Winning images

Spot News
1st - Marshall Gorby, Springfield News-Sun, "Arrest"
2nd - Marshall Gorby, Springfield News-Sun, "Structure Fire"
3rd - Patricia Schaeffer, The (Lisbon) Morning Journal, "House Fire"
HM - Jeff Hinckley, The Columbus Dispatch, "Duplex Expolosion"

General News
1st - Scott Shaw, The Plain Dealer, "Saluting Obama"
2nd - Tracy Boulian, The Plain Dealer, "Obama Inaugrations"
3rd - Tracy Boulian, The Plain Dealer, "Police officer laid to rest"
HM - Barbara J. Pernic, Springfield News-Sun, "Trail"

Portrait
1st - Chris Russell, The Columbus Dispatch, "Doodle Dandy"
2nd - Phil Masturzo, Akron-Beacon Journal, "Love"
3rd - Kyle C. Lanzer, Sun Newspapers, "Asian Study"
HM - Shari Lewis, The Columbus Dispatch, "Sibling Rivalry"

Feature Single
1st - Chris Russell, The Columbus Dispatch, "Hockey Goal"
2nd - Fred Squillante, The Columbus Dispatch, "Indoor Water Park"
3rd - Kyle C Lanzer, Sun Newspapers, "Strawberry Pinata"
HM - Kyle Robertson, The Columbus Dispatch, "Frog Kiss"5

Sports
1st - Barbara Perenic, Springfield News-Sun, "Wrestle Bite"1
2nd - Lisa DeJong, The Plain Dealer, "Basketball celebration"
3rd - Chris Russell, The Columbus Distpatch, "Ohio State catch"

Feature Picture Story
1st - Eric Albrecht, The Columbus Dispatch, "Who will help"
2nd - Doral Chenoweth II, The Columbus Distpatch, "Morgue"
3rd - Chris Russell, The Columbus Dispatch, "In good hands"

Winning images

Spot News
1st - Chuck Humel, Elyria Chronical Telegram - "Woman Pulled From Accident"
2nd - Marshall Gorby, Springfield News-Sun - "Fire at House"
3rd - Jeff Hinckley, The Columbus Dispatch -- "Clean-up After Fire"
HM - Kyle Robertson, The Columbus Dispatch -- "Firefighters on Ladder Truck"
HM - Marshall Gorby, Springfield News-Sun -- "Racoon Head in Peanut Butter Jar"

General News
1st - Tom Dodge, The Columbus Dispatch, "Readiness at the Capitol"
2nd - Tom Dodge, The Columbus Dispatch, "Mom Comforts Son"
3rd - Scott Shaw, The Plain Dealer, "School nurse checks kid"

Feature
1st - Marshall Gorby, Springfield News-Sun, "Looking at Fish"
2nd - David Rea, ThisWeek Newspapers, "Crossing Fingers"
3rd - Tom Dodge, The Columbus Dispatch, "Lincoln in Mirror"
HM - Marvin Fong, The Plain Dealer, "Doctor Looking at Kid"
HM - Lorrie Cecil, ThisWeek Newspapers, "Shake, Rattle and Roll"

Portrait
1st - Kyle Lanzer, Sun Newspapers, "Showerhead Spokesman"
2nd - Tom Dodge, The Columbus Dispatch, "Veterans Tribute Bike"
3rd - Kyle Lanzer, Sun Newspapers, "Students Doing Art"

Sports
1st - Barbara Perenic, Springfield News-Sun, "Wrestler Biting Wrestler"
2nd - Tom Dodge, The Columbus Dispatch, "Weight Lifting Woman"
3rd - David Rea, ThisWeek Newspapers, "Bored looking coach"
HM - Tim Norman, ThisWeek Newspapers, "Battle for the Ball"

Picture Story
1st - Andy Morrison, The Blade
2nd - Neal C. Lauron, The Columbus Dispatch, "Kids Camp"
3rd - Jeff Hinckley, The Columbus Dispatch, "Emus"

Winning images

Spot News
1st - Marshall Gorby, Springfield News-Sun, “Fire Scene”
2nd - Paul Tople, Akron Beacon Journal, “Standoff”
3rd - Marshall Gorby, Springfield News-Sun, “Fire Scene”

General News
1st - Bill Lackey, Springfield News-Sun , “Family Member Touched Coffin”
2nd - Karen Schiely, Akron Beacon Journal, “Goodbye Chad”
3rd - Tom Dodge, The Columbus Dispatch, “Mistrial”
HM - Barbara J. Perenic, Springfield News-Sun, “Flower at Coffin”

Portrait
1st - Chris Russell, The Columbus Dispatch, “Lustron House”
2nd - Karen Schiely, Akron Beacon Journal, “Reflected Image”
3rd - Leonardo Carrizo, The Columbus Dispatch, “On the keyboards”

Feature
1st - Eric Albrecht, The Columbus Dispatch, “Dog Lick”
2nd - Andy Morrison, Toledo Blade, “Sunset”
3rd - Jeff Hinckley, The Columbus Dispatch, “Red Umbrella”
HM - David Rea, This Week Newspapers, “Slimed”
HM - Bill Lackey, Springfield News-Sun, “Destroy Nurses Station”

Sports
1st - Adam Cairns, This Week Newspapers, “State Champ”
2nd - Tracy Boulian, The Plain Dealer, “LeBron Comforts”
3rd - Phil Masturzo, Akron Beacon Journal, “Bball Wrestling”
HM - Kyle Lanzer, Sun Newspapers, “Gymnasts Waiting”

