Northwest Region – March 2016 – Photo Story/Essay

Judges Comments

Describing this category, perhaps the weakest of all, at least this month, in a word would be, “Ouch.” Most entries suffered from too many images. The strong images were diluted by the presence of weak or redundant images. One of the greater skills of excellent visual story-telling in multi-photo use is that of a strong editor, and photographers are often their own worst judge. Editing a comprehensive essay is about eliminating the unnecessary. We have learned over the decades that a successful essay requires a certain form of brutality in order to achieve best results. It means eliminating photos so tightly that you feel the next cut will be a certain death of a piece of your soul - and then having to cut it even more. But remember that every lesser image left alive in your essay bears a burden on the best.

Judges: Kim Leeson/Freelance, David Leeson/Freelance, (Formerly of The Dallas Morning News)