Category Archives: Slideshow

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)

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

2011 Q2 Clip Contest Winners

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current standings:
1. Kyle Green 270
2. Ross Taylor 240
3. P. Kevin Morley 200
4. Sam Dean 90
5. Stephanie Klein-Davis 80
6. John Boal, Andrew Shurleff 70
8. Kim Raff 60
9. Parker Michels-Boyce, Traci White, Nikki Fox, Jill Nance 30

Thanks to the photo staff of the Midland Daily News for judging this round: Nick King, Thomas Simonetti, Neil Blake.

Judges’ Comments:

FEATURE

  1. Kyle Green, The Roanoke Times – We liked this quirky moment from an assignment that very well could have been not very visual.
  2. P. KEVIN MORLEY, The Richmond Times – We liked the access and scene that the photographer took us into in this frame. We felt that it was shot a little too loose, but overall a nice scene.
  3. Jill Nance-The News & Advance – We liked the surprise and humor of this photo. Could have used a crop and would have liked no motion blur, but overall we liked the picture.

SPORTS

  1. Kyle Green, The Roanoke Times – Great moment. Clean and full of impact.
  2. Andrew Shurtleff, Daily Progress – Great action photo from a baseball game. Really looks painful..
  3. Andrew Shurtleff,The Daily Progress – Good emotion in this one. Could have used a crop on both sides.

PORTRAIT

  1. Ross Taylor,The Virginian-Pilot – We like that the photo created a mood and gave us a feeling. Great light and minimal background to draw you into the woman.
  2. John Boal, News & Messenger – We like that this was a sports portrait that wasn’t corny. Clean, nicely lit.
  3. Kim Raff,The News & Advance – Nice lighting. Wished that the swimmer didn’t have the towel over her.

NEWS

  1. Kyle Green, The Roanoke Times – Good emotion and composition. Liked all the elements in the background.
  2. Kyle Green,The Roanoke Times – We liked how the man was framed by the destruction of the house. The cross in the background and the fan were nice elements.
  3. Traci White, Daily News Record – Great emotion and immediacy. The photographer positioned him/herself in a good spot.

MULTIPLE

  1. Kyle Green, The Roanoke Times – A good overall look at the destruction with some nice details along with the package. Could use a tighter edit.
  2. Stephanie Klein-Davis, The Roanoke Times – Good assortments of scenes from the young boxer’s life. We wish some of the situations had been shot better, but overall a good view of this man’s life. Could use a tighter edit as well.
  3. Parker Michels-Boyce, The News & Advance – Again, this story showed the viewer a good assortment of scenes from the subjects lives. Some of the compositions were really similar. We wish that it was a little more visually diverse. This one also could use a tighter edit.

Nice Timesland Portraits by Sam Dean

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Every year the Roanoke Times photographers make a great series of portraits for their high school athletes of the year.  This year is no exception. Take a look at Sam Dean’s awesome portraits here or at the link below.

http://www.roanoke.com/photography/slideshows/galleries/timeslandthletes2011/gallery.html

2010 VNPA Annual Contest Winners

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We finally had some time to sit down and put all these images together in a slideshow. Judges’ comments are available for download via the link below. Also below is a list of the winning multimedia story entries – hopefully we’ll get links up to those projects soon. Congrats to all the winning photographers, especially Leo Kim, 2010 best in show winner!

note: The judges opted to combine the Audio Slideshow and Video categories in the News categories due to a limited number of entries.