Picture Story
1st - Shari Lewis, The Columbus Dispatch, “Released from prison”
2nd - Neal C. Lauron, The Columbus Dispatch, “Wrestling Finals”
3rd - Scott Shaw, The Plain Dealer, St Patty’s Day”
HM - Eric Albrecht, The Columbus Dispatch, “Sending Help”

Winning images

Spot News
1st - Dave Zapotosky, The Blade, "Cop and Lady"
2nd - Marshall Gorby, Springfield News-Sun, Fire Reaction"
3rd - Kyle Robertson, The Columbus Dispatch, "Red Wing Fan"

Comments: 1st -The bath robe made the photo. Good peak action at a spot news event. 2nd - Good tight crop. Nice emotion. 3rd - Possibly could have used a crop to focus in more on the red wing fan. Not your usual spot news photo. Don't see this too often

General News
1st - Jeff Hinckley, The Columbus Dispatch, "Swine Flu"
2nd - Shari Lewis, The Columbus Dispatch, "Teen funeral"
3rd - Lisa DeJong, The Plain Dealer, "Fire fighters"
HM - Jonathan Quilter, The Columbus Dispatch

Comments: 1st - A simple photo that says a lot. The mask and the carrying of the bags make the photo. Took good planning and maybe a little bit of luck. Clean composition. Good, simple way of illustrating Swine Flu. 2nd - Good emotion. All the important elements are in the photo. 3rd - Good graphic image. Liked the repetition of form.

Portrait
1st - Tom Dodge, The Columbus Dispatch, "Baby Elephant"
2nd - Eric Albrecht, The Columbus Dispatch, "Violinist"
3rd - Leonardo Carrizo, The Columbus Dispatch, “"Ukulele"

Comments: 1st - Well framed. Not a usual portrait but it fulfills the assignment. Good interaction between mother and baby elephant. 2nd - Nice colors with the red music stand and the blue dress. Like the cellos in the background and the concentration on her face. Good example of a person in their environment. 3rd -Well executed and straight forward.

Feature
1st - Fred Squillante, The Columbus Dispatch, "Personal Jungle Gym"
2nd - Lisa DeJong, The Plain Dealer, "Opening Day"
3rd - Fred Squillante, The Columbus Dispatch, "Rain was Sideways"

Comments: 1st - Text book definition of a feature. Clean composition with nice faces. Great moment between mother and son. 2nd - Great face. Nice moment from opening day. Captured the essence of an 8 year old, 3rd - Not perfect but a very different rain feature. Took some planning.

Sports
1st - Bill Lackey, Springfield News-Sun, "Kid and Steer"
2nd - Chuck Humel, Elyria Chronicle Telegram, "Rugby"
3rd - Kyle Roberston, The Columbus Dispatch, "Hockey fans and players"

Comments: 1st - Nice clean and tight photo from a rodeo. Great faces on both the boy and the steer. 2nd - Good peak action from a rugby game. Liked the hand in the face. 3rd - Like the juxtaposition of the fans and the players celebrating. Lots of good peak action photos that were close third but lost because they had cluttered backgrounds.

Picture Story
1st - Andy Morrison, The Blade, "Faith Is...Not given"
2nd - Eric Albrecht, The Columbus Dispatch, "Signs"
3rd - Fred Squillante, The Columbus Dispatch, "Vietnam Day"

Comments: 1st - Looked like the photographer spent a lot of time and a lot of thought on these series of portraits. Each photo says a great deal about the individual. There is no repetition. 2nd - A creative way of illustrating blank billboards. Liked the variety of time of day and settings. 3rd - Could have used a tighter edit but there were still some strong photos that told the story of the event.

Illustration
1st - Ed Suba Jr., Akron Beacon Journal, "Emo"
2nd - Peggy Turbett, The Plain Dealer, "Syrup"
3rd - Chris Russell, The Columbus Dispatch, "Apples"

Comments: 1st - Great texture in the shoes and the frayed edges in the frame of the photo. Creative way illustrating a new fashion trend by just showing a small part of it. Took a lot of thought. 2nd - Nice tones. Simple. Good job of accentuating the main element which is the syrup. 3rd - Page designed helped with the photo. The star shaped spotlight went well with the idea for the photo. Show forethought and it communicates well.


Judges: Nathan Gray , Sefton Ipock and Ken Ruinard-Photo staff at the Anderson Independent-Mail

Winning images

Spot News
1st - Bill Lackey, Springfield News-Sun, "Car Flips on McCreight"
2nd - Marshall Gorby, Springfield News-Sun, "Flipped in a Ditch"
3rd - Fred Squillante, The Columbus Dispatch' "Help is on the Way"

General News
1st - Shari Lewis, The Columbus Dispatch, "School Levy Fallut"
2nd - Eric Albrecht, The Columbus Dispatch, "Golf's Numbers Turn Red"
3rd - Lisa DeJong, The Plain Dealer, "Couple Celebrates Domestic Registry"
HM - Eric Albrecht, The Columbus Dispatch, "End of an eyesore"

Comments - 1st Place put a human face on on otherwise dry political story. The second place photographer boosted the story in question to a display position with a really graphic image. 3rd place is much like the 1st. The HM we liked because we never see people cheer at a home demolition.

Portrait
1st - Lisa DeJong, The Plain Dealer, "Faces of Domestic Partner Registry"
2nd - Fred Squillante, The Columbus Dispatch, "True to His Form"
3rd - Eric Albrecht, The Columbus Dispatch, "Left to Wonder"
HM - Leonardo Carrizo, The Columbus Dispatch, “"Ricard Carle"

Comments - 1st place was super intimate. 2nd place gave us a nice view into the subject’s personality. 3rd place and HM were good echoes of the news peg of their stories.

