Judges Comments

This was a tough category because a lot of these entries didn't tell a story and just felt like a gallery of images. Other times the stories were disjointed or were good packages with one or two photos that were unnecessary, bringing the quality of the package down. Most of these entries needed shot diversity. Visual and literal redundancy hurt the entries. First place was a beautiful story about the coach and players of a high school football team. The captions provide wonderful background information. The photos are telling and do a good job of moving the story along, despite the large quantity of images. This fit the category best. Second place was a nice well rounded look at a fire and evacuation situation. It touched on the human element of the wild fires, making us actually care about the people affected by the disaster. After looking at a lot of essays and packages on wild fires that didn't include people who weren't firefighters, this was good story. A majority of the photos had a nice control of light and good composition. The shot diversity added to the story. Third place was a collection of nice images about the birds of the Aleutian Islands and how they interact within their environment. Alternate (only include if first is disqualified) This was a quirky look at an air show with some interesting background shots. The quality of the imagery lifted this above other entries, even the the story was loose