2016 ONPA  Annual Contest Winners

George A. Smallsreed, Jr. Photographer of the Year (Small Market)
1st – Jessica Phelps / Newark Advocate

George A. Smallsreed, Jr. Photographer of the Year (Large Market)
1st – Meg Vogel / Cincinnati Enquirer
2nd – Kyle Robertson / The Columbus Dispatch
3rd – Andy Morrison/ The (Toledo) Blade
Award of Excellence – Gus Chan / The Plain Dealer

Chuck Scott Student Photographer of the Year Award
1st – Andrea Noall, Kent State University
2nd – Eslah Attar, Kent State University

James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award
1st – Jessica Phelps / Newark Advocate, “The View From Phoenix”
2nd – Meg Vogel / Cincinnati Enquirer, “Finding Home”
3rd – Andy Morrison / The (Toledo) Blade, “Sister Act”
Award of Excellence Lisa DeJong / The Plain Dealer, “Hough Riots Couldn’t Destroy a Neighborhood”

Larry Fullerton Photojournalism Scholarship
1st -Alex Driehaus, Ohio University
2nd – Sarah Holm, Ohio University

Best of Show
Andy Morrison / The (Toledo) Blade – “Cow & Diann”

Monthly Clip Contest Photographer of the Year
1st – Kyle Robertson, The Columbus Dispatch
2nd – Andy Morrison, The (Toledo) Blade
3rd – Barbara Perenic, The Columbus Dispatch

Photography Staff of the Year (Large Market)
1st – The Columbus Dispatch
2nd – Cincinnati Enquirer
3rd – The Plain Dealer

Photography Staff of the Year (Small Market)
1st – Newark Advocate
2nd – The (Youngstown Vindicator)

Campaign 2016
1st – Sam Greene / Cincinnati Enquirer, “Trump”
2nd – Brooke LaValley / The Columbus Dispatch , “Salesman”
3rd – Nikos Frazier / The (Youngstown) Vindicator, “Eyes”
Award of Excellence – Patricia Schaeffer / The (Lisbon) Morning Journal, “A Roar for Pence”
Award of Excellence – Brooke LaValley / The Columbus Dispatch, “Election Night”
Award of Excellence – Brooke LaValley / The Columbus Dispatch, “Winners”

Feature
1st – Kassi Jackson / Kent State University, “Mike Wray”
2nd – Jeremy Wadsworth / The (Toledo) Blade, “Gorillas”
3rd – Peggy Turbett / Freelance, “Team Tango”
Award of Excellence – Eric Albrecht / The Columbus Dispatch, “Safe Ride”
Award of Excellence – Meg Vogel / Cincinnati Enquirer, “Rollover”
Award of Excellence – Andy Morrison / The (Toledo) Blade, “Party Girls”

Feature Picture Story
1st – Andy Morrison / The (Toledo) Blade, “Cow & Diann”
2nd – Jessica Phelps / Newark Advocate, “Redefining Tom”
3rd – Andrea Noall / Kent State University, “A Hand to Hold”
Award of Excellence – Eslah Attar / Kent State Univeristy, “Finding Their Footing”
Award of Excellence – Meg Vogel / Cincinnati Enquirer, John Kasich”

General News
1st – Mike Cardew / Akron Beacon Journal, “Headstone”
2nd – Kyle Robertson / The Columbus Dispatch, “Machete “
3rd – Jonathan Quilter / The Columbus Dispatch, “Sentencing”
Award of Excellence – Barbara J. Perenic / The Columbus Dispatch, “Bieber Fans”
Award of Excellence – Scott Heckel / The (Canton) Repository, “Remembering Their Friend”

Issue Illustration
1st – Andrea Levy / The Plain Dealer, “Under Pressuer”
2nd – Andrea Levy / The Plain Dealer, “Fall Music”
3rd – Andrea Levy / The Plain Dealer, “A Taste for Everything”
Award of Excellence – Andrea Levy / American City Business Journals, “Mentoring Makes a Difference”

