2025 ONPA Annual Contest Winners
George A. Smallsreed, Jr. Photographer of the Year (Small Market)
1st place - Wesley Blackburn, Freelance
2nd place - Andrew Dolph, The Times-Reporter
3rd place - Bryant Billing, Dayton Daily News
George A. Smallsreed, Jr. Photographer of the Year (Large Market)
1st place - Jeremy Wadsworth, The Blade
2nd place - Addison Annis, The Blade
3rd place - Adam Cairns, The Columbus Dispatch
Award of Excellence - Kurt Steiss, The Blade
Chuck Scott Student Photographer of the Year Award
1st place - Ben Pennington, Ohio University
2nd place - HG Biggs, Ohio University
3rd place - Sandra Fu, Ohio State University
Larry Fullerton Photojournalism Scholarship
1st place - Ben Pennington, Ohio University
2nd - place - Ayiana Andrella, Ohio University
James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award
1st place - Loriene Perera, Ohio University, “From Diner to Destination”
2nd place - Kurt Steiss, The Blade, "Legacy of Luckey"
Best of Show
Jeremy Wadsworth, The Blade, “Kei’Mani”
Monthly Clip Contest Photographer of the Year
1st - Jeremy Wadsworth, The Blade
2nd - Andrew Dolph, Akron Beacon Journal
3rd - Kurt Steiss, The Blade
Feature
1st Place - Kurt Steiss, The Blade, "Splash Pad"
2nd Place - Adam Cairns, The Columbus Dispatch, "Poodle"
3rd Place - Thomas Fetcenko, The Chronicle Telegram, "Inflatables"
Award of Excellence - Rebecca Benson, The Blade, "Confetti"
Feature Picture Story
1st place - Ben Pennington, Ohio University, “Parahunter”
2nd place - Andrew Dolph, Akron Beacon Journal, “First Snow of Season”
3rd place - Claira Kimble, Ohio University, “In My Room”
Award of Excellence - Andrew Dolph, Akron Beacon Journal, “Crunch MAHA Moms”
General News
1st Place - Addison Annis, The Blade, "Victim"
2nd Place - Jeremy Wadsworth, The Blade, "Deer"
3rd Place - Kristin Bauer, The Chronicle Telegram, "Election Night"
Award of Excellence - Kurt Steiss, The Blade, "Memorial"
Award of Excellence - Frank Bowen IV, The Cincinnati Enquirer, "Ryan Hinton Funeral"
Illustration
1st Place - Andrew Dolph, The Times Reporter, "Mocktail"
2nd Place - Jeremy Wadsworth, The Blade, "Candied Cherries"
3rd Place - Andrew Dolph, The Times Reporter, "The Debutant"
News Picture Story
1st place - Jeremy Wadsworth, The Blade, “Kei’Mani”
2nd place - Phillip L. Kaplan, The Blade, “Kei'Mani Latigue”
3rd place - Wesley Blackburn, Freelance, “Soybean Tariffs”
Award of Excellence - Ben Pennington, Ohio University, “Brown University Shooting”
Pictorial
1st Place - Jeremy Wadsworth, The Blade, "Lunch"
2nd Place - Kurt Steiss, The Blade, "Rainbow Bird"
3rd Place - Adam Cairns, The Columbus Dispatch, "Fall Snow"
Award of Excellence - Adam Cairns, The Columbus Dispatch, "Sun Rainbow"
Portrait Personality
1st Place - Ben Pennington, Ohio University, "Pastor Brandon"
2nd Place - Adam Cairns, The Columbus Dispatch, "Paper Mill"
3rd Place - Phillip L. Kaplan, The Blade, "Trumpet"
Ron Kuntz Sports Photographer of the Year
1st place - Adam Cairns, The Columbus Dispatch
2nd place - Rebecca Benson, The Blade
3rd place - Jeff Lange, Akron Beacon Journal
Sports Action
1st Place - Sam Greene, The Cincinnati Enquirer, "LaPorta Flipped"
2nd Place - Rebecca Benson, The Blade, "Dive"
3rd Place - Phillip L. Kaplan, The Blade, "Shoulder Save"
Award of Excellence - Frank Bowen IV, The Cincinnati Enquirer, "Strike Out"
Sports Feature
1st Place - Jessica Phelps, Newark Advocate, "Halftime"
2nd Place - Addison Annis, The Blade, "Drills"
3rd Place - Sandra Fu, The Ohio State University, "Triumph"
Award of Excellence - Addison Annis, The Blade, "Win"
Award of Excellence - Kristin Bauer, AP, "FLAG Championships"
Sports Picture Story
1st place - Ben Pennington, Ohio University, “Like Champions”
2nd place - Adam Cairns, The Columbus Dispatch, “Ohio State Playoffs”
3rd place - Jeff Lange, Akron Beacon Journal, “Volleyball Under the Lights”
Award of Excellence - Addison Annis, The Blade, “Sidelines”
Spot News
1st Place - Jeremy Wadsworth, The Blade, "Cry"
2nd Place - Andrew Dolph, The Times Reporter, "Dog Road Fire"
3rd Place - Andrew Dolph, The Times Reporter, "Animal Rescue"
Award of Excellence - Bryant Billing, Dayton Daily News, "Flooding in Troy"
Multimedia entries judged by Seth Harrison
Feature Video
1st place - Phillip L. Kaplan, The Blade, “Tai Chi At the Metroparks”
Judge's comments: Well done feature video. Good transitions and use of b-roll. It got me interested in a subject I've never considered. Only slightly negative comment was that the audio didn't remain 100% clean throughout. Portions were a bit muffled. Not a big hindrance though.
