Judges Comments

This was literally a very HOT category and a sad month for home owners in your region. All three judges immediately put the Dollar Ridge Fire collection of images at the top for First place. Almost any one of the pictures from this group could have won first place which made the judges revisit the notion of why there's a separate "picture story" category and the rules allow picture story submissions in other categories. This proves to be confusing and odd. Back to first place: Excellent moments were captured of residents returning to their destroyed homes. Just outstanding. Second place went to a compassionate young firefighter comforting a young girl who lost her home to fire. We all agreed it could've been cropped tighter, but that didn't lessen its impact that much. When you get that kind of intimacy in a photo don't be afraid to show it. Put it out there for the world to see up close and personal. Third place was a very pictorial photo of two obscured firefighters battling dancing flames. We loved it.