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2005 Better Newspaper Contest — News Photo

contestheader

Division 2, Dailies
Division 3, Dailies
Division 4, Semiweeklies
Division 5, Semiweeklies
Division 6, Weeklies
Division 7, Weeklies
Division 8, Weeklies
Division 9, Weeklies
Division 10, Weeklies

News Photo

Division 2 Dailies 7,000 to 99,999

1. The Galveston County Daily News - Kevin Bartram. "Car chase ends" and "Collision halts traffic" Excellent photos. Perfectly timed. Interesting composition.

2. The Courier, Conroe - Jerry Baker. "Heroic rescue effort" and "Return from Iraq" Rescue photo is excellent, great shot. Gary Day (Iraq) photo captured great emotion. Perfectly timed. Cutline sentences a bit too long and confusing.

3. Herald-Zeitung, New Braunfels - "Rescue workers" by Mandy Reary and "Bank robbery" by David Ingram. Great shots, great timing. Cutline on rescue photo excellent, love the irony: "Rockin' R River Rides." Excellent composition.

4. Odessa American - Mark Sterkel. "Odessa firefighters" and " Standoff" Great point of view on fire shot. Great timing on standoff shot.

Division 3 Dailies Less Than 7,000

1. McKinney Courier-Gazette - Elise Anderson. "Christmas service" and "Rollover golf cart rescue" Candlelight picture and golf cart crash show Elise Anderson's ability to be good at both types of news photography.

2. The Huntsville Item - Richard Nira. "Praise in song" and "A touching experience" Although not as exciting photos as others submitted, Richard Nira gets the job done with feeling.

3. Waxahachie Daily Light - Patrick M. Walker. "Rollover" and "Accident shuts I-35" Nice front page display of both photos.

4. Brownwood Bulletin - "Tears and cheers" by Bill Crist and "Blazing inferno" by Scott Coers. Both photographers' work well displayed on front page. Nice work.

Division 4 Semiweeklies 4,001 or More

1. Wise County Messenger - Joe Duty. "Valentine's snow" Classic examples of a photographer who isn't afraid to get in/up close. "Cottondale fire" The action, which makes both photos the top winners.

2. Polk County Enterprise - Gordon LeBarron. "Soldier laid to rest" If we don't show them dying in Iraq, it's very important to show what they look like (even in a coffin) after they do. Powerful, respectful image. "Bridge repairs" Good spot news photo.

3. The Bastrop Advertiser - "Vietnam soldier finally buried back home" by Karol Rice. With one war long forgotten, another rages. This is a heart-breaking reminder of that long ago failed enterprise. "Fatal accident" by M.D. DeHart. Not much remains to be said.

4. Uvalde Leader-News - "Lifeflight transport" by Dianna Limones and "Precarious parking on Frio" by Carol Kothmann. Both good spot news photos. Photo 1 (lifeflight) conveys the sense of confusion following a sudden unexpected event.

Division 5 Semiweeklies 4,000 or Less

1. The Highlander, Marble Falls - Gary D. Parsons. "Escapee captured" Good high drama story and supporting photo. Right place at the right time. "Slam dunk car wreck" Good spot photo that needed fat caption to tell what happened. Difficult when three vehicles are involved. Would be wise to throw in a "police said" when describing who hit whom.

2. The Brownfield News - "Blaze guts church" by Blake Decker and "Monday mishap" by Mitch Word. Both entries good strong spot news photos, even without captions, which help.

3. Mansfield News-Mirror - "Gone in a flash" by Lance Winter. Tighter crop top and bottom would have moved the blazing car up to and above the fold, making for a much stronger image. "Fire destroys house" by Brigitte Cummings. Firefighter on knees with bottle of water sells this photo.

4. The Gatesville Messenger - Lance Kennedy. "Live environment training" We need to see what real soldiers go through in a combat hospital in Iraq! "Fire damages home" More flame, less smoke might have made this a more interesting photo.

Division 6 Large Weeklies

1. Azle News - Edwin Newton. "Parade" No comment. "Rollover" This photo was stronger than all others in this class. Great reproduction, good page 1 display.

2. The Cameron Herald - Mike Peck. "Dangerous crossing" No comment. "Horse trailer wreck" Photographed just at the right moment. Well done.

