DECEMBER 2007 NJPPA CLIP RESULTS

This Contest was judged by: The Idaho Falls Post-Register Photo Staff

News
1st Kevin Wexler, Herald News, Waheedah Muhammed
2nd Tyson Trish, The Record, Trailer Court Resident
3rd Kevin Wexler, Herald News, Solari Does Homework

Feature Single
1st Tyson Trish, The Record, Ski Slope
2nd Kevin Wexler, Herald News, Long Shadow
3rd John O’Boyle, The Star-Ledger, Mosaic Dance Theater

Sports
1st Michael Karas, Herald News, Paterson Catholic Bball
2nd Bryan Littel, The Bridgeton News, Swimming
3rd Kevin Wexler, Herald News, Wayne Hills Bball

Portrait
1st David Warren, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Twin Bball Players
2nd Kevin Wexler, Herald News, Passaic Police Officer
3rd John O’Boyle, The Star-Ledger, Rudolph Koenig

Feature Multiple
1st Bryan Littel, The Bridgeton News, Recount
2nd None Awarded
3rd None Awarded

Multimedia
1st John O’Boyle, The Star-Ledger, Music
2nd John O’Boyle, The Star-Ledger, Dance
3rd Thomas Franklin, The Record, Christmas Lights

Illustration
1st Peter Monsees, The Record, Truffle
2nd Michael Karas, Herald News, Leaf
3rd Leslie Barbaro, Herald News, Halloween Candy

Gallery Opening, April 18th 6-9 pm

Be sure to mark your calendars. On April 18th from 6-9 pm NJPPA member Carmine Galasso's gallery opening titled 'Crosses.' Prints from his new book 'Crosses: Portraits of Clergy Abuse' will be on display at the Lott Gallery @ DriveIn24 located at 443 West 18th St between 9th and 10th in Chelsea. Between 7-9 pm there will be a candle light vigil for survivors, family and supporters outside of the gallery. The work will be on display through May 8th. http://www.driveinstudios.com/

NOVEMBER 2007 NJPPA CLIP RESULTS

This contest was judged by: The Pensacola News Journal Photo Department

News
1st Michael Karas, Herald News, Wayne Mayor Wins
2nd Bob Sciarrino, The Star-Ledger, House Fire
3rd John O’Boyle, The Star-Ledger, Keever Funeral

Feature Single
1st David Warren, Philadelphia Inquirer, Time Lapse
2nd Marcin Szczepanski, Courier-Post, Christmas Train
3rd Tyson Trish, The Record, Moeller New Home

Sports
1st Tyson Trish, The Record, Soccer Save
2nd Mel Evans, AP, Lost Helmet
3rd David Warren, Philadelphia Inquirer, Blocked Kick
HM Tyson Trish, The Record, Gatorade Bath

Portrait
1st Peter Monsees, The Record, Violin Player
2nd Robert Sciarrino, The Star-Ledger, Bill Dane
3rd David Warren, Philadelphia Inquirer, Hexadecimal Display

Feature Multiple
1st Michael Karas, Herald News, Homeless
2nd None Awarded
3rd None Awarded

Multimedia
1st Peter Monsees, The Record, Rising Star Violinist
2nd Marcin Szczepanski, Courier-Post, For the Love of Dominoes
3rd John O’Boyle, The Star-Ledger, Cowboy Funeral

NJPPA OCTOBER 2007 CLIP RESULTS

This Contest was judged by: The Post-Tribune in Merrillville, Indiana. Clip Coordinator, Staff photographer Scott M. Bort Judges: Photo Editor Andy Lavalley, Assistant Photo Editor Jeff Nicholls, Staff Photographer Stephanie Dowell, Freelance Photographers Guy Rhodes, Chuck Mitchell, Scott Brandush and Jason Coons.

News
1st Place: Michael Karas, Herald News, Praying Chairman
2nd Place, Bryan Littel, Bridgeton News, Mourning Family
3rd Place, Thomas E. Franklin, The Record, Car Fire

Comments: A thin category- what, not much news going on in the Garden State? The top three rose to the top quickly. 1.) Good moment, very clean. The news value skyrocketed once judges realized it was the hospital board chairman. 2.) A good emotional moment with the mother. 3.) Very clean image that reads immediately.

