Best of Photojournalism 2006: TV News Photography: Winners
News Feature Finalists
(In Alphabetical Order)
- Doug Burgess-WFAA/Dallas, TX
- “A Dr. of a Ticker”
- “A Work in Progess”
- Gary Knox-KARE/Minneapolis, MN
- “Braham”
- Lance Ing-WTTG/Washington, DC
- “WAVE Team”
- Jon Knorr-KOMO/Seattle, WA
- “Angel Babies”
- Jonathan Malat-KARE/Minneapolis, MN
- “Funkytown”
- “Rock in the House”
- Steve Rhodes-WTHR/Indianapolis, IN
- “I’m Not Missing Anything”
Winners
- 1st Place-Steve Rhodes WTHR/Indianapolis, IN “I’m Not Missing Anything”
- 2nd Place-Doug Burgess WFAA/Dallas, TX “A Dr. of a Ticker”
- 3rd Place-Jonathan Malat KARE/Minneapolis, MN “Rock in the House”
- HM-Jon Knorr KOMO/Seattle ,WA “Angel Babies”
- HM-Lance Ing WTTG/Washington, DC “WAVE Team”
Judges' comments
“This category was dominated by emotional/creative stories this year. Cute didn’t do very well,” Lou Davis said. “The stories that placed did a great job of making the viewer “feel” something. The pure images that the camera captured out distanced edit bay maneuvers. Most of the photojournalists who won did not have to do a great deal of anticipating or reacting to the elements in the stories but wonderful, memorable moments were produced giving the characters in the stories more value. Substance won over style. Yes, I’m a little old school.”
Kevin Labrecque said, “Overall, I was very impressed with this years feature entries. They showed great creativity, emotion, pace, and shot composition. The attention to detail that was showed wowed me and I learned a thing or two.”
“Emotion played a big part in the way I judged these entries and the winner made feel as if I were a part of the story, it gave me hope and made me feel better about the ‘problems’ I think I have in my life. As photojournalist’s that is all you can ask for. So I would like to say congratulations and thank you to the winners for taking me on this fantastic voyage.”
Ray Meints said, “The News Feature category was a great one to judge. With over 80 entries, there was a wide range of quality. However, there was also a good group of top quality entries that make it to the final session.”
“The winner, ‘I’m Not Missing Anything’ was on of the best I’ve judged in a long while. Technically it was a great piece, but it was above all a great story. The reporter and the photographer displayed creativity, imagination, and teamwork in crafting a touching story. All elements key to the News Feature category. ‘I’m Not Missing Anything’ was an inspirational story about an man who overcame his physical disabilities to become an inspiration to others. One of the keys to this story was that from the very first shot, I felt the entry was a quality piece. I hooked me right off the bat and never let up. Great pacing, good moments, and a story that I will remember for a long time. I can’t wait to show the winner to my wife!
“Second place, ‘A Dr. Of A Ticker’ was very well done technically. Great natural sounds, good tight shots (a ton of them), and good pacing. I loved the interview done through the reflection of the clock pendulum! My biggest disappointment was the closing shot. Couldn’t the photographer have come up with something better? Anyway, great job!
“One quick note: Angel Babies (HM) had me in tears. While finishing as Honorable Mention, it was one of the more emotional stories I viewed. It drew me in and it made me care. It’s a little difficult to have tears running down your face with four other guys (judges) in the room, but Allison’s Angels took control of my heart. Another story that I will be bringing home to my wife! Great job!
“A final note on judging: The rules are the rules. We saw several great stories that deserved recognition, but because they didn’t fit within the contest rules they were not considered for awards. It’s difficult for the judges to turn our eyes from a quality entry, but the responsibility for making sure an entry qualifies is with the photographer, not the judges. If your entry doesn’t meet the contest guidelines, then it will not be considered.”
Judge Greg Stotelmyer said, “While the sun was shining outside and exhibition baseball games were being played all around us, the five of us spent several hours inside a conference room grappling with a very difficult decision. As feature categories often seem to do, this year’s produced a lot of great work. The differences were razor thin, complicated by two very strong – but different – approaches to what makes an award-winning feature. Creativity is always good. Raw emotion sells. We had both, and that made the already thankless task of ranking entries even more difficult. There were five or six entries that were in serious consideration for winning.”
“Honestly, I was the one judge who had to be convinced by the others why ‘I’m Not Missing Anything’ deserved the top spot. Obviously it was a fantastic story with a tremendous central character. My point centered on the fact that ‘catching the moment’ was simplified by the subject being in that one spot in the gym. That being said, every moment was delivered fantastically.
“This category delivered several tremendous examples of photographer and reporter working as one, a team, playing off each others strengths. Of the many entries several also exposed poor writing by the reporters. Cute did not work either.
“We saw a wide variety of approaches, which speaks to the breadth of this year’s choices. There were well done, fast paced stories with tremendous shooting and editing. There were also well shot and seamlessly produced stories that were emotionally powerful. For example, ‘Angel Babies’ allowed the griping words of one mother to breath, effectively. I’ve never seen a 30-second headshot in a feature work any better.”
Judge Ernesto Torres said, “It was all the emotion, creativity, and natural moments that make up the Feature stories. First place, ‘I’m not missing anything,’ had a little of everything in the story. It had a lot of great natural moments though out the whole story that made you laugh and say ‘wow’ at what the character of the story was doing that the photojournalist was able to capture on camera, it made you have an emotion and care more about the person in the story.
“Second place, ‘A Dr. of a ticker,’ was very creative and clean from every perspective of photography and editing, which made you more interested in the story. The mixing of sound through out the whole piece was perfect and drove the story even more.
“Third place, ‘Rock in the house,’ was classic storytelling at its best by both the Reporter and photojournalist. Both worked very hard in capturing what the story was all about and made you care and laugh more about the characters in the story. Honorable Mention, ‘Angel Babies,’ the story was full of awesome emotion that was captured both in photography and writing. Overall. all stories where done at a high standard.
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