Still coming down from that annual ONPA high…

It’s a thrill every year to finally get to that first moment of the judging of our annual contest. When it gets quiet and the images made by our ONPA members take over the screen. The 3 judges settle in and start the tall task of choosing our best images.

Every year, at least one of the judges will comment about the high quality of work being done in Ohio. And although I have nothing to do with it, I start to feel like a proud Dad who wants to brag. It’s that moment that reminds me how lucky I am to get to bring all these inspirational people together and learn along side them.

Then the Enquirer – Cincinnati and Kentucky goes and wins a Pulitzer in part because of the outstanding video put together by their visual journalists. Just WOW. So proud of that team who has been consistently raising the bar in our video contest every year.

Thank you to our esteemed judges who graciously gave up their weekend and shared their outstanding work with us on Sunday.

If I could, I would start my career over as Sarah Ann Jump. She shared beautiful, storytelling images that show her natural compassion and thoughtfulness. Every single frame has intent and artistry.

Nancy Andrews is über talented, passionate and fearless. She’s applying all her skills to tell an important story: “Necessity or Threat: The Pipeline-Building Boom in Appalachia.” She is a true journalist.

Patrick Tehan has retired but you can hear in his voice how the love of this field and its people never leaves. He inspired us to push ourselves and follow our instincts while showing us so many wonderful portraits.

Sue Morrow may not even realize the legend that she is and the people she has touched over the years with her kindness and conviction. Her passion is unmistakeable and contagious. A quote from Victoria Goss, the subject of Sue’s documentary on the Last Chance Corral, sums up Sue and the goal for the rest of us “We are honor bound to do good with our lives.”

It was ONPA treasurer Kimberly Barth’s idea to surprise Marcy Nighswander with ONPA’s highest honor, the Robert S. Carson award. And surprise we did. The look on Marcy’s face when Terry Eiler started a slide show showing a black and white photo of a young Marcy was priceless. Marcy is well deserving of this award which recognizes special people in this business who have spent their career advancing the photojournalism profession. Thank you Terry for helping us honor Marcy!

I’d like to thank outgoing ONPA Board members Karl Kuntz and Barbara Perenic for their years of service to our organization. As I said during the seminar, these two have never needed to be on the board to be helpful to ONPA. They are both willing to do whatever is asked of them and do it well. Barb was especially impressive this past weekend as she handled all our social media posts, helped run the raffle, doted on our vendors and took important photos all while carrying an extra human who is due in August!

New board secretary, Pulitzer Prize-winning Sam Greene handled the live streaming of the judging and helped organize our portfolio reviews which had an impressive turnout. We’re excited to have Sam join the board along with new still vice president Katie Rausch, who was unfortunately stuck in Flint due to an ice storm after the wedding she and her husband were attending. We missed you Katie!

Joshua Bickel, now President of ONPA, did an excellent job running the contest and maintaining his professionalism while his portfolio was being considered for POY-Large Market. It was touch and go as his and Kyle Robertson’s work was being debated for first and second. Congrats Josh – he becomes the first person to win POY in both the large and small markets (which he won at ThisWeek Newspapers in 2013).

Thank you once again to “permanent” board member Bob DeMay. He keeps the website updated with results and photos throughout the judging (and throughout the year) but more importantly he answers all my dumb questions about how to run ONPA.

We had such an impressive showing in the contest by the students of Ohio University and Kent State. We want this to continue and hope to attract more student members. From now through August students can become a member for a one-time fee of $25 that will last them until they graduate. Starting Sept. 1 it will cost a one-time fee of $50. Entering the annual contest is free for students and so is the new Student Quarterly contest that is open right now!

Check out the rules here: http://onpa.org/rules/studentquarterly.pdf

The deadline for ONPA student members to enter the new contest is extended to April 30th for work done in the 1st Quarter (Jan-Mar) of this year. Work does not have to be published. There will be prizes at next year’s convention for those who do the best in this contest.

Thank you also to Mary Mannix of Canon for her presentation on Saturday night of the new technology and opportunities Canon is constantly providing its users. Canon has been our major sponsor for many years and once again provided free clean and checks for Canon gear and donated 3 cameras for our Still and TV POYs. Josh received a Canon 5D Mark IV kit and 4-time ONPA POY-Small Market winner Jessica Phelps received a Canon 7D kit.

Sony also came through for us as a new sponsor this year. They donated two cameras that were awarded to the Clip POY – Kyle Robertson and to the College POY – Erin Clark. Erin also received a new camera bag donated by Roberts Camera.

Midwest Photo made the trip to Athens on Sunday and showcased new gear and promoted their rental gear business. They also donated a $200 rental voucher that was awarded during our raffle.

THINK TANK PHOTO donated some awesome bags for our raffle and Camera Bits, Inc gave away a Photo Mechanic license. So cool!

I’m sure I’m forgetting something or someone, but rest assured every single one of you is important to the success of ONPA which in turn only exists to be important to YOU. Our mission is to continue supporting and encouraging our members to produce their best visual storytelling images and videos for the betterment of our communities and beyond.

We welcome your suggestions and feedback.

Comment on this post or send an email to onpaprez@gmail.com

Go to onpa.org to get info on all of our contests and follow us on social media to keep up with announcements and news:
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Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/onpa_1951

Thank you to those who made the trip to Athens, we truly appreciate your support! For those who missed the judging or want to watch it again, it’s broken up into 12 videos here: https://www.youtube.com/user/OhioNewsPhotographer Keep up the great work, Jonathan (your new Chairman of the Board)