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Still Clips Results
November 2001
| Spot News | ||||
| 1. | Smiley N. Pool | Chronicle | Houston, TX |  Landscape On Fire |
| 2. | Taylor Johnson | American-Statesman | Austin, TX |  Motorist Stranded By Water |
| 3. | D.J. Peters | Morning Telegraph | Tyler, TX |  Holiday Travel Turns Deadly |
| Judges' comments: "Slim pickin's," was one comment that was heard during teh judging of this category. Nothing really hit us like a brick, so it took some time to narrow down to the top 3. Lacking from most of the images were human emotions that owuld help tell the story better. 1st and 2nd made it because they told the story well in a simple and effective way. 3rd place barely made it bacause of a presence of emotion that helped the viewer to react to the image. First: Unique and graphic look at a wood mulching company fire. Second: Although similar to 1st place because of the silhouetting, a graphic look at a breaking news event, flooding in the streets. Third: Subtle emothions and actions taking place at a double fatality car accident. Praying going on at the scene of a serious car addicent is not something commonly seen by most photographers. |
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| General News | ||||
| 1. | Matthew Minard | Times | Shreveport, LA |  Local Muslim Celebrates Ramadan |
| 2. | Bryan S. Berteaux | Times-Picayune | New Orleans, LA |  Heading Out |
| 3. | Mona Reeder | Dallas Morning News | Dallas, TX |  Taking Steps For Crossing Guard |
| Judges' comments: This category always run the gamut. Again, nothing stood out immediately, so the discussions were long. The top 3 benefitted from well written and explanetory cutlines that other photos could have benefitted from. If we can't figure out what is going on from the cutline, then the readers won't either. First: Came out on top because of its uniqueness of the location and how Minard covered it. It looks like planning helped to get the strongest image from a Muslim man praying in teh back of a crowded storeroom. Second: Simple yet powerful image. Composition was straight forward, but the irony of teh soldier with one arm on his rifle, and the other arm around his crying wife caused all 3 of us to keep coming back to study this photo. Third: Caused all of us to laugh regarding teh situation of the photo. Good angle by the photographer, and good reaction on what could have turned out to be kids mugging for the camera had she waited longer. Good cutline info got this photo into the top 3. |
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| Sports | ||||
| 1. | Travis Spradling | The Advocate | Baton Rouge, LA |  Toefield Outruns Razorbacks |
| 2. | Craig Fritz | New Mexican | Santa Fe, NM |  Prep Blues, Again |
| 3. | Rodolfo Gonzalez | American-Statesman | Austin, TX |  Colliding Heads |
| Judges' comments: A lot of football and soccer, with only a handfull standing out. The top photo stood out almost immediately because of the crop. A lot of debate all around because of good peak action and emotions, but the top 3 won out because they had it all. First: This should be a lesson to photographers and page designers alike. More of us need to try a loose crop such as this one. We don't know if Spradling was trying for this type of shot, or everything just fell into place, but it was the photo of all three of us agreed on for top pick. Second: Great emotions, peak action and a perfect crop. The faces helped tell the story. Third: Another moment of peak action. This one had to hurt. We've seen a lot of crashing heads in soccer, but this one was better than most. |
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| Feature Single | ||||
| 1. | Larry Kolvoord | American-Statesman | Austin, TX |  A Blimp Looks Like What Upside Down? |
| 2. | Brett Duke | Times-Picayune | New Orleans, LA |  Sax Solo |
| 3. | Charlie Gesell | The Times | Shreveport, LA |  Greenwood Cemetery |
| Judges' comments: This category seemed more like judging apples and oranges together due to the range of features included. People, animals, snow and any combination of the 3 where seen trhoughout this category. It also looked like snow is kind of unique in Region 8. The top 3 took a while to rise to the top, but they had qualities that put them ahead of the rest. Overall, a lot of entries could have benefitted from better cropping. First: Really had a sense of humor to it. Good job of being ready to take the picture. Second: This entry stood out as a beautiful graphic image that just worked well, simple, yet effective. Third: Wonderful image that could have benefitted from cropping for stronger impact with less distraction from the other headstones. The focus of the boy's reflection in the headstone would stand out even more. |
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| Feature Multiple | ||||
| 1. | Barbara Davidson | Dallas Morning News | Dallas, TX |  Timeless As Texas |
| 2. | Karen Warren | Chronicle | Houston, TX |  Living, Loving, Hoping |
| 3. | Barbara Davidson | Dallas Morning News | Dallas, TX | Carrying On, Together |
| Judges' comments: Most of the entries would have benefitted from tighter editing and better layout. Just throwing a bunch of photos onto a page does nothing but turn the reader off. Two or more photos doesn't make a photo essay if the extra photos don't propel the story forward. Or if they have not story to tell whatsoever. This is the only category that we felt deserved honorable mentions. It was easy to get to the top 5 essays. After that, scrutiny was needed to really see if the photographer had the content in the photos, or if they were just graphically interesting. All of the 5 stories mentioned here were well done, and well planned, standing head and shoulders above the rest of the entries. First: Immediate top pick. Every photo had a story to tell, well edited with a good layout. It could have benefitted from an added 4th page so the final 2 photos could have been better played. A fun story that was a joy to view. Second: Human emotion flowed through all the photos in the story. The essay published over a period of a year. Good access and raport with the family made this a strong winner for 2nd place. Some of the photos looked the same, so better editing could have helped. Third: A wonderful glimpse into their family life as the father tries to keep things going. This essay screams for more coverage and more play, along with a better layout. The whole essay left us wanting to see more. Honorable Mentions: Chris Granger deserves a mention for the River Barons series about shipping pilots and the good-ol'-boy system that is in place. Gloria Ferniz deserves mention for her Uncertain Border project about the border between Mexico and the U.S. |
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| Judging Chair: Jay Quadracci, Chief Photographer, The Greeley (Colo.) Tribune Judged By: Staff Photographers Richard M. Hackett and Jim Rydbom. (Region 9) |
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