MNPA - Clip Contest - Third Quarter Results

Minnesota News Photographers Association

Clip Contest

2003 Third Quarter Results
3rd Quarter clips were judged by the staff photographers at The Province (Vancouver, B.C. - Canada). Judges: Ric Ernst, Arlen Redekop, Les Bazso, Jon Murray, Nick Procaylo, and Jason Payne

NEWS - (21)

Justin Hayworth, Duluth News Tribune, "Rescue Diver Rescue"
Justin Hayworth, "Victim Friends"
Ken Klotzbach, Rochester Post-Bulletin, "Assault"
HM. Carlos Gonzalez, The Star Tribune, "Home at Last"

Judges' Comments: The best entries quickly rose to the top but what order they should finish was hotly debated. The eventual first place pick is simply a strong moment of firefighters dragging an exhausted rescue scuba diver from the surf and up a beach. The second place selection is another photo from the same event showing friends of the victim, a 21 year-old man who was swept into Lake Superior by a riptide. The man did not survive and the three friends of the young man are locked in an emotional embrace. All the judges felt this photo could have been displayed bigger. Third place is a photograph with some technically challenging elements as it shows police investigating a shooting at night. Officer question two people in the back of an ambulance while another questions a man on the street is a rock solid exposure that delivers good detail throughout the scene and deserves recognition. Another entry that kept the judges talking showed a returning soldier from Iraq being embraced by his father who is wearing a Vietnam Veteran cap. Nice moment showing two generations connecting and hard not to include with the other winning entries.
FEATURE - (36)

Derek Neas, Duluth News Tribune, "Discovering Art"
Renée Jones, Owatonna People's Press, "Photo Booth Antics"
Disqualified
HM. Bridget Brown, Minnesota Daily, "Flying High"

Judges' Comments: First place is a subtle moment and pretty well a flawless photograph. Most judges would have liked to have seen this entry in color. The little girl's body language is what takes this photo over the top and the photographer's heart must have skipped a beat when he made the image. Second place was debated whether or not it was a "real" moment of the two teens hamming it up in a photo booth and a couple of the judges were hesitant to believe the photographer didn't cajole the teens into playing to the camera. Regardless, the image delivers a chuckle. Third place also is a subtle image with an expression that made us..... well.... howl. The look on the dog's face is priceless and worthy of placing in the top three of this category. It should be noted, this entry was moved from the Portrait / Personality category. Honorable mention has to go to the photograph showing several people on a new midway ride at the annual fair. We've all shot this subject (kids on a midway ride) but seldom have come up with this angle AND gotten all the people's names to boot

Sports Action - (24)

Ken Klotzbach,, "Game Winner"
Cory Ryan, Grand Forks Herald, "Nearly Back to First"
Justin Hayworth, "Football Pass Knocked"
HM. Derek Neas, "Football Shirt Tug"
HM. Thomas J. Whisenand, Minnesota Daily, "Touchdown?"

Judges' Comments: This was the toughest category to judge. All the entries were good solid sport action photographs but trying to find three that really stood out over the rest was extremely tough. Judges finally agreed to go with a photograph of a baseball team's bench exploding with emotion as they accomplish a come-from-behind win. The photo is an easy read and not very often do you get the player scoring the winning run in the foreground with the bench in the background displaying that kind of emotion. Second place is another baseball photo and may have placed first with a tighter crop. Regardless, this photograph has a lot of other elements that push it into the top three in its class. The base runner's hand is perfectly suspended above the base and the body language of the first baseman is perfect, right down to his twisted tongue sticking deftly to one side. Third place has all the things a good football action photograph should have. Good timing and lens choice helped this image a lot. Unfortunately, the players’ helmet face masks are blocking their eyes. Judges know something like this is out of the photographer's hands but all agreed the photograph would have benefited greatly if the viewer could see the players’ eyes. The judges decided to hand out two honorable mentions for this category and of course both of these entries could have run a lot bigger. Both are football action shots and are superb peak moments but are poorly cropped. Quite likely both were shot as we see them published but regardless, they would have been improved greatly with better crops.
SPORTS FEATURE - (13)

Carlos Gonzalez, "Watch Out!"
Christina Paolucci, Rochester Post-Bulletin, "Delayed Victory"
Justin Hayworth, "Rainbow Delay"

