East – May 2026 – Spot News

Judges Comments

First place was our Best in Show. It takes an eye to frame the photo this way with the double curves of the bridge. The bizarreness and difference in scale make the picture. We like the layers and emotion and the framing from the tragic scene for second place. There is a nice depth of layering considering it was done on a smartphone. Third place shows not all spot news has to be sad with a nice moment of the duck rescue. It tells the whole story in one frame.

Judges: Matthew Hinton/former staff photographer / editor / current freelancer AP / Imagn / AFP, Rusty Constanza/former Times-Picayune staffer / photo educator, Cheryl Gerber/Photo columnist / freelance photographer and photo book author