All of the entries really need the influence of a picture editor and better editing by the photographer to avoid redundancy. Visual variety is lacking in most of the entries beyond First Place. It seems, as photographers are working on the stories, they are not getting any feedback from editors and don’t understand what the stories are lacking in content and creativity. It is not only how the photographs are composed, but how the pictures where edited. They need to look away from the subject and see how people respond to the subject and find those kinds of photographs. There are a number of really great stories that were just not photographed well. Information is missing. They are shooting at things and not considering how the photos interact with each other. The photographers just need help, research, access and feedback. If the editors aren’t there to help the photographer, it is their responsibility to educate themselves. There a plenty of resources out there. First Place entry has variety both visually and in the content of each photograph of the Inauguration. It is outstanding and has all the shots, sense of place, medium, tight, faces and all. Second Place got redundant, but you can tell they had the access. The lack of informative captions almost moved it out of contention. Not shooting faces limits them, but it takes us behind the scenes. There is style and a thought process. Third Place needs to be edited tighter. There was no feeling of really being behind the scenes, but there are some very strong photographs.
Judges:
Marcy Nighswander/Ohio University, Stan Alost/Ohio University, Josh Birnbaum/Ohio University
Judges Comments
All of the entries really need the influence of a picture editor and better editing by the photographer to avoid redundancy. Visual variety is lacking in most of the entries beyond First Place. It seems, as photographers are working on the stories, they are not getting any feedback from editors and don’t understand what the stories are lacking in content and creativity. It is not only how the photographs are composed, but how the pictures where edited. They need to look away from the subject and see how people respond to the subject and find those kinds of photographs. There are a number of really great stories that were just not photographed well. Information is missing. They are shooting at things and not considering how the photos interact with each other. The photographers just need help, research, access and feedback. If the editors aren’t there to help the photographer, it is their responsibility to educate themselves. There a plenty of resources out there. First Place entry has variety both visually and in the content of each photograph of the Inauguration. It is outstanding and has all the shots, sense of place, medium, tight, faces and all. Second Place got redundant, but you can tell they had the access. The lack of informative captions almost moved it out of contention. Not shooting faces limits them, but it takes us behind the scenes. There is style and a thought process. Third Place needs to be edited tighter. There was no feeling of really being behind the scenes, but there are some very strong photographs.