Loyalist Photo Contest 2008/2009

Thank you to Jason Ransom (ex-Woodstock Sentinel-Review /
Ottawa Sun, now official photographer for the Prime Minister) and
his wife Deborah for judging our December contest.

News
1nw-hanley01
A strong silhouette that would run in any daily paper. It was an easy
choice for first.

2nw-dea03
Second place had nice chiaroscuro but not very engaging. It would
need a fat caption to help the reader to understand what's going on.

3nw-dea01
The best of the weak.

Feature:
1ft-goian02 (snowy horses)
The first place photo quickly stood out. It's a simple and pretty
picture.

2ft-bnelms02 (haircut)
Even though this photo may have zero editorial relevance, it still
captures a moment.

3ft-goian01 (horse + rider)
Much weaker than the first place photo, but still holds the reader.

Portrait
1 pp-cartier01
This was a disappointing category. Eight entries in total. The first
place image was by far the most entertaining and interesting image.

2 pp-logan1
We loved the use of negative space and the subjects body language.
It would run well in any paper.

3 pp-DEA02
Barely hung in there for third. Is the lady holding dinner? Kidding...

Sports
This was the hardest category for us to judge. We were disappointed
with the number of weak, goal mouth action shots and the lack of
sports features. Please work on going beyond the trite.

1sp-dea03
The first place photo had a few things going on that carried it to the
top. Namely some emotion and the equipment used as contributing
foreground and helping lead the readers eye up to the subject.

2sp-hanley01
The flare on the bottom of the photo almost killed it but the decisive
moment kept it alive. Alive enough to get it a second place in a weak
category. Burn down the flare!!!

3sp-trotter01
Even though you can't see her face very well and the fact it's under
exposed, we liked it for what it is... something different. A girl doing
knuckle pushups from an interesting angle.

Picture story
1nelms
This is probably a re-shoot because of some poor quality images
but it still stuck out from the pack as a really strong attempt.
Please, please do yourself a favor and go back for more...

2trotter
Techincally better than the first, but the photos are not as interesting.

3lablans
Came across as a package of snap shots. Needed more thought
and attention to detail.

NEWS:
1st. - John Hanley

2nd. - Sarah Dea

3rd. - Sarah Dea

FEATURE:
1st. - Dorin Goian

2nd. - Ben Nelms

3rd. - Dorin Goian

PORTRAIT:
1st. - Justin Cartier

2nd. - Ryan Logan

3rd. - Sarah Dea

SPORTS:
1st. - Sarah Dea

2nd. - John Hanley

3rd. - Paula Trotter

MULTIPLE PICTURES:
1st. - Ben Nelms

2nd. - Paula Trotter

3rd. - Corey Lablans

Thanks to this months judge Tom Braid of the Edmonton Sun/Examiner/24Hrs.

Portrait;
The first place photo can easily be used as a re-cropped tight photograph where you loose most of the background and it can also be used on a broadsheet layout where it could be published as submitted, the bigger the better of course. Good caption as well!
#2 - a simple and solid image that fits the basic standard for a good publishable photograph. It has edge-to-edge relevant content and it is lit well. Good photo that could easily carry a page featuring this subject. Good caption as well!
#3 - a nice photograph that features a subject’s “favorite physical feature” *Note the photographer used the American spell checker and spelt the word, favourite, wrong! Be careful with spelling. Not sure why this photograph was submitted in B&W? This photo might have been a bit stronger in colour as the feature of the photograph was the subject’s hair. What colour is it?
HM- Group shots with numerous photographs are not easy to pull off. This group shot done in the studio is well done and it could easily carry a page that was featuring this group of people. The bigger this photo could be published, the better it would look on a page. Group shots look horrible when they run small in a publication!

Feature;
#1-Painting a snowman float – This is a simple silhouette picture. It is not particularly a great or even good photo. A busy background in a silhouette photo can quickly kill it. Some editors hate the over use of silhouettes and limit there use in their paper. This particular photo would not have placed in this month’s competition but it is the only photo that had a passable caption while when you read the comments above it is easy to figure out that there was noting else to pick!
#2 and #3 – There are no second and third place for November. Read full comments below.

News;
#1-Vaughan road house fire – Nicely lit photo of a firefighter framed between a busted bay window. There is a little bit of camera shake, anymore this photo would have been spiked. Edge to Edge content and good lighting almost always leads to a good, solid photo. This photo could have easily made a front page in local paper where it was shot. Good caption as well. Remember you are a photojournalist not picture taker!
#2-Bay Marine fire –Nice artsy shot of firefighter at a fire seen. Good solid caption supplied with this photo as well.
#3- Governor General and Prime Minister on Remembrance Day – Ben you spelt Michaëlle Jean name wrong in your caption!! You spelt it, “Michealle Jean” Being a first year student I am cutting you some serious slack, but it did cost you one place. Learn from this her name is so easily found on the internet it is not even funny.

Sports;
#1- Jeffrey Kwakye tries to escape – Good peak action photo that was shot and or cropped tight. Good job
#2- Tall Pines Rally – Nice wide shot, good lighting and some good colour. This would make for a nice main shot as part of a picture page in print.
#3-Check at Leafs bench – Lots going on in this photo and the blue box in the background is somewhat distracting. Still a solid action shot of one player taking out two others.
H.M. – Puck crosses the goal line -- Loose photo that should have been cropped a bit tighter top to bottom and right to left. Still clean enough from edge-to-edge with the key moment where the puck crosses the red line for a goal.

Multi-Picture;
#1- Sharon Sinnett and her bakeshop. -- Nothing really award winning here just the best of the bunch that was entered. The photos were entered out of sequences. The first three lead pictures are of the subject grabbing and selling baked good. Then she is in the kitchen cooking what she already sold. Makes it hard to a view the eight (8) pictures as numbered.
#2- Tall Pines Rally Championship – There are only four (4) pictures here. I am confused because this event had its own threads on the NPAC boards and there many more pictures featured from this multi-day event. Only four pictures? What happened to the rest of the pictures? Lost in cyber filing? Very good captions on the four photos entered.
#3-Back alley portraits – Yes the captions were lacking but the effort is worth some point. I must be getting soft.

Click here to read the rest of Tom's comments.

PORTRAIT:
1st. - Sarah Dea