News Picture Story
1st – Carrie Cochran / Cincinnati Enquirer, “Rabbit Hash”
Award of Excellence – Meg Vogel / Cincinnati Enquirer, “RNC”

Pictorial 
1st – Leah Klafczynski / Akron Beacon Journal, “After the Storm”
2nd – Adam Cairns / The Columbus Dispatch, “John Glenn”
3rd – Brooke LaValley / The Columbus Dispatch, “Night Game”
Award of Excellence – Eric Albrecht / The Columbus Dispatch, “Super Moon Dots The I”
Award of Excellence – Tyler Stabile / Ohio University, “Owl”

Portrait Personality
1st – Lisa DeJong / The Plain Dealer, “Safety First”
2nd – Meg Vogel / Cincinnati Enquirer, “Mother”
3rd – Carrie Cochran / Cincinnati Enquirer, “Opening Day”
Award of Excellence – Jessica Phelps / Newark Advocate, “George Gordon”
Award of Excellence – Fred Squillante / The Columbus Dispatch, “Missing Her Son”
Award of Excellence – Eslah Attar / Kent State University, “Meditation”

Product Illustration
1st – Barbara J. Perenic / The Columbus Dispatch, “Sundae”
2nd – Brooke LaValley / The Columbus Dispatch, “Green Pea Rosemary Soup”
3rd – Kyle Robertson / The Columbus Dispatch, “PadThai”

Ron Kuntz Sports Photographer of the Year
1st – Jessica Phelps / Newark Advocate
2nd – Joshua A. Bickel / ThisWeek Community News
3rd – Kyle Robertson / The Columbus Dispatch

Sports Action
1st – Barbara J. Perenic / The Columbus Dispatch, “Hitting the Wall”
2nd – Kyle Robertson / The Columbus Dispatch, “Touchdown”
3rd – David Dermer / Freelance, “Leaping Interception”
Award of Excellence – Kyle Robertson / The Columbus Dispatch, “Flip”
Award of Excellence – Clint Datchuk / Kent State University, “Rope”
Award of Excellence – Tyler Stabile / Ohio University, “Bunker Shot”
Award of Excellence – Kyle Robertson / The Columbus Dispatch, “Jump”

Sports Feature 
1st – Jessica Phelps / Newark Advocate, “Final Disappointment”
2nd – Kyle Robertson / The Columbus Dispatch, “Game Winner”
3rd – Aaron Self / Kent State University, “MAC Championship”
Award of Excellence – Clint Datchuk / Kent State University, “Oh No”
Award of Excellence – Chuck Crow / The Plain Dealer, “Victory Leap”
Award of Excellence – Brooke LaValley / The Columbus Dispatch, “Crash Walk”

Sports Picture Story
1st – Jessica Phelps, Newark ADvocate, “For the Love of the Game”
2nd – Gus Chan / The Plain Dealer, “Lebron James”
3rd – Joshua A. Bickel / ThisWeek Community News, “Ironman Ohio”

Spot News
1st – Robert K. Yosay / The (Youngstown) Vindicator, “Console”
2nd – Barbara J. Perenic / The Columbus Dispatch, “Consoled”
3rd – Kyle Robertson / The Columbus Dispatch, “Shooting “
Award of Excellence – Erin McLaughlin / Sandusky Register, “In a Ditch”

Team Picture Story
1st – The Columbus Dispatch, Tyre King”
Award of Excellence – The Columbus Dispatch, “John Glenn Remembered”

News Video
1st – Molly Corfman, The (Fremont) News-Messenger, “The Llittle Soldier”
2nd – Carrie Cochran, Cincinnati Enquirer, “In Pike County: ‘I always thought she’d be here’”
3rd – Meg Vogel, Cincinnati Enquirer, “Cincinnati Pride honors Orlando”

Judges comments: First – Great access, good interviews, this story tugs at the heart strings. Nice work for the fast turn around time. Second – Good interview, but I wanted more back story in this piece. (I realize that this story was probably an on-going topic in the community) but the text slides left me a little confused. The text slides could have also been left up slightly longer. Great use of varying shots in both the car and the cemetery. Nice Work ! Third – Great use of varying shots and angles, I think it would have been helpful if you saw the individuals talking at some point. I believe it would have moved the piece along and round out the video.