3. Wylie News - "Elementary groundbreaking" by M. Riley. Kids make the shot. "Early morning blaze" No comment.

4. Rockdale Reporter - Mike Brown. "Downtown cleanup" and "Flood" Mike gets right into his work.

Division 7 Medium Large Weeklies

1. The Progress, Three Rivers - Scott Reese Willey. "It's fair time" There's never enough coverage when kids take their animals to the fair. Great black and white photo. Don't baaak-up or the pooch will loose interest. "The Perfect Christmas" Kids everywhere know what to do with snow. Quick, take the picture it's going to melt. (Less trees, more kids, move the photo up.)

2. Bridgeport Index - Keith Bridwell. "Kite flying" Take time for the kids. "All smiles, no injuries" Bigger smiles (enlarge photo and "crop") And yes, smaller bus photo. Kids make great photos. Suggestion: Index photo by Keith Bridwell.

3. Mineola Monitor - Gary A. Edwards. "Church van crash" Good overall shot. Focus on less victims and more on working EMS. Lower angle, victims are on the ground. "Santa's workshop?" Good size photo, but needs more expressions of the people.

4. DeSoto Today - Chris Hudson. "I-35 open" Nice size photo, too bad the sun doesn't always cooperate. Squints don't last long. Reposition if possible. Crowds will turn on your command. "Hot flashes" Hot flashes were earlier, displaced thoughts might make a better label.

Division 8 Medium Weeklies

1. Pilot Point Post-Signal - Richard Greene. "Down but not out" Nice photo and story that should have played above the fold! "Fire destroys historic home" Wow! Doesn't leave much more to explain the power and destruction of the fire. Bravo!

2. Lancaster Today - "Finish line" by Chris Hudson. Important from a history point of view. Obviously important for the present as well. "Fire at fire house" by Ngha Tran. Ooops! This combo could have played at top and serve as an object lesson.

3. Iowa Park Leader - Kevin Hamilton. "Crossing sign struck" Simple, effective. Not sure walker is sign picture was actually there when photo was taken. "Lights" Pleasant photo of what appears to be an equally pleasant park.

4. Rockwall County News - Jessie Progar. "Protest" Get the message across in clear, simple, understandable language. "A new look" Interesting photo but sample extremely poor reproduction quality.

Division 9 Small Medium Weeklies

1. The Leonard Graphic - "Burger eating contest" by Beth Anderson. Fun photo. Would have been bit better if eater had bun in mouth with the same grimace. "Liberty Bell and Ten Commandments" by Bethany Russell. Only thing missing in this photo are Washington Monument, Lincoln and Jefferson memorials, the White House, Tom Delay and President Bush.

2. Lake Country Sun, Graford - "Under water rescue" by Michael Matthews. This photo needed the caption, but overuse of abbreviations (PK East VFD & EMT) should be avoided in favor of full title in first instance. "Fire at wreck" by Mark Engebretson. Overall nice shot.

3. The Pflugerville Pflag - Mel Spencer. "Halloween" Any one of several kid pictures could win but this little ladybug lit up the page. "Brown bag lunches" Faces of diversity, a beautifully simple photo.

4. Lexington Leader - Maggie Beasley. "Pioneer Festival" and "Alcoa move" Both photos are illustrative of what can be achieved when a paper isn't afraid to run big color on the front page. Better color would have made this a strong entry.

Division 10 Small Weeklies

1. Joshua Star - "Fire" by Darlene Moore Photographer got up close for photo that demonstrates the potential danger of firefighters on a burning roof. Exhausted firefighters good inset photo. "Up in smoke" by Wayne Tomblison. Simple, clean photo. Puts the viewer in the scene but definitely needed the caption to explain why.

2. The Eldorado Success - Kathy Mankin. "Pot bust" and "Through the looking glass" Better placement of both stories and photos by this paper would have made this entry a first place winner.

3. The Gazette, Alvord - Crystal Carroll. "Volunteer firefighters" and "Happy Holidays" Almost any photo with kids is a winner and these two made the grade. Very nice.

4. Thorndale Champion -- Jeremy Weber. "Let it snow!" What fun. Say no more. "Hold on tight" Poor reproduction muddied an otherwise exciting photo. Did he stay on the bull long enough?