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Still Clips Results
January 2001
| Spot News | ||||
| 1. | Charlie Gesell | Shreveport Times | Shreveport, LA |  Tornado Aftermath |
| 2. | Mona Reeder | Dallas Morning News | Dallas, TX |  Shaken Survivors |
| 3. | Matthew Minard | Shreveport Times | Shreveport, LA |  Coke Bust |
| Judges' comments: First Place: A shot of two people hugging as they walked through a gym devastated by a tornado kind of jumped out at us. A good moment, properly cropped. Second Place: A photo of two plane crash vicitms which was interesting in that the photographer apparently was on the scene pretty quick. Third Place: A hot moment in the apprehension of a drug suspect. A photo showing a law enforcement officer with a gun drawn, pointed back in the general direction of the photographer. General Comments: There were some entries in this category listed simply as "News", which were "General News" but not "Spot News. We urge photographers to double-check their forms. One entry of a calf loose on a city street nearly made the finals; judges felt a more powerful angle/moment (if it existed) would have improved its chances. Another shot of four homes on fire in New Orleans was also very good. |
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| General News | ||||
| 1. | Rodolfo Gonzalez | Austin American-Statesman | Austin, TX |  Bush Pledges Allegiance in Rain |
| 2. | Tom Reel | San Antonio Express-News | San Antonio, TX |  Bush Checks Watch While Dancing |
| 3. | Robert McLeroy | San Antonio Express-News | San Antonio, TX |  Handicapped Dancing |
| Judges' comments: First: Photo of George W. Bush with his hand over his heart saluting the flag as it went by in the rain captured the mood of the Inauguration better than anything else we saw. The only improvement it needed was a minute crop on the bottom to eliminate the bright area, but it still held up as the best of the category nevertheless. Second: A humorous picture of Bush looking at his watch while dancing was a nice moment in time that not everone may have noticed. Third: At an assignment to shoot dance instruction for the physically challenged, the photographer managed not only to get a compassionate, poetic photo, but positioned himself between the wheelchair and the mirrored wall, preventing himself from being in the photo. Very difficult to do. General Comments: Quite a volume of images on the Bush campaign and Inauguration to choose from. One photo of a crowd's reflection in a TV monitor, while Bush was speaking on the screen itself, was particularly creative. Another photo, from a ground-breaking ceremony of a pastor balancing the shovel on his chin, showed the shooter kept an open mind during what is usually one of the most non-visual assignments. Good job! |
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| Sports | ||||
| 1. | Huy Nguyen | Dallas Morning News | Dallas, TX |  Dropped TD Pass/National Championship |
| 2. | Bill Feig | The Advocate | Baton Rouge, LA |  Loose Basketball |
| 3. | Damon Winter | Dallas Morning News | Dallas, TX |  Snow Bowl Jubiliation |
| Judges' comments: First: The key dropped pass in the National Championship game, with the receiver laid out in mid-air and just losing the ball, was a clear winner. Classic peak action, combined with a proper crop and display, all worked together to make this photo stand out. Second: A basketball player, with a great expression - looking back at the ball he no longer controlled - was our pick for second. A bit "busy" on the right, but it wasn't distracting. Third: A football player celebrating at the end of the "Snow Bowl" sttruck the judges as an out-of-the-ordinary jubilation photo for Third Place. We wished it would have been cropped a little tighter on the left; it would have had more impact. General Comments: A large selection of strong entries made this category difficult to judge. There were many peak action photos that may have placed in other months, or smaller regions. There were a bunch of nice basketball and soccer action and reaction photos as well. |
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| Feature Single | ||||
| 1. | Darrell Byers | Ft. Worth Star-Telegram | Ft. Worth, TX |  Restaurant Elvis |
| 2. | Barron Ludlum | Denton Record-Chronicle | Denton, TX |  Strolling Bass |
| 3. | Gary Lawson | Times Record News | Wichita Falls, TX |  Washed Up |
| Judges' comments: First: A creative angle by the photographer through the legs off an Elvis impersonator gave this photo the edge. Second: A found moment on a local campus that we all think of as a "slam-on-the-brakes" photo. Third: An artfully-shot shadow of a car washer was our choice. General Comments: The largest pool of entries of any category. We got this down to about a dozen entries pretty quickly, but picking out the top three was very difficult. Great photos that didn't make the winner's list included an early-morning pictorial of a blue heron, and a photo of twin women who live next door to each other in similar houses and drive similar cars. Very amusing "reflection" type photo. An image of a group of large ladies standing next to a Victoria's Secret window generated some discussion. Judges either thought it was funny or of questionable taste. It served to show that what may be fine for one community of readers may not be for another. That's not to say we wouldn't have shot it - we would. |
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| Feature Multiple | ||||
| 1. | Lawrence Jenkins | Dallas Morning News | Dallas, TX |  Cast Into the Darkness |
| 2. | Billy Calzada | San Antonio Express-News | San Antonio, TX |  Columbia Crisis |
| 3. | Juan Garcia | Dallas Morning News | Dallas, TX |  Safe Harbor |
| Judges' comments: First: An essay on a former drug dealer, blinded by a bullet and now trying to make it in the real world, was an excellent package. The documentary approach on the street, where the subject lost his composure, went beyond what the judges expected to see. Not a subject one usually sees covered. Second: The package on cocaine production and guerrilla warfare tearing Colombia apart got the nod. Getting a photo of a coke lab in the South American jungle was difficult work, we're sure. A complicated story, the photographer told the many viewpoints of it. Third Place: Photographing troubled teens without showing their faces is always tough. this photographer did a good job; the judges loved the photo of the hands in the air grabbing for a basketball rebound. General Comments: There weren't many entries in this category, but some of the ones that didn't place still had a lot of effort put into them. For example, a selection of photos, including some weaker images, on George W. Bush was entered. The photographer put in a lot of hard work, spending lots of time with him on the road to the White House. The images were a great collection, but not quite a "Photo Story". |
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| Judged By: Phil Sears, Acting Photo Editor; Mike Ewen, Craig Litten and Allison Long - Staff Photographers, Tallahassee (FL) Democrat (Region 6) | ||||
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