News Multimedia

  1. Leo Kim, Virginian-Pilot, “Our Longest War-Afghanistan”
  2. Eva Russo, Richmond Times-Dispatch, “Tent City-Haiti”
  3. John Boal, The News & Messenger, “Iwo Jima Vets”

Feature Video

  1. Kyle Green, Roanoke Times, “Bound by Love”
  2. Sam Dean, Roanoke Times, “Service”
  3. Kyle Green, Roanoke Times, “Fair”
  4. HM-Jeanna Duerscherl, Roanoke Times, “Autism”
  5. HM-Jeanna Duerscherl, Roanoke Times, “Laughter

Feature Sound Slide Show

  1. Bob Brown, Richmond Times-Dispatch, “Friday Night in Floyd”
  2. Jill Nance, Lynchburg News & Advance, “Loretta; I Believe”
  3. Jill Nance, Lynchburg News & Advance, “Special Needs, Special Driver”

Portfolio

  1. Amanda Lucier, Virginian-Pilot
  2. Ross Taylor, Virginian-Pilot
  3. Sam Dean, Roanoke Times
  4. HM-Leo Kim, Virginian-Pilot

A Final Graduation

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Graduating a final class of six seniors, the Virginia School of the Arts closed this year for good. I was able to photograph classes and student life for the final three weeks and I am in awe of the work these kids do, compared to what I was capable of in high school.

Click here to see the audio slideshow, which we posted this week.

Alright, now I’m off to meet up with Kim Raff and others at LOOK3!!

VNPA Quarterly Clip Contest – 2011 Q1

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Congrats to all our winners!

Thanks to judges Beth Schlanker, Chad Surmick, Chris Chung, Kent Porter and John Burgess of the The Santa Rosa Press Democrat in Santa Rosa, CA.

Judges’ Comments:

NEWS

  1. Harringtons- Sam Dean- A great photo in a very tough situation. It is very storytelling and touching. Really conveys their grief. Good job!
  2. VCU Rams fan -P. KEVIN MORLEY – Good moment, but could have used a tighter crop vertically.
  3. APPOMATTOX SHOOTING ONE YEAR LATER by Kim Raff- Nice somber photo from a sad situation. We debated whether it would have been better to be on the other side of her and see her face. We couldn’t decide. The bland color palette is nice b/c it makes the flowers pop!

FEATURE- This was a overall very weak category.

  1. Troop goodbye- P. KEVIN MORLEY- Nice moment. Would have been better shot with a longer lens and cropped up.
  2. Kite Shadows- P. KEVIN MORLEY- Nice use of the pretty light.
  3. Snow Sledding by Nikki Fox – Good moment, would have been better with more expression on her face.

PORTRAIT

  1. High-rise Bridge by Ross Taylor – This image really jumped out as the clear winner. It is moody and interesting. Perhaps a bit over toned and burned down.
  2. Sammy Oakey by Stephanie Klein-Davis – This portrait is in desperate need of some good lighting, but we liked how the photographer used the symmetry and color.
  3. Kazim Shrine Circus by Kyle Green – We liked the feel and the moment. The color balance needs some work though. Very yellow/red.

SPORTS

  1. Admirals by Ross Taylor- A unique moment with the skates in the air and the puck on his stick. This is a hard shot to get. Good job.
  2. Hockey Fight by Ross Taylor- Nice tight action with helmets coming off. This was in a very close race for 1st place.
  3. Basketball chair fall by P. KEVIN MORLEY- Great shot but we all thought it needed to be cropped up from the bottom. The Gatorade bottle could go and it would be a stronger photo.

MULTIPLE

  1. Haiti by Ross Taylor-We didn’t give this first place because this story was from Haiti or because it was black and white. We just thought it had the best collection of images. With that said though, there were certainly some weak photos in this essay. Overall the photographer needed to get closer and create more intimacy. It doesn’t feel like there was a real connection with the subjects. All of the images were shot at a distance at a similar angle. Nice use of light.
  2. Timberbeast- Sam Dean- This was a solid storytelling package. Good variety of shots. Nice seeing. We just wanted a few more standout photos for it to get 1st place.
  3. Ricky Chang by John Boal- This story had some good photos, but needed a tighter edit and more variety of images. It was a tough choice b/w this story and a different wheelchair story, but we though this was edited better and had more access and intimacy. Great last photo.