Sports Video
1st – Courtney Hergesheimer, The Columbus Dispatch, “High Divers”
2nd – Sam Greene, Cincinnati Enquirer, “Bengals Kevin Zeitler doubles down before OTAs”
3rd – Doral Chenoweth, The Columbus Dispatch,“Cheating Death: Athletic Director Survives Aneurysm”
Award of Exccellence – Kareem Elgazzar, Cincinnati Enquirer, “Being Andy Dalton”

Judges Comments: First – Unique story that kept interest the whole time. Love the varying angles from all over the fair. Nice Work! Second – : Good access, nice varying of angles. Nice storytelling of what its like in the offseason. Third – Touch story of this AD, who seems to be a very important person at this highschool. This person did a good job capturing real life interactions, so much so, I wanted MORE of him and less of the people talking about him. Award of Excellence – Nice access for the off season, the access felt a bit forced. Some different tighter detail shots and some varying angles and some sequencing would have elevated this piece. 

Feature Video
1st – Carrie Cochran, Cincinnati Enquirer, “Acid attack survivor’s goal is to redefine beauty”
2nd – Meg Vogel, Cincinnati Enquirer, “Finding Home: A 12-year-old boy’s search for home in the midst of war”
3rd – Courtney Hergesheimer, The Columbus Dispatch, “Nude Yoga”
Award of Excellence – Meg Vogel, Cincinnati Enquirer, “Teamsters protest broken pension promises at U.S. Capitol”

Judges comments: First – Wonderfully shot, tightly edited, great access. We loved this story. Second – Another nicely shot, tightly edited piece. A lot of vision and good execution. Third -Nicely done in a difficult-to-shoot setting. The photographer did a great job crafting their shots. Award of Excellence – This one had really nice moments and worked well, but wasn’t as tight as 1 and 2 or shot to the level of 3. The two stories within felt a little disjointed, but nice work overall. 

Team Video
1st – Carrie Cochran and Meg Vogel, Cincinnati Enquirer, “An anthem that unites us”
2nd – Meg Vogel, Cincinnati Enquirer, “Gov. John Kasich drops out of presidential race” – Participants: Chrissie Thompson, Carrie Cochran
3rd – Carrie Cochran and Liz Dufour, Cincinnati Enquirer, “Jillian and Ryan”
Award of Excellence – Carrie Cochran and Michael Killian, Cincinnati Enquirer, “In Pike County: ‘Hold your loved ones close’” – Participants: Amanda Rossmann, Meg Vogel, Sam Greene, Mike Nyerges, Liz Dufour, Patrick Reddy, Chris Graves.

Judges comments: First – This is a beautiful effort paying homage to a city’s sound. The photography, the score, the interviews were great. Second – This is a really great use of various types of media to help tell a story of a man. It is wonderfully crafted and well thought out. Third – A cute story that made us feel good. It was well told and subtle. Award of Excellence – Another good effort in using various media to tell a story. It wasn’t as high-level as no. 2 nor as well shot as no. 1, but very well done.

Contest Judges

News Video and Sports Video judged by Jessica Koscielniak, Video Journalist | The McClatchy Compan

Feature Video and Team Video judged by Aaron Ontiveroz (director of emerging media), Lindsay Pierce (staff videographer), John Sunderland (retired director of photography) – The Denver Post

Still categories judged by Tanner Curtis, photo editor at the New York Times; Pulitzer Prize-winning documentary and fine art photographer Preston Gannaway and Harry Walker former Director of Visuals at the Naples Daily News.