Feature
1st - Jonathan Quilter, The Columbus Dispatch, "Waiting Is the Hardest Part"
2nd - Jonathan Quilter, The Columbus Dispatch, "A Run in the Clouds"
3rd - Fred Squillante, The Columbus Dispatch, "Dog Walker"
HM - Neal C. Lauron, The Columbus Dispatch, "The Cheap Seats"
HM - Peggy Turbett, The Plain Dealer, "Safe To Say It's Spring"

Comments - The 1st place showed great timing and patience. The second place was risky and I think we guessed right that it didn’t ever see “print”. 3rd place was a nice and funny. Cuteness rounds out the HMs.

Sports
1st - Barbara J. Perenic, Springfield News-Sun, "Discus Thrower"
2nd - Bill Lackey, Springfield News-Sun, "Diving For a Foul Ball"
3rd - Kyle C. Lanzer, Sun Newspapers, "Elyria Softball Celebration"
HM - Andrea Kjerrumgaard, ThisWeek Newspapers, "Home run Greetin"
HM - Bill Lackey, Springfield News-Sun, "Lehman Catholic Celebrates"

Comments - We thought 1st place was a well timed image. 2nd place may have taken a hit for sharpness, but got praise for the shooter’s ability to milk an awkward play. 3d place was the best of a lot of good jube.

Picture Story
1st - Neal C. Lauron, The Columbus Dispatch, "Race For the Cure"
2nd - Bill Lackey, Springfield News-Sun, "Double Fatal Accident"
3rd - Marshall Gorby, Springfield News-Sun, "Clowns Honor Fallen Friend"

Comments - 1st place had the best array of techniques, angles, moments and details. 2nd was unique situation that the shooter did a good job of following all the way through. Our 3rd place ranked because we had never seen a clown funeral before, but we all agreed that it might have been a bit of a lost opportunity.


Judges: From the Macon Telegraph: Staff Photographers Grant Blankenship and Beau Cabell, and Woody Marshall, Director of Photography

Winning images

Spot News
1st - Marshall Gorby, Springfield News-Sun, "Suspect escorted"
2nd - Marshall Gorby. Springfield News-Sun, " Crash react"
3rd - Bill Lackey, Springfield News-Sun, "Cement truck crash"
HM - Marvin Fong, The Plain Dealer, "Shooting react"

Comments - 1st, strong face on the suspect. Would have liked it a little looser in lower right corner. Tighter on the left to put more emphasis on suspect. 2nd, elements in the photo contribute to context. Good moment. 3rd, liked the graphic quality. Nice the photographer waited for someone to walk through the frame. HM, good emotion. Clean background.

General News
1st - Jeff Hinckley, The Columbus Dispatch, "Waiting for dad"
2nd - Jeff Hinckley, The Columbus Dispatch, "Short jobs, long line"
3rd - Lisa DeJong, The Plain Dealer, "National Guard Deploys"
HM - Eric Albrecht, The Columbus Dispatch, "Jack Hanna"

Comments - 1st, nice framing. Good find. Worked the scene away from the actual event. 2nd, good expression on the woman’s face. Nice that the photographer stepped back from the action to show context. 3rd, just a nice moment between father and daughter. Executed well. Clean background. HM, nice photo from a news conference. Kudos to the photographer for working the scene. Hanna’s shadow allowing Swanagan’s image to be seen on the screen makes the photo.

Portrait
1st - Jonathan Quilter, The Columbus Dispatch, "Blind girl"
2nd - Chris Russell, The Columbus Dispatch, "Fiesta tester"
3rd - Chuck Humel, Chronicle Telegram, "Bike wheel guy"

Comments - 1st, simple, clean composition. Photo gave the sense that this is who this girl is. Only portrait that felt real. 2nd, interesting way to shoot the car and driver. Photo fits the younger demographic. 3rd, nice use of framing. Several layers to the composition. Didn’t like the hotspot from the window in background or that a spoke was going over the subject’s eye.

Feature
1st -Lisa DeJong, The Plain Dealer, "Red Wings"
2nd - Neal C. Lauron, The Columbus Dispatch, "Equipment malfunction"
3rd - Eric Albrecht, The Columbus Dispatch, "Taco truck"
HM - Lisa DeJong, The Plain Dealer, "Parade the circle"

Comments - 1st, liked the “pop” of color. Nice to have stepped back to give a sense of scale. Interesting duality between the natural-ish shape of the features and the man-made horizontal lines of the building. 2nd, hilarious. Caption written to match that comedic tone. Good find from a daily event. 3rd, liked the contrasting colors with the blue exterior and the warmth of light inside. HM, very David Alan Harvey-esque

Sports
1st - Barbara Perenic, Springfield News-Sun, "400m fall"
2nd - Lorrie Cecil, ThisWeek Newspapers, "High jump"
3rd - Chris Russell, The Columbus Dispatch, "Tiger putt"
HM - Bill Lackey, Springfield News-Sun, "Rodeo rope"

Comments - 1st, great react on the face. Tight crop. Not easy to shoot. 2nd, body language of the jumper made this second. Clean background. 3rd, not star struck by Tiger but still a nice react shot. Would have liked a cleaner (more out of focus background) but there was enough to keep the ball just in focus enough. HM, good eyes on the cowboy. Nice framing by the rope.

