff Photographer

FEATURE

  1. “Mariachi Band” – Sam Dean/The Roanoke Times – This photo took first because there weren’t a lot of moments in the category so the cool feeling , composition and light helped this come together.
  2. “Children’s Museum Extravaganza” – Ross Taylor / The Virginian-Pilot – Again no moments but the cool light and composition and timing helped this.
  3. “Meeting Snoopy” – P. Kevin Morley / Richmond Times-Dispatch – This pic had a moment but it was almost there…sweet face on the little girl and way to be ready when it happened.

ILLUSTRATION

  1. “Antsy To Find The Perfect Picnic Spot” – Ross Taylor | The Virginian-Pilot – PERFECT execution and full of fun information and a joy to have in anyone’s portfolio!
  2. “The Rise of Zombie Games” – Ross Taylor | The Virginian-Pilot – Another illustration packed full of cool visuals with a story telling edge!
  3. “Running Back” – Kyle Green / The Roanoke Times – Great portrait but we felt this should have been in the portrait category as we didn’t see any Photoshop manipulation.

NEWS

  1. “Protestor Charged” – Robert A. Martin/Stringer – Super story telling image with great emotion that stood way above the rest!
  2. “Where Are The Jobs Protest” – P. Kevin Morley / Richmond Times-Dispatch – Nice “In Your Face” emotion that takes the reader where they need to be!
  3. “Grieving Father” – Kyle Green / The Roanoke Times – Another great emotion – great face but the photo could use a major crop to help get right into the emotion.

PORTRAIT

  1. “Strong Co-Captain – Ross Taylor | The Virginian-Pilot – Greta portrait approach with all the emotion and sense of place but now as we look closer should this be in the illustration category as it looks enhanced with photoshop.
  2. “Missing Mother” – Sam Dean/The Roanoke Times  - This was a fairly weak category…we felt this could have been lit better as the cross is blown out.
  3. “Track Star” – John Boal(?)/News & Messenger – We thought the lighting was flat and could be a little more dramatic but nice idea.

SPORTS

  1. “Celebrate and Complain” – Andrew Shurtleff / The Daily Progress – Great reaction photo of one girl celebrating while the other disputes the call. Fantastic job of capturing it all in one frame!
  2. “Exhausted Runner” – Kyle Green / The Roanoke Times – Another great shot that is helped by light and composition…great execution!
  3. “Celebrate Winning Goal” –  Jill Nance/The News & Advance – Super face anchoring the photo but a tighter crop would give it more impact.

FEATURE MULTIPLE

  1. “Bass Elementary School” – Jill Nance/The News & Advance – Great in-depth story that is well-rounded and really shows the life and celebrations of the students and faculty!
  2. “Toys “R” Us” – Sam Dean/The Roanoke Times – Another well told story from a daily event. All bases were covered showing the craziness of the event!
  3. “Fox Hunt” – Andrew Shurtleff / The Daily Progress – VERY well shot story but started well and kind of fell off at the end. The three starting photos were awesome but the style fell off at the end where we though  there might have been more.

2011 Q3 Clip Contest Winners

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First of all, I want to apologize for the delay in getting these results up. After losing Kim Raff to the Salt Lake Tribune it was a bit of a scramble to pick up the reigns and steer this clip contest in the right direction. Second, I have also been working a lot recently on updating this website. Some changes are already in place and there are more to come. If you have any suggestions, now is the perfect time to submit them!

Congrats to all the winners from quarter three!

Extra special thanks to our thoughtful judges at the Columbia (Mo.) Daily Tribune:
Parker Eshelman
August Kryger
Ryan Henriksen

News

  1. Kyle Green, The Roanoke Times
  2. Sam Dean, The Roanoke Times
  3. Andrew Shurtleff, The Daily Progress

Comments: solid find from a news event for first place, well composed graphic image for second, and nice moment for third.

Feature

  1. Jill Nance, The News & Advance
  2. Parker Michels-Boyce, The News & Advance
  3. P. Kevin Morley Richmond Times-Dispatch

Comments: Judges liked the mood of the first place photo, the fun scene and complete framing of second place, and nice face reaction of third place.

Sports

  1. Rebecca Barnett, The Roanoke Times
  2. Nikki Fox Daily News-Record
  3. Ryan Kelly, Christopher Newport University

Comments: Judges were really looking for peak moments or sports features they hadn’t seen before. Lots of generic action submitted. We liked the found moment of the first place feature, the jube of the second place, and the graphic quality of third.

Portrait

  1. Ross Taylor, The Virginian-Pilot
  2. John Boal, News & Messenger
  3. Kim Raff, The News & Advance

Comments: Judges really liked the mood and feel of first place and second place, and elegance of third place.

Multiple

  1. Sam Dean, Roanoke Times

Comments: Although all the entries in this category needed extreme amounts of editing, judges felt it necessary to recognize the work and effort put forth in the soldier

Modern Monks

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A couple weeks ago I spent some time photographing a group of Buddhist monks at Randolph College who are visiting from Tashi Kyil monastery in India. They are on a tour around the United States, sharing their way of life and creating sacred mandalas – intricate colored sand paintings that take several days to complete. Once finished, the piece is dismantled and the blessed sand is given away or spread in a natural setting. When I asked about the other cities they have visited, they opened a nearby laptop and brought up their facebook page. I guess this is 2011, after all.

More on my blog.