Feature Single
1st Place, John O’Boyle, Star Ledger, Hard as Nails
2nd Place, Tyson Trish, The Record, Slyfox Hug
3rd Place, Kevin Wexler, Herald News

Comments: Judges felt this was one of the weaker categories. And, the lack of cutline information, including names, was surprising. 1.) Nice moment but judges were surprised other images from this shoot (as seen in the multi-media category) weren't entered. Lack of the subjects name nearly knocked the image out of contention. 2.) Decent moment with good colors and layers. 3.) Lovely light on main subject. The background worked against this entry.

Sports
1st Place, Marcin Szczepanski, Courier Post, Soccer Header
2nd Place, David M. Warren, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Just Missed
3rd Place, Bryan Littel, Bridgeton News, Shower for the Coach
HM, Greg Pallante, North Jersey Media Group, Basketball Portrait
HM, Greg Pallante, North Jersey Media Group, Fencer Portrait

Comments: Lots of soccer headers and diving receivers. 1.) The best of many, many soccer-header photos. Nice light, clean background and peak action. 2.) Good shot - Judges agreed any of us would have been pleased to come back with this on a Friday night. 3.) A nice celebration shot. Nice job of sticking around to get something different. HMs.) Strong Portraits – Surprising to see portraits in sports in light of there being an actual portrait category. These would have been strong competitors in the portrait category.

Portrait
1st Place, Thomas E. Franklin – The Record – Libero Portrait
2nd Place, Leslie Barbaro – Herald News – Local Artist
3rd Place, Kevin R. Wexler – Injured Dog

Comments: Judges struggled after the obvious first-place choice. 1.) Well conceived and executed. 2.) Well lit but it felt contrived in the overall feeling of the photo. 3.) News value kept this in third place. We debated if this belonged in news instead of portrait.

Feature Multiple
1st Place, Leslie Barbaro, Herald News, Halloween Weddings
2nd Place, Leslie Barbaro, Herald News, Soccer Practice
3rd Place, David M. Warren, The Philadelphia Inquirer, KTW Syndrome

Comments: First place went mostly to the tightest edit. Second and third each had a few strong images but contained others that didn't seem to belong. As an aside, Each of the entries had single images that would have competed well in the single categories. Do your rules allow shooters to pull individual images out of multiple entries?1.) Tight edit and overall best images made this first. 2.) Not bad for a daily feature package. 3.) A better-edited entry would have been first place – Good story, but poor execution.

Multimedia
1st Place, John O'Boyle, Star-Ledger, Mural Painting
2nd Place, John O'Boyle, Star-Ledger, Charles and Bette
3rd Place, Marcin Szczepanski, Courier Post, Family Harvest
HM, Jose F. Moreno, Courier Post,The Monster factory Old-Time Wrestling

Comments: We enjoyed watching these entries. Different styles of both video and audio slideshows. 1.) Well thought out with graphic shots. Good editing on a long-term project. However the time line on this project seems to jump at certain points which we found awkward. 2.) Great news story – Typography was awkward – We felt it could have been edited tighter. 3.) Surreal cranberry footage – The story cohesion doesn't come through. HM.) This piece needed a tighter edit. It was a fun story with good audio and visuals.

NJPPA SEPTEMBER 2007 CLIP RESULTS

Judged by The Daily Chronicle, DeKalb, IL
James Bowey-Editor-in-Chief/Photo Editor
Eric Sumberg-Staff Photographer
Kate Weber-Staff Photographer

News
Overall: Not a particularly strong category. A lot of September 11th photos, but no single image of those was truly memorable.

1st Place: Kevin Wexler, Herald News, Corrupt Cop
Nice job of stepping back from the action to capture the crowd without using the wide angle. Lucky to have another photographer to fill in flash at just the right moment.

2nd Place: Tariq Zehawi, The Record, September 11th Memorial
Of the September 11th memorial pictures, this was the strongest. The eye is drawn to the girl quickly.

3rd Place: Kevin Wexler, Herald News, Street Naming
Photographer was close at the right time to capture a moment of grief

Sports
Overall: A lot of nice images, though many were game action that didn’t necessarily rise to the level of superlative images. We focused on rewarding those photographers who showed us that were thinking and not just reacting to the action.