Picture Story
1st - Neal C. Lauron, The Columbus Dispatch, "Graduation" -
2nd - Eric Albrecht, The Columbus Dispatch, "Special Olympics bocce"
3rd - Adam Cairns, ThisWeek Newspapers, "Division III softball"

Comments - 1st, Good visual variety. Many little moments. Captured the atmosphere on the day. Moved away from the graduates. 2nd, simplicity was nice. Gave the sense of the person and athlete. Illustrated the athleticism. Reaction (joy). And work involved as a special Olympic athlete. 3rd, nice collection of pics. Would have been stronger if one hugging/jube pic was edited out. Mortar board pic was nice.

2nd qtr Illustration
1st - Phil Masturzo, Akron Beacon Journal, "Red cherry soup" - 6/24/09
2nd - Peggy Turbett, The Plain Dealer, "Rhubarb" - 4/29/09
3rd - Chuck Humel, Chronicle Telegram, "Staring down the abyss" - 4/6/09

Comments - 1st, good execution. Elements lead you around the photo. 2nd, simple composition. 3rd, only illustration that conveyed a concept. Good execution to what probably was a “hurry up” assignment. Could have been stronger if the eyes were more prominent. Nose is a little distracting. Hole could have been smaller.

JUDGES: From the Cedar Rapids Gazette: Rollin Banderob Visuals Editor and staff photographers Liz Martin, Brian Ray, Cliff Jette and Jim Slosiarek

Winning images

Spot News
1st - Marshall Gorby, Springfield News-Sun, "Take Down"
2nd - Bill Lackey, Springfield News-Sun, "House Fire"
3rd - Barbara Perenic, Springfield News-Sun, "Utility Pole Crash

Comments - What can we say about 1st place,A LOT!! Instant winner incredible news photo. As for... this was a small category - not much to judge - we struggled to find a 2nd and 3rd.

General News
1st - Chris Russell, The Columbus Dispatch, "Patriot Guard Riders Flags"
2nd - Shari Lewis, The Columbus Dispatch, "Man reads Ohio State Budget"
3rd - Chris Russell, The Columbus Dispatch, "Captain Gives Son Grin"
HM - Marshall Gorby, Springfield News-Sun, "Tow Truck Funeral"

Comments - We had four photos pretty quick. Placing them took some time.
1st place is a nice photo. The layers helped. thankfully there was wind to help make the photo work. 2nd place was argued back and forth for a while. Some of the judges felt it did not say much, but some felt, what a striking photo from an assignment that typically does not produce good art. 3rd place is just a wonderful moment. all photographers look for this photo from this type of assignment and are happy to bring it back to the readers.
HM, a well chosen angle. One photo that says it all.

Portrait
1st - Eric Albrecht, The Columbus Dispatch, "Professor"
2nd - Lisa DeJong, The Plain Dealer, "Tattoo Portrait"
3rd - Shari Lewis, The Columbus Dispatch, "Hope Anita Smith"
HM - Tracy Boulian, The Plain Dealer, "Heart and Sole"

Comments - No comments

Feature
1st - Fred Squillante, The Columbus Dispatch, “Let's not fly a kite”
2nd - Eric Albrecht, The Columbus Dispatch, “Growing up on a Farm”
3rd - Andrea Kjerrumgaard, ThisWeek Newspapers, “Reptile Recoil”
HM - Eric Albrecht, The Columbus Dispatch, “Mayflies”

Comments - We had a long discussion on 1st and 2nd place. Both are great photos but one has to win 1st. 1st place had great body language. With her hair and facial expression along with the shrug shoulders, we new she was disappointed while flying her kite. The string still in her hand helped, otherwise the kite could of looked like trash. 2nd place is a nice silhouette. Well composed and timed. 3rd place is a fun photo. HM - Great way to use a sunrise/sunset.

Sports
1st - Paul Tople, Akron Beacon Journal, “Mini Tiger Woods”
2nd - Andy Morrison, Toledo Blade, “Home Plate Collision
3rd - Scott Heckel, The Repository “Passing Scrimage Catch”
HM - Andy Morison, Toledo Blade “Pass Haul In

Comments - This category was probably the easiest to judge. The top three stood out and we where done in just minutes. The key thing to the winning photos where the great faces and peak moments.

Picture Story
1st - Chris Russell, The Columbus Dispatch, “Farm Camp”
2nd - Neal Lauron, The Columbus Dispatch, “Red, White, and Boom”
3rd - Kyle Robertson, The Columbus Dispatch, “In the Balance”

Comments - One thing we all felt about this category was the loose edit in a lot of the entries.1st place - A nice selection of photos from a Farm Camp. Good variety of lens lengths, angles, and moments made it a complete package. 2nd place - The photographer brought back some nice photos from a parade. A little tighter edit would of helped. Some of the judges wished the lead photo was also entered in the portrait category. 3rd place - An interesting story that probably was hard to illustrate with photos but the photographer brought back a nice set.

JUDGES: From the The Riverside (CA) Press-Enterprise: David Creamer, Photo Editor and staff photographers, Kurt Miller, Silvia Flores, Rodrigo Pena, Stan Lim and William Lewis.

Winning images

Spot News
1st - Jonathan Quilter, The Columbus Dispatch, “Hugging Released Bother”
2nd - Marshall Gorby, Springfield News-Sun, “Truck Crash”
3rd - Bill Lackey, Springfield News-Sun, “Burned House”  
HM - Jeff Hinkley, The Columbus Dispatch, “Car Hits Firehouse”
HM - Shari Lewis, The Columbus Dispatch, “Pushing Flooded Car”

Judges comments - Reasonably strong category, first was classic spot news, well done at a fast moving event. second was a nice different moment at a commonplace event. Third was also solid news coverage.

