3rd Q. CLIP CONTEST WINNERS 2016

Judges:
Kyle Grantham, Danial Sato, Suchat Pederson
The (Wilmington, Del.) News Journal
FEATURE:
FIRST: Rob Ostermaier, The Daily Press
SECOND: Jill Nance, News & Advance
THIRD: James Diem, Eastern Shore News
HM:  Austin Bachand, Daily News-Record
Strong category with some great frames. Lots of pictorials, of which the strongest rose to the top quickly. First place was well balanced and a good moment captured in silhouette. Second place another solid moment though we missed the kid’s leg. Third place another nice silhouette that needed some more room at the top of the frame to give the paddleboarder space to breath. Honorable mention to the Sunflower Bee. It needed something, we weren’t sure what – whether reframing or getting higher or lower. Just wasn’t quite there. Work that frame a little more.
SPORTS:
FIRST: Jonathan Gruenke, The Daily Press
SECOND: Rob Ostermaier, The Daily Press
THIRD: Jonathan Gruenke, The Daily Press
Surprisingly weak category that featured a LOT of routine photos. First place had nice light and was a good moment with good expression. Second place was a nice silhouette with great light but needed to give some room to breath to the subjects. Third place was a different angle on a biker and had strong graphic quality but needed a little more separation.
PORTRAIT:
FIRST: James Diem, Eastern Shore News
SECOND: Kristen Zeis, The Virginian-Pilot
THIRD: N/A
Very weak category with few entries. Was easy to knock down when looking for actual portraits to award. First place was well executed from a number of angles – framing, different viewpoint, lighting. It was very well done. Second place was well executed and framed as well but needed something in that second layer of reflection. We did not award a third place image.
NEWS:
FIRST: Austin Bachand, Daily News-Record
SECOND:  Kristen Zeis, The Virginian-Pilot
THIRD: Lathan Goumas, News & Advance
Surprisingly weak category here. First place quickly rose to the top for it’s great moment and terrific execution. Well done. Second place has great light and a good moment but we cannot figure out where the focus point is. Looks like a hail mary that might have just missed. Third place was a good moment of an exhausted firefighter but we were hoping for a little more scene around him.
MULTIPLE:
FIRST: Jill Nance, News & Advance
SECOND: Aileen Devlin, Daily Press
THIRD:  Rob Ostermaier, The Daily Press
HM. Lathan Goumas, News & Advance
Lots to choose from here but the winners rose to the top quickly. The Elvis tribute story was well worked, good moments and good execution. Tangier Island needed a tighter edit and a little more focus but the photographer really worked the assignment and gave us a sense of the place. The story on James was a good story to tell. Definitely needed a tighter edit, it got a little repetitive, but it was unique and executed well nonetheless. Honorable Mention to drag racing which just needed to be cut in half. Some great frames and some REALLY weak ones and unfortunately you’ll always be judged more by what you did include than what you didn’t.