Overall, there were really no strong categories this month. Number of entries were low across the board. The judges really struggled with this pool of entries, not really finding anything that rose to a very high level as an example of a “found moment” that exemplifies the category. The line between what is a feature, a “found moment”, and what is the planned event of a General News photo, is constantly blurred. The judges felt that several entries in this category were most definitely of the general news variety. The moonset photo was visually striking, a well-executed bit of night photography. Purely on the basis of the strong aesthetic the judges were unanimous in this placement. Things got dicey after that. The MLK dance really struck us a part of a planned news event and perhaps not meeting the category. Still, it was a clean composition with good light and nice sense of the motion. There were a number of sledding photos, all were acceptable. All certainly deserving of publication in the daily paper. The woman and dog just had the most spontaneous feel, with the dog being so enveloped in the deep snow.
Judges:
Sean D. Elliot/ The Day Publishing Co., Robert Button/ Freelance, Wes Bunnell/ Shore Publishing
Judges Comments
Overall, there were really no strong categories this month. Number of entries were low across the board. The judges really struggled with this pool of entries, not really finding anything that rose to a very high level as an example of a “found moment” that exemplifies the category. The line between what is a feature, a “found moment”, and what is the planned event of a General News photo, is constantly blurred. The judges felt that several entries in this category were most definitely of the general news variety. The moonset photo was visually striking, a well-executed bit of night photography. Purely on the basis of the strong aesthetic the judges were unanimous in this placement. Things got dicey after that. The MLK dance really struck us a part of a planned news event and perhaps not meeting the category. Still, it was a clean composition with good light and nice sense of the motion. There were a number of sledding photos, all were acceptable. All certainly deserving of publication in the daily paper. The woman and dog just had the most spontaneous feel, with the dog being so enveloped in the deep snow.