General News
1st - Shari Lewis, The Columbus Dispatch, ”Tax Levy”
2nd - Tom Dodge, The Columbus Dispatch, “Safe Haven Child”
3rd - Eric Albrecht, The Columbus Dispatch, “Returning Soldier Father”
HM - Jonathan Quilter, The Columbus Dispatch, “Father Hug”
HM - Lisa DeJong, The Plain Dealer, “Malachi Center Struggles”
HM - Chuck Crow, The Plain Dealer, “Soldier Funeral”

Judge’s comments”  - Overall: A little thin, but the winners made up for the lack of quantity. First: These are really difficult assignments, but the emotion, moment, composition and lighting made this a winner and conveyed the importance of a topic that could put readers to sleep. Second: Nice moment, well composed. Third: Another good moment, well composed. HM father hug: If it hadn’t been for awkward lighting and shadows, several judges would have placed this higher.HM malachi center: Unique approach to a story that caused the judges to take a second and third look.

Feature Single
1st - Fred Squillante, The Columbus Dispatch, “Learning to Ride”
2nd - Barbara J. Perenic, Springfield News-Sun, “Steer Wrestling”
3rd - Lynn Ischay, The Plain Dealer, “Triathlon of Champions”
HM - Eric Albrecht, The Columbus Dispatch, “First Day of School”
HM - Lorrie Cecil, ThisWeek Newspapers, “Irish Dance”
HM - Fred Squillante, The Columbus Dispatch, “Seminarian Thurible”

Judge’s Comments - Overall: The winners in this category were more subtle than most and took the judges awhile to sort them out of the daily work flow if finding those moments in our communities. First: Just kept coming back to this, appreciating the light, the moment and emotion. Well done and if it was a stock photo with releases would be a huge seller. (This is meant as a complement)
Second: Good moment, but tricky lighting made it an almost for first.
Third: Nice emotion, good moment.

Portrait
1st - Neal C. Lauron, The Columbus Dispatch, "Chef and wine"
2nd - Tim Norman, ThisWeek Newspaper, "Horse Girl"
3rd - Lynn Ischay, The Plain Dealer, "Violinist"
HM - Fred Squillante, The Columbus Dispatch, "Deacon Ppractices Mass"

Comments: A fairly weak category, with first as a move active take on a chef portrait with good lighting, second had nice layering of the horses, and third a classic musician photo.

Sports
1st - Tracy Boulian, The Plain Dealer, “Training Camp”
2nd - Bill Lackey, Springfield News-Sun, “Triathlon”
3rd - Lorrie Cecil, ThisWeek Newspapers, “Loose Racket”
HM - Andy Morrison, The Blade, “Mud Hens Action”
HM - Fred Squillante, The Columbus Dispatch, “First Base Action”

Judge’s comments - Overall: August must be an off month for sports in Ohio, because this may have been the weakest category. First: A nice football action photo, but coming from training camp takes off some of the buzz. Second: A different view on the triathlon, but several judges felt better cropping would have improved it. Third: An OK variation on tennis coverage.

Feature Picture Story
1st - Fred Squillante, The Columbus Dispatch, “Priest Shortage”
2nd - Jonathan Quilter, The Columbus Dispatch, “Summer Art Camp”
3rd - Jeff Hinckley, The Columbus Dispatch, “Budget Victims”
HM - Andy Morrison, The Blade, “On the Road Again”

Judge’s comments - First place: A truly awesome work, maybe should have it’s own category. Nicely done with strong photos in each segment. While this would also make a strong multimedia piece, the well done visual display reaffirms why the print medium is a valuable storytelling medium. It benefited from witnessing to the skill and craft of the photojournalist. Second place: Strong photos, difficult to compare in this single print format, but the judges tried to view it as a multimedia piece, finding the story well told. Third place: Good approach to a difficult topic with photos going beyond kid in the classroom images. HM: Good solid layout for a daily story:
Overall: The winners were very strong, but past that too many were just what Angus McDougall called “picture parking lots” That is, the photos were all on the same subject, but didn’t tell a story or offer a visual narrative.

JUDGES: From the The News-Gazette in Champaign, Illinois

Winning images

Spot News
1st - Marshall Gorby, Springfield News-Sun, "Accident Reaction"
2nd - Tim Norman, ThisWeek Community Newspapers, "Lightning Strike"
3rd - Marshall Gorby, Springfield News-Sun, "Accident Reaction

Judges comments - First and third are both good reaction shots from a traffic accident. Second was a good grab from a rained out football game. Overall a very weak category.

General News
1st - Jonathan Quilter, The Columbus Dispatch, "Military Procession"
2nd - Fred Squillante, The Columbus Dispatch, "Ground Breaking"
3rd - Lisa DeJong, The Plain Dealer, "Bhutanese Refugees"
HM - Jonathan Quilter, The Columbus Dispatch, "Skateboarder"

Judge’s comments”  - First was a neat perspective from an event we’ve all seen too many times. Second was a great reaction shot from an everyday event. Third features an interesting composition or perspective. Honorable mention is a good shot, but we felt it would work better as a portrait.