News Video
1st place - Sam Greene, The Cincinnati Enquirer, “Ohio River Flooding”
Judge’s comments: Superior use of the drone to tell this news story. The selection of imagery really brought home the extent of the flooding. Additionally, all the imagery was wonderfully composed. A well told visual news story.
Sports Video
1st place - Sam Greene, The Cincinnati Enquirer, “Reds Pitchers and Catchers”
2nd place - Phillip L. Kaplan, The Blade, “Sound Play”
3rd place - Phillip L. Kaplan, The Blasé, “Snowman Shamans”
Judge’s comments: A strong category all around. The Pitchers and Catchers video was a quick, seldomly seen behind the scenes look at Spring Training. A couple of details stood out, especially the sound of spikes as the players walked on asphalt. A quick, but well executed video that any baseball fan would appreciate.
Both the "Have you Ever Seen" videos were well told visual stories of unusual subjects. I enjoyed seeing people so passionate about their quirky interests. My only quible would be the length of these videos. I hope I'm wrong, but I fear that the average viewer may not stay with these for the entire time. I think I would have preferred a tighter edit.
Documentary Video
1st place - Phillip L. Kaplan, The Blade, “Under the Helmet: Whitmer Panthers”
Judge’s comments - An extremely well produced video taking a deep dive into a high school football program, from training camp through first game of the season. The videographer took great care in every aspect of shooting and post-production, resulting in beautifully produced documentary.
Multimedia Photographer of the Year
1st place - Phillip L. Kaplan, The Blade
Judge’s comments: The videographer excels in all aspects of video storytelling. His shot choices and style of shooting are compelling, as is his use of b-roll, audio (always clean) and transitions. His post-production work creates a polished final product. The video titled "Cakewalkin' band bids adieu to longstanding member, spreads ashes at Packo's" was especially lovely. A charming story that was very simply told.
Contest judges
Seth Harrison
Briana Sanchez
Patrick Breen
Seth Harrison is a staff photographer for The Journal News/USA TODAY Network in the New York City area for going on 39 years. His body of work includes documenting the Sept. 11 attack on the World Trade Center, the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, several presidential elections, the mass shooting in Newtown, five World Series, the pandemic, and protests in New York City following the death of George Floyd. Most recently, he has covered unrest and protests following the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, followed by Israel’s response in Gaza, as well as protests over administration policies regarding immigrants.
Briana Sanchez, a visual journalist based in Boston, Massachusetts. Sanchez is currently a Photo Editor at the Boston Globe. Previously she was the Director of Photography at the Austin American-Statesman. She graduated from the University of Arizona with a bachelor's degree in journalism and is a Chips Quinn scholar. Sanchez spent the first few years of her career at daily newspapers in Minnesota and South Dakota. In 2019, she returned home to El Paso, Texas, where she worked as a photojournalist at the El Paso Times covering the border. She later shifted her career to photo editing at the Austin American-Statesman. She now lives in Boston and is part of the Globe’s photo editing team.
Patrick Breen is a staff photographer and videographer for the Arizona Republic. He is a winner of three Arizona Press Club’s Arizona Photographer of the Year and three AZPC’s Sports Photographer of the Year. His documentary work on high school sports has earned him three Southwest Regional Emmy awards. Over his 15-year career, he has prided himself on documenting all aspects of life in the American Southwest. When not shooting, he can be found on the basketball court trying to teach his six-year-old how to dribble with his left hand.
Photographers of the Year
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