Northwest – August 2022 – Sports Feature

Judges Comments

The judges found a lot to like really fast. Many of the entries simply lacked much impact, missing strong emotion, or aesthetic. One multi-photo entry had a really nice frame as the first image, and then the rest left us totally flat. That first image might have placed, but tied to the remaining frames, it dropped entirely out of contention. Don’t sabotage a really good single frame by trying to do more than you need to. Our choice for first was the subject of much discussion. At what point does an image move from being an action photo and into a feature? The borro race could certainly be considered an action frame, the image is indeed of the “athletes” in the heat of the competitive moment, right? But the judges felt strongly that the photographer’s choice to make the image highly contextual, and the fact that the competition is rather non-traditional from the vast majority of sports coverage, nudged the image just enough into the non-competitive moment for us to place it as our top finisher. We do wonder, given the nature of the beast, could not a photographer park at that spot year after year and likely make a similar frame? We suppose so, but in the case, the moment struck us as genuine and perhaps unique. The opposing body language of human and animal is perfect. The jubilant volleyball player settled into second for the great expression of joy, with the raised arms on either side of the frame creating a very nice composition.

Judges: Sean D. Elliot/The Day, Michael G. Seamans/Morning Sentinel, Jim Evans/Morning Sentinel-retired