Feature Single
1st - Eric Albrecht, The Columbus Dispatch, "Bird Watcher"
2nd - Jonathan Quilter, The Columbus Dispatch, "Harness Racing"
3rd - Lisa DeJong, The Plain Dealer, "Dog Day at Swim Park"

Judge’s Comments - First was a striking composition of a bird watcher as a storm approaches. Second was an interesting composition from a county fair harness racing track. Third, well, how often do you see a dog riding piggy back on top of another dog? Nice catch.

Portrait
1st - Kyle C. Lanzer, Sun Newspapers, "Restaurant Chef"
2nd - Tom Dodge, The Columbus Dispatch, "Geologist"
3rd - Neal C. Lauron, Thr Columbus Dispatch, "Family Portrait"

Judge's comments: First was nicely composed using elements at the restaurant. Second is nicely composed and lit in a natural setting. Third was a different take on the traditional family portrait.

Sports
1st - Neal C. Lauron, The Columbus Dispatch, "Football Action"
2nd - Tracy Boulian, The Plain Dealer, "Football Action"
3rd - Tom Dodge, The Columbus Dispatch, "Bar Stool Racing"

Judge’s comments - First and second were both nice, clean football action shots. First won out simply because we felt it was a little more unusual. Third is a nice shot of guys bar stool racing. We’ve never seen, or heard, of bar stool racing. Different. Lots of entries in this category, but overall sort of weak.

Feature Picture Story
1st - Neal C. Lauron, The Columbus Dispatch, "A Day At the Races"
2nd - Chris Russell, The Columbus Dispatch, "Elderly Dancers"
3rd - David Rea, ThisWeek Newspapers, "Military Funeral"

Judge’s comments - First stood out from all the other entries with a nice selection of well-edited shots. Second had several nice moments featuring senior dancers, but we believe it could benefit from a tighter edit. Third featured good, overall visual coverage of a military funeral.

3rd qtr Illustraiton
1st - Eric Albrecht, The Columbus Dispatch, "Breakfast 101"
2nd - Peggy Turbett, The Plain Dealer, "Sugar"
3rd - Eric Albrecht, The Columbus Dispatch, "Ohio Firefly"

Judge’s comments - This category contained several photos that we felt were not true illustrations. With that said, first was a good illustration of a healthy breakfast. Second was a simple, but effective way to illustrate too much sugar in the diet can be unhealthy. Third was a good shot to illustrate the disappearing Ohio firefly.

JUDGES: From the The Journal & Courier, Lafayette, Indiana; Staff photographers, John Terhune, Brent Drinkut, and Jamie Lynn Chevillet.

Winning images

Spot News
1st - Bill Lackey, Springfield News-Sun, "Power pole wreck"
2nd - Marshall Gorby, Springfield News-Sun, "House fire Couple"
3rd - Marshall Gorby, Springfield News-Sun, "House fire"

Judge's comments - First Place: A unique and dangerous situation covered effectively; a poignant moment with the rescue workers; clean composition. Second Place: A skillful juxtaposition of destruction and loss; great storytelling. Third Place: Solid visual coverage of a developing news event.

General News
1st - Phil Masturzo, Akron Beacon Journal, "Apology"
2nd - Tom Dodge, The Columbus Dispatch, "Father and son"
3rd - Lisa DeJong, The Plain Dealer, "Elephant Moment"

Judge’s comments”  - First Place: Nice moment and composition. The photographer definitely sensed the right position for the picture. Second Place: Touching, quiet moment that is strong enough to transcend the poor display, this picture deserved better.Third Place: Wonderful body language and situation.

Feature Single
1st - Chris Russell, The Columbus Dispatch, "Falling Leaves"
2nd - Shari Lewis, The Columbus Dispatch, "Ballerina"
3rd - Eric Albrecht, The Columbus Dispatch, "Window Washer"

Judge’s comments - First Place: A wonderful life moment. Nice light, color and action—not to mention a really cute kid with a great expression. Second Place: Another sweet feature with great color and simple composition.
Third Place: An eye-catching display, although the judges thought this photograph could have been stronger if the washer was higher up in the lighter part of the windows.

Portrait
1st - Jonathan Quilter, The Columbus Dispatch , "Innovations"
2nd - Lisa DeJong, The Plain Dealer, "Gas Mask"
3rd - Marshall Gorby, Springfield News-Sun, "Toster Couple"

Judge's comments: First Place: Cute idea done well. Visually effective. Second Place: Very eye catching--really grabs the viewer. Judges thought that if there were eyes or some other indicator of life side the mask, this picture would have moved up in ranking. Third Place: Excellent picture that fits the story.

Sports
1st - Phil Masturzo, Akron Beacon Journal, "Soccer Players"
2nd - Phil Masturzo, Akron Beacon Journal, "Footballers"
3rd - Andrea Kjerrumgaard, This Week Newspapers, "Tennis player"

Judge’s comments - First Place: Terrific, clean peak action. Second Place: Explicit action/reaction picture that concisely tells a story. Third Place: Tangible emotion… this picture would have benefited from a tighter crop.

Feature Picture Story
1st - Fred Squillante, The Columbus Dispatch, “Flu Shots"
2nd - Neal C. Lauron, The Columbus Dispatch, "Rescue Drill"
3rd - Scott Shaw, The Plain Dealer, "Homecoming"

Judge’s comments - The judges all agreed that all the entries were more a collection of pictures than picture stories.Still we thought those from the first place entry were most compelling.