1st Place: Tariq Zehawi, The Record, Face Kick
A solid game action shot, could have been cropped in closer to get the viewer right to the action, but easily the best picture of the group

2nd Place: David M Warren, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Football Reflection
A moody picture that uses the natural environment well to make something out a relatively humdrum activity

3rd Place: David M Warren, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Sprints
While it is a similar style shot to 2nd place, this picture was good enough to supercede the other game action. A well-executed picture that makes the viewer want to look again.

Feature
Overall: The weakest of the singles categories. One photo would have won (Peter Monsees-bowling alley) if not for what appears to be poor toning. Others would have placed (Michael Karas-Statue unveiling) if he hadn’t crossed out the picture we liked.

1st Place: Leslie Barbaro, Herald News, Tattoo
A well-composed image. Lots to see in this image, a nice moment, though the cutline could have used more information.

2nd Place: Kevin Wexler, Herald News, Construction
A solid effort using graphical elements to tell the story

3rd Place: Peter Monsees, The Record, RV
Good lens choice helps this picture go from average to interesting compositionally

Portrait
Overall: The winners were all strong images that were well composed/lit

1st Place: Thomas E Franklin, The Record, Gardener
Easily the winner, solid use of wide angle lens to tell the story beyond just the face and the task.

2nd Place: Tariq Zehawi, The Record, Cameramen
Good use of the world around us to get a nice effect. Use of lighting helped to show that the photographer was doing some thinking about how to pop the subject.

3rd Place: Tyson Trish, The Record, WWII
Austere portrait, simple, but given the subject matter, it seemed like an appropriate and well-executed shot.

Illustration
Overall: Not many entries. Well-executed shots for the most part, all by one photographer.

1st Place: Peter Monsees, The Record, Salt Water
Picture would have been better served by a simpler layout, but a nice way to illustrate the issue.

2nd Place: Peter Monsees, The Record, Doctor Waits
Credit to the photographer for going on location but given that it was an illustration would have liked to have seen more emotion or distress given the subject matter. Well executed, but could have been superlative.

3rd Place: Peter Monsees, The Record, Chinese Medicine
Nicely composed.

Feature Multiple

1st Place: Tyson Trish, The Record-Moving Back In
Photographer was applauded for following family on multiple trips

2nd Place: Jose Moreno, Courier-Post-WrestlersNice work lighting. Could have won but the piece was brought down by posed shot. Wanted to see more behind the scenes, less event shots.

AUGUST NJPPA CLIP RESULTS

This Contest was judged by: St. Petersburg Times photography staff
Boyzell Hosey, Director of Photography
Bruce Moyer, Deputy Director of Photography
Edmund Fountain, Staff Photographer
Scott Keeler, Staff Photographer

News
1st Jim Anness, The Record, Manhunt
2nd Tariq Zehawi, The Record, Fuel Spill
3rd Danielle P. Richards, The Record, Animal Rescuer

Comments: The first place winner of this category was very clear, as the photographer puts the viewer right in the middle of the scene. the strong quality of light and composition definitely helped elevate the image. Second place did a good job capturing a news scene with all the elements necessary to tell a complete story, while the judges appreciated the emotion shown in the 3rd place winner.

Feature Single
1st Tyson Trish, The Record, Water Spray
2nd Danielle P. Richards, The Record, Living with Cancer
3rd Thomas E. Franklin, The Record, House Call Vet

Comments: The judges felt that the first place winner was a very well-organized frame, with a good energy that spread through the many layers of the frame. Second place showed preparation on part of the photographer as the image showed intimacy not often seen in pictures normally categorized as features. Third place amounted to a funny frame with an odd moment. The expression of the dog staring back at the camera helped elevate this image from the rest of the entrants.

Sports
1st Tyson Trish, The Record, David Beckham celebrates
2nd Michael Karas, The Herald News, Olympic Boxer Hopeful
3rd Amy Newman, The Herald News, Wheelchair Basketball

Comments: Only six images were entered in this category, and while the judges felt that it was easy to find a first place winner, picking second and third was more difficult due to a lack of entries and a lack of quality amongst them. First place showed very strong emotion and composition and was clearly the best image of the bunch. Second and third, while better than the remaining pictures in the category and solid pictures in their own right, lacked the additional elements and quirks that traditionally help pictures win contests like this.

Portrait
1st Thomas Franklin, The Record, The Mod Case Contest
2nd Tyson Trish, The Record, Folk Guitarist
3rd Tariq Zehawi, The Record, Twilight Zone Actor

Comments: The first-place winner showed a wonderful use of mood and light which gave the judges a feeling for the environment of the subject. We also liked that the portrait was not a posed one. Second place displayed an eye-catching use of color but the eye-level composition kept it out of first place. The third place winner provided the judges with a good sense of the subject's character through his facial expression.

