Jeremy Wadsworth wins fourth consecutive clip POY title

September – Feature – 1st place
A student walks through the shadows of the “Owens Rings”, suspended glass sculpture created by world-renowned artist Ray King of Philadelphia at the Owens Community College Center for Fine & Performing Arts in Perrysburg. (Jeremy Wadsworth / The Blade)

SAVE THE DATE: The 75th Annual ONPA Convention – a reunion and celebration, will be held June 19th and 20th, 2026, at the Nationwide Hotel & Conference Center, in Columbus. This will be a joint event between both the still and television divisions of the organization.

Annual contests will be judged virtually again, so look for information on that. Finally, it will also be an election year.

Please stay tuned as we finalize details and bring you more exciting information!

74th annual ONPA Convention recap

While the weather outside was not so delightful the vibe inside the 74th annual ONPA convention at the Spring Hollow Lodge in Westerville proved to be just what the doctor ordered.

Madeleine Hordinski and Craig Ruttle were this years speakers and are no strangers to the Buckeye state. If you missed the event you can read ONPA President Andrew Dolph’s thoughts on the day here.

Link to photo gallery 

Students Pearl Spurlock (left) Benjamin Pennington, and Loriene Perera, were in attendance during the 74th Annual ONPA Conference at the Spring Hollow Lodge, Saturday, April 5, 2025, in Westerville, OH. (Andrew Dolph)

ONPA Carson Award winner Skip Peterson dies

By Bob DeMay

If you’re a photo journalist or car enthusiast you lost a good friend today. Skip Peterson passed in his sleep last night leaving behind a host of friends and colleagues who mourn his passing. He was 73.

Skip was chief photographer at the Dayton Daily News for 25 years and retired after a 34-year career in 2006.

As a photojournalist his list of accomplishments is lengthy. He was the lead photographer and photo editor of the Dayton Daily News’ seven-part series Military Medicine; Unnecessary Danger, which won the Pulitzer Prize for national reporting in 1998. 

If you could think of a major sporting event, he covered it, from Super Bowls, World Series and the Olympics and was published in a host of national news and sports periodicals.  As an avid MG owner it should come as no surprise his favorite event was the Indianapolis 500. He posted historical photos and his favorite memories from the race regularly on social media.

Skip was also all about giving back to his profession. He played a major role in the growth of ONPA serving in roles of president and chairman of the board spanning an 18 year period. He also served as Region 4 director of NPPA and also served two terms as national secretary.

When Skip turned over the reins of chairman of the board to me in 1997 I said that it was like taking over for Johnny Carson. He did the job for so long and so well, he made it look easy and it wasn’t. He and close friend Mark Duncan had to balance listening to the old guard and satisfying the wants of a new generation of journalists. They did it well.

Skip was still serving ONPA and was instrumental working with the Dayton Foundation and the family and friends of Larry Fullerton to establish the Larry Fullerton Photojournalism scholarship which ONPA oversees. Fullerton was a long-time member of ONPA and both a photojournalist and assistant managing editor of the Hamilton Journal-News.

In 1987 Skip was the recipient of ONPA’s Carson Award, which is given for outstanding contribution to photojournalism and is considered the organization’s highest honor.

He might have been retired, but he still followed the news and often questioned and commented on the coverage of his local television news market. He pulled no punches. 

I spent quite a few evenings in the famous ONPA hospitality suite of days gone by with Skip. I think that Skip Peterson would not want us to mourn today, but to celebrate a life and cherish wonderful memories of a great friend and photojournalist. He wouldn’t mind, and probably encourage you to throw back a little bourbon to mark the occasion. 

Skip Peterson is survived by his wife, Jennifer, four children and four grandchildren.

Dayton Daily News obituary

Funeral home obituary

Adam Cairns and Bill Lackey are ONPA POYs for 2024