JUDGES: From the Orange County Register in Santa Ana, California, Staff Photographers: Mike Goulding, Jebb Harris, Mindy Schauer, and Leonard Ortiz

Winning images

Spot News
1st - Tom Dodge, The Columbus Dispatach, "Fire Investigator Comforts"
2nd - Marshall Gorby, Springfield New-Sun, "Boy Stuck in Tree"
3rd - Marshall Gorby, Springfield New-Sun, "Van accident"

Judges comments - First: A clear choice or first place. Great emotion and place setting in same photo. Ran entirely too small. Second: A “be there” moment of an unusual event. Not everyday that a boy gets stuck in a tree. Way to be on the scanner? Third: Photo needed cropped from the bottom and a little off the left to make it read a little quicker. The emotion on the driver is way to hard to find.

The month overall: The clips were pretty strong. It was rather easy to edit through the groups of pictures in each category and eventually pick the winners. Sports was rather close to judge and portrait was a long discussion on which should win between the holiday fashion and football portrait and then the dancers made there way into the mix. Feature Multiple: the first and second place were well shot, but the rest really lacked in vision and detail. We enjoyed judging, but we might suggest going digital soon to help speed up the process and paper work. Thanks.

General News
1st - Eric Albrecht, The Columbus Dispatch, “Demolition News Conference”
2nd - Jonathan Quilter, The Columbus Dispatch, “H1N1 Flu Shot”
3rd - Lorrie Cecil, ThisWeek Newspapers,“Levy Reaction”
HM - Barbara Perenic, Springfield News Sun, “Drummer on head”

Judge’s comments”  - First: Showed a little bit of courage to cover this event from a different angle/distance. Adds information about the event and gives the readers a since of place and a glimpse of the area to be demolished. Second: Great composition and a newsy topic. Got lucky with the distraught kid and family. Third: Composition and technical quality were average but the moment kept it in third place.

Feature Single
1st - Eric Albrecht, The Columbus Dispatch,“Holy Shadow”
2nd - Lynn Ischay, The Plain Dealer, “Kite Rainbow”
3rd - Chris Russell, The Columbus Dispatch, “Rowing Boat With Flags”
HM - Eric Albrecht, The Columbus Dispatch,“Serving Food”
HM - Eric Albrecht, The Columbus Dispatch, “Still in the Hunt”

Judge’s Comments - First: Graphic shadow to light ratio and good composition of the priests walking by. Second: Interesting painting like photo of an interesting man flying 50 kites. Third: Colorful and graphic this photo worked well, but we wished the rowers were a little further to the left of the image to be perfect. HM: Clean moment of a chef helping a child cut her food. They eyes really make this picture. HM: We liked seeing this image, but we just didn’t think the photographer worked with the crop correctly. Maybe not shooting it so wide?

Portrait
1st - Lisa DeJong, The Plain Dealer, “Holiday Fashion”
2nd - Jeff Hinckley, The Columbus Dispatch, “Dance group shot”
3rd - Phil Masturzo, Akron Beacon Journal, “Football”

Judges Comments: First: The lighting was well done and the color of the background and dress worked well together. The model seemed a little stiff in her position though. Second: Took the time to pose the dancers and the light fell perfectly on all of their faces. Nice use of natural light or even better use of strobes. Couldn’t tell for sure. Third: Picture was strong, but the lighting was missing some key/rim light to help pop him out from the background. Also, if the helmet was in the frame we felt that it needed to be lit a bit better.

Sports
1st - Kyle Robertson, The Columbus Dispatch, “Soccer Celebration”
2nd - Kyle Robertson, The Columbus Dispatch,“Bare Chest Hockey”
3rd - Jonathan Quilter, The Columbus Dispatch, “Soccer Dejection”
HM - Phil Masturzo, Akron Beacon Journal, “Soccer Action”

Judge’s comments - First: Great reaction photo of the jubilant fans and players celebrating a big win. A similar photo in the category didn’t make the cut because it was a little too loose and we felt that the one that won had better cropping and facial expression. Second: Great find from a routine hockey game. These two kids looked like they were having a blast. The image would have been first if it had been cropped tighter on the left and right. Probably crop to the metal spacers on the left and right of the window with the boys. You don’t need all the action to understand what is going on. Third: Nice moment from the end of the game. Ran to small. HM: Clean action. Wish we could see the girls face on the left to make it better.

Feature Picture Story
1st - Jonathan Quilter, The Columbus Dispatch, “H1N1 Clinics/shots” - 11/4
2nd - Chris Russell, The Columbus Dispatch, “One With the Water” - 11/22
3rd - Lorrie Cecil, This Week Newspapers, “Veteran’s trip to DC” - 11/5

Judge’s comments - First: Excellent images in both first and second place. We felt that first place did a better job of telling a timely story and was well shot. There was great visual pacing and great details. Second: This was a good series of photos with great detail shots that maybe could have lost a couple of images to make it a stronger package. Third: This package was the best of what was left. Not to be harsh, but it won because we liked one image that was a tender moment between a veteran and a volunteer. It should have been the dominant image.

JUDGES: From the The Herald-Times, Bloomington, IN: Chris Howell, Senior photojournalist, Jeremy Hogan, photojournalist, Monty Howell, photojournalist

Winning images

Spot News
1st - Marshall Gorby,Springfield News-Sun,“Overturned Semi”
2nd - Bill Lackey, Springfield News-Sun, “Barn Fire”
3rd - Scott Heckel, The Repository,“Mother”
HM - Bill Lackey, Springfield News-Sun,“Car into Building”

Judges comments: The overturned semi was the strongest of the photos. Cudos for the effort of our HM photo to get the image from inside the building that the car crashed into.