Feature Multiple
1st Matthew Apgar, Courier News, Major or Minor
2nd No Award
3rd No Award

Comments: Only four picture stories were entered in this category, which made judging difficult. The judges felt that the three remaining entries were relatively weak and poorly edited. First place was awarded based on the fact that it was obvious that the photojournalist spent time with their subject in a variety of places over a span of time. The viewer gets a sense of who the subject is as a result.

MAY 2007 NJPPA CLIP CONTEST RESULTS

Judged by the photo staff at The Day, New London, Conn.; Sean D. Elliot, Suzanne Ouellette, Dana Jensen, Tim Cook, Tim Martin, Adena Stevens, Peter Huoppi.

News:

1. Noah Murray, The Star Ledger, Fire Victim

2. Michael Karas, Herald News, Soldier Funeral

3. James Anness, The Record, Wader

Comments: General news is the bread and butter of the daily newspaper photographer. As such, it was sad to see the really mediocre spot-news entries in this category that we can only assume were included because the photographers were of the belief that a spot-news photo gets greater consideration just because of the basic f8 and be there nature of the image. The judges felt strongly that just being there is not enough, you must execute with strong composition, use of light and emotional content. Noah Murray’s fire victim was clean, well composed and you could feel the man’s grief. Michael Karas’ soldier funeral was nicely composed and clean. James Anness’ flood victim was both dramatic and yet humorous.

Feature:

1. Thomas Franklin, The Record, Hospital Dog

2. Danielle Richards, The Record, Hot Air Balloon

3. David M. Warren, Philadelphia Inquirer, Guitar Detail

Comments: An unusual number of entries in this category were very clearly of a news variety, funerals and other planned news events. This gave the judges fits, as we wanted to apply our “found moment” standard to this category and yet there were virtually no good examples of this type of photography in the category. Some of the general news type images entered in this category might have fared well in the news category but we were not permitted to re-classify entries. Thomas Franklin’s therapy dog photo column was probably the ONE feature image we liked across the board. One could argue that it also was “general news”, but we give the photographer credit for “finding” the moment through hard work and enterprise. It’s a nice moment. Second went to Danielle Richards for a classic visual feature with nice light and color. David M. Warren’s detail from a guitar maker’s workshop was a striking black and white composition.

Feature/Multiple:

1. Tyson Trish, The Record, After The Flood

2. none

3. none

Comments: If this category is an example of the state of documentary photojournalism then things are bleak indeed. There was not a single entry the judges felt rose to a standard of quality worth awarding. Small groups of loosely affiliated photos, or multiple related, but redundant images, simple don’t make the cut. Only one entry demonstrated the commitment of time and effort that should be a bare minimum for this category.

Sports:

1. Jeff Granit, Edison/Metuchen Sentinel, Lacrosse Hit

2. Bryan Littel, The Bridgeton News, Slide Home

3. William Perlman, The Star Ledger, Catcher Confrontation

Comments: the judges saw a lot of routine action and reaction photos as can be expected in this category. Jeff Granit’s lacrosse won for the tight composition and great faces. Comments of “ouch” and “is that even legal” were made. Bryan Littel’s high-angle of a runner’s headfirst slide home gained favor for the unusual angle and nice composition. William Perlman’s catcher pleading with the ump placed for the great face in a dramatic moment. Most judges felt the shot was a little loose on the crop though.

Portrait:

1. Jerry McCrea, The Star Ledger, Do The Math

2. Sarah Rice, The Star Ledger, Miracle Nail

3. Leslie Barbaro, Herald News, Groucho Glasses

Comments: Jerry McCrea’s striking black and white portrait of the math teacher jumped-out. The formulae on the clear sheet in the foreground may be a relatively obvious cliché, but the image was nicely composed, cleanly lit and accomplished exactly what a portrait is supposed to, give the viewer a sense of the individual. Sarah Rice’s portrait of the man with his x-ray was chilling both in visual effect and literal interpretation. Not a perfect execution, but good enough. Leslie Barbaro’s portrait of the boys with the Groucho Marx glasses was funny, well executed but would have benefited from a cleaner background.