Given what COVID has done to the sporting world we were happy to have photos to evaluate. There were too many entirely routine action photos, which made it easy to find our winners. There were also a number of photos that were clearly not game action, and we feel pretty strongly that the element of competition is a big part of what makes for great sports photography. First popped out to all of us right off, so it was really a question of picking the remaining places from there. The unusual angle, which we know is a product of the shooting positions allowed at MLB games, led to a remarkably different point of view on the play. Couple that will just clearly a peak capture, the body splayed in uncomfortable ways, the flying dirt, it all just screamed peak moment. The mutton busting moment gave us all a smile, and we just loved the tension of the moment, the combination of the body language of the sheep, the facial expression of the rider, the other people in the frame, really gave the photo a feeling of action even though the action is frozen. The facial expression of the batter in third place really made it for us. Catching the inside pitch and that face together is a great moment.
Judges:
Sean D. Elliot/The Day, Michael G. Seamans/Morning Sentinel, Jim Evans/Retired
Judges Comments
Given what COVID has done to the sporting world we were happy to have photos to evaluate. There were too many entirely routine action photos, which made it easy to find our winners. There were also a number of photos that were clearly not game action, and we feel pretty strongly that the element of competition is a big part of what makes for great sports photography. First popped out to all of us right off, so it was really a question of picking the remaining places from there. The unusual angle, which we know is a product of the shooting positions allowed at MLB games, led to a remarkably different point of view on the play. Couple that will just clearly a peak capture, the body splayed in uncomfortable ways, the flying dirt, it all just screamed peak moment. The mutton busting moment gave us all a smile, and we just loved the tension of the moment, the combination of the body language of the sheep, the facial expression of the rider, the other people in the frame, really gave the photo a feeling of action even though the action is frozen. The facial expression of the batter in third place really made it for us. Catching the inside pitch and that face together is a great moment.