General News
1st - Eric Albrecht, The Columbus Dispatch, “Not Trespassing”
2nd - Jonathan Quilter, The Columbus Dispatch, “Cat Well-Being”
3rd - Kyle Robertson, The Columbus Dispatch, “Homicide Survivor”
HM - Barbara J. Perenic, Springfield News-Sun,“Save Our Y”

Judges comments: The trespassing photo was a great general news photo. Second and Third place photos were also well done giving us a chance to debate the strengths of both images. We felt our honorable mention photo of the Save our Y was well thought out.

Portrait
1st - Neal C. Lauron, The Columbus Dispatch, “Vietnam veteran”
2nd - Eric Albrecht, The Columbus Dispatch, “Nite Owl”
3rd - Chris Russell, The Columbus Dispatch, “College Try”
HM - Neal C. Lauron, The Columbus Dispatch, “Vietnam Veteran”

Judges comments: The honorable mention was for the longest time the first place image but we dropped it down due to a cut line that did not go with photo. Our new first place turned out to be a photo by the same photographer and was a great portrait idea. All photos that placed in the category were well lit.

Feature Single
1st - Chris Russell, The Columbus Dispatch,“Dog power”
2nd - Jeff Hinkley, The Columbus Dispatch,“Don’t Look Now”
3rd - Marshall Gorby, Springfield News-Sun, “H1N1 Shot”
HM - Marshall Groby, Springfield News-Sun, “Monarchs in Space”
HM - Jeff Hinkley, The Columbus Dispatch,“Rapt Attention”

Judges comments: A very large category with the top three easily outpacing the rest of the field. Third place had a great expression of an older lady getting a swine flu shot.

Sports
1st - Phil Masturzo, Akron Beacon Journal,“Second Place”
2nd - Tracy Boulian, The Plain Dealer, “Incomplete Pass”
3rd - Phil Masturzo, Akron Beacon Journal, “Mascot comforts”

Judges comments: The first-place image was a great story telling moment of soccer players losing a championship game. The second place was a nice action moment. We loved the humor with the mascot comforting the losing soccer player, but thought it would have been a stronger photo if it had been cropped vertically.

Picture Story
1st - Fred Squillante, The Columbus Dispatch, “Blind Band”
2nd - Kyle Robertson, The Columbus Dispatch,“Welcome Home”
3rd - Jonathan Quilter, The Columbus Dispatch, “Soup & Blessing”
HM - Neal C. Lauron, The Columbus Dispatch, “Hilliard Davidson”

Judges comments: The story on the blind band was well done. Strong photos great storytelling images. Second place had several strong photos, but a couple images that should not have been included, however the photographer would have placed in the general news with the soldier kissing his son. Third place was a Christmas play produced in prison. One image from the honorable mention Hilliard Davidson game would have place in the sports category.

4th qtr Illustration
1st - Neal C. Lauron, The Columbus Dispatch, “Rose Bowl Hall of Fame”
2nd - Neal C. Lauron, The Columbus Dispatch, “WWII Veteran”
3rd - Chris Russell, The Columbus Dispatch, “Main Course”

Judges comments: a small category

JUDGES: Clip were judged by photographers from the photo staffs of the Albany Democrat-Herald and Corvallis Gazette-Times in Oregon.

Final standings 2009

1st - Marshall Gorby, Springfield News-Sun - 934
2nd - Eric Albrecht, The Columbus Disptch - 850
3rd - Chris Russell, The Columbus Dispatch - 732
4th - Neal C. Lauron, The Columbus Dispatch - 644
5th - Jonathan Quilter, The Columbus Dispatch - 608
6th - Fred Squillante, The Columbus Dispatch - 600
7th - Bill Lackey, Springfield News-Sun - 524
8th - Tom Dodge, The Columbus, Dispatch - 504
9th - Lisa DeJong, The Plain Dealer - 500
10th - Jeff Hinckley, The Columbus Dispatch - 394
11th - Phil Masturzo, Akron Beacon Journal - 392
12th - Barbara Perenic, Springfield News-Sun - 354
13th - Shari Lewis, The Columbus Dispatch - 292
         - Kyle Robertson, The Columbus Dispatch - 292
15th - Tracy Boulian, The Plain Dealer -274
16th - Kyle Lanzer, Sun Newspapers - 250
17th - Andy Morrison, The Blade - 230
18th - Chuck Humel - The Chronicle Telegram - 172
           Lorrie Cecil, ThisWeek Newspapers - 172
20th - Scott Shaw, The Plain Dealer - 152
21st - Peggy Turbett, The Plain Dealer - 148
22nd - David Rea, ThisWeek Newspapers - 134
23rd - Tim Norman, ThisWeek Newspapers - 112
24th - Adam Cairns, ThisWeek Newspapers - 104
25th - Lynn Ischay, The Plain Dealer - 100
26th - Paul Tople, Akron Beacon Journal - 94
27th - Andrea Kjerrumgaard, ThisWeek Newspapers - 90
28th - Scott Heckel, The Repository - 84
29th - Karen Schiely, Akron Beacon Journal - 82
30th - Leonardo Carrizo, The Columbus Dispatch - 80
31st - Ed Suba Jr, Akron Beacon Journal - 54
32nd - Dave Zapotosky, The Blade - 52
33rd - Doral Chenoweth III, The Columbus Dispatch - 42
34th - Patricia Schaeffer, The (Lisbon) Morning Journal - 34
35th - Marvin Fong, The Plain Dealer - 28
36th - Chuck Crow , The Plain Dealer - 14