Judges' Comments:These three entries quickly rose to the top in this category. First place shows several baseball players ducking as an errant foul ball hit into their dugout. Kudos to the photographer to be on top of the moment, plus have the correct exposure in the darker dugout. Second place is nicely composed and has a great moodiness about it. You can tell something more important than just another rain delay is on the line here. Third place is yet another rain delay baseball scene but the rainbow puts it into the top three. The photo has a "Norman Rockwell" quality about it that pleased the judges.
PORTRAIT & PERSONALITY - (22)

Cory Ryan, "Straw Hat Football"
Ken Klotzbach, "Cat Shelter"
Cory Ryan, "Young Cowboy"

Judges' Comments: Once again, a tough category but only because one photograph didn't stand out from the rest and judges had a difficult time agreeing on the order the entries should finish. Judges finally concluded that first place showing a football player doffing his straw hat is a unique moment and a tough one to get. Second place shows a tender moment and the subject imparts to the viewer just how dedicated she is to the care of abandoned pets. Third place is one of those "cute" kid photos hard to resist.
ILLUSTRATION
All illustration entries will be judged together in the 4th quarter clip contest.
PICTORIAL - (14)

Christina Paolucci, "Moonglow"
Renée Jones, "Balloon Ride"
Brian Basham, Detroit Lakes Tribune, "Dancing Shadows"

Judges' Comments: Judges were once again undecided as to the order of the winning entries but ended giving first place to a night shot of a kayaker under a full moon. The photograph has a surreal quality about it and good composition. Thankfully the photographer resisted going down the old path of double exposing or "photoshopping" the moon into the scene and instead just let the moon do its thing and become an over-exposed glow hanging above the river. This photograph tells the judges this photographer is willing to take risks and try something new. The hot air balloon shadow cast on a countryside landscape was awarded second and the only drawback was the shape of the balloon's shadow. One would expect the shadow to be a sphere and this photograph shows the shadow of a balloon with its top sliced off... can't really figure out why but it bothered the judges enough to drop it to second place. Third place also is a graphically strong photograph and the green colored wall kept drawing the judges back to it. Good composition and all would have like to seen this photograph run bigger.
PHOTO PACKAGE - (20)

Carlos Gonzalez, "Vikings Opening Day"
Renée Jones, "Fair Shots"
Carlos Gonzalez, "Maulers"

Judges' Comments: Judges were somewhat confused when it came to trying to figure out the difference between a Photo Package and a Photo Story but eventually came up with three winners in each category. First place has a nice array of moments caught at the Vikings first day of training camp. From autograph seeking fans to on field action to an in-your-face tight shot of ball player, the photographer kept his eyes open. Second place was awarded to an entry originally entered in the Photo Story category. This entry would have place first but had one photograph that all the judges just couldn't figure out how it made the final cut. What is it with photographs of sheep and their handlers? Why do we always see the rear-end of the sheep facing the camera and their heads buried into the crotch of the farmer? How does this photo keep getting published? Can someone let us know what we are missing here? All the other photographs on this page are good strong images, well we would have liked to see the faces of the acrobat team but this is a minor point. The photographer spent a lot of time here and has really put together a solid group of images, too bad the one shot became such a distraction for the judges. Third place also had one image that had the judges scratching their heads. The photo of the coach just didn't match the level of excellence the other photographs in this package displayed. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link has never been more true.

PHOTO STORY - (12)

Justin Hayworth, "Lake Death"
Thomas J. Whisenand, "Their Other Job"
Christina Paolucci, "Two Cultures, One Love"

Judges' Comments:Once again the judges moved an entry from one category to another. First place was awarded to what a lot of judges felt were the strongest photos in the entire clip contest. This entry, showing rescue personal saving one of their own during a drowning and the victim friend's reaction after they were told their friend had perished, was originally entered in the Photo Package category but the judges felt the photographer effectively told the story, even though the entry is only comprised of two photographs. Second place is a feature on professional wrestlers. Although this has been done before, the photographer here does an admirable job. Third place has a strong lead photo showing the despair of a bride who looses her wedding dress in a house fire three weeks before the big day. Perhaps this event is what "sparked" the entire piece and the photographer seemed to really enjoy the follows over the weeks but as the story went on the photos seemed to get weaker.