2004 Better Newspaper Contest — News Photo

News Photo

Division 2 Dailies 7,000 to 99,999

1st. Odessa American - "Keep the dream alive" by Cindeka Nealy. This is an excellent photo! It tells a great, human story. "A family's tears" by Gary Payne. The emotions are at a forefront in this photo. I love the hands over the woman's face with the cross.

2nd. Kerrville Daily Times, John Schmid - "War hero" Very good photo. Captures the somberness of such a tragic event. "Rig ignites" Great reproduction!

3rd. The Beaumont Enterprise - "Selfless action takes life" by Pete Churton. The arms wrapped around each other tells the whole story, but looking at the father's face gives you more. "Killer gets life" by Jennifer Reynolds. You can feel the emotions in this photo. Great use of space.

4th. The Facts, Clute, Todd Yates - "Clute blaze" Great shot of the family! The anguish in the boy's face is very moving. "Firefighters funeral" Excellent angle from up above.

Division 3 Dailies Les Than 7,000

1st. Texas City Sun, Dwight C. Andrews - "Claudette's visit" Tells a great, ironic story! "Negotiating traffic" Great photo.

2nd. The Huntsville Item, Richard Nira - "Crawford found guilty" This was a great photo of a man, sitting somberly while his family is clearly emotional behind him! Excellent photo. "Night-time roadwork" Great use of light and mood.

3rd. Waxahachie Daily Light - "Cement truck driver injured" by Rob Williams. Good composition. "Under arrest" by JoAnn Livingston. I loved the emotion on men's faces!

4th. The Terrell Tribune, Jo Anna Matejka - "Student protest" Composition is great! Photographer has a good eye! "I-20 memorial" The emotions in this photo tell a great story.

Division 4 Semiweeklies 4,001 or More

1st. Hood County News, Mary Vinson - "Firefighters in smoke field" Excellent fire photos. Shows exactly what is happening! Cutlines don't give too much detail, but photo tells the story. "Firefighters attack" Great photo. Love the silhouette.

2nd. Uvalde Leader-News - "Up in flames" by Wade Carpenter. Explosive photo gives human quality of snowman in front. "Cliff fall" by Diana Limones. Excellent photo! Great composition and detail.

3rd. The Bastrop Advertiser - "Fire" by Norman T. Heard. Voting reminder photo better than (arched) fire photo. "Rescue" by Dana Lachman. Great photo of boy and his rescuers.

4th. Wharton Journal-Spectator, Benjamin Sharp - "Lining them up" Interesting photo. "Flood rescue" This photo won you the prize! Great emotion and composition at the same time.

Division 5 Semiweeklies 4,000 or Less

1st. Lamesa Press-Reporter, Russel Skiles - "Mangled module hauler" Good photo. "Utility pole rescue" This one won first place for you. Excellent photo!

2nd. Breckenridge American, Don Treul - "Tanker trucks collide" Great photo! Close to placing first. "Slide" I love the kid's expression. Was more of a feature photo.

3rd. Andrews County News, Don Ingram - "Trailer-tractor blaze" Good photo. Captures the eye. "Awfully close call" Nice photo. Tells a story.

4th. Mansfield News-Mirror, Brigitte Cummings - "Back to school" The flow of this photo is excellent. "War ribbons" Great color and use of surroundings.

Division 6 Large Weeklies

1st. The River Cities Tribune, Marble Falls, Daniel Clifton - "Flaming car" Shocking shot! Excellent use of space! "Ford fire" Good composition.

2nd. The Cameron Herald, Mike Peck - "Helicopter rescue" Nice photo. "Garage fire" Good use of space.

3rd. The Wylie News - "Boat rescue" by Alicia White. Good color and use of space. "Flags" by Chad Engbrock. This was truly a vision I will always remember.

4th. Fredericksburg Standard/Radio Post - "Shed fire" by Terry Collier. "Auction" by Cathy Collier. Funny face!

Division 7 Medium Large Weeklies

1st. Clay County Leader, Phil Major - "Intense heat" On its own, this is the best photo in division 7; pathos, drama, recognizable citizens, framed beautifully. The foreground could be by a European old master. Great beautiful photo. Almost made me cry. "Church burns" High interest photo for the citizens of Clay County, but really is just a work-a-day composition. Photo #2 nearly canceled out all the power and glory of #1. Photo #1 is too great to consign to second place.

2nd. DeSoto Today - "Motorcycle mayhem" by David Goodspeed. Nice angle, good cutline. The paper does wonderful reproduction work. "Shooting" She is compelling, interesting, real, immediate. Good shot, pure emotion.

3rd. Rockwall County News, Michael Gresham - "Mock accident" High drama, dramatic layout (thanks, page designers). Arresting photo. Borderline looking too composed for "news" but I'll go along. "Fire" Another dramatic, well-composed shot. Great detail. Boring cutline.

4th. Mineola Monitor - "Traffic stop" by David Chenault. "Power hearing" by Gary Edwards. Beautifully composed, like a Rembrandt, really. Perfect shutter click, a truly wonderful shot. Great work.

Division 8 Medium Weeklies

1st. Hill Country News, Cedar Park - "Firefighter" By Stephanie Thompson. This shot of the firefighter is great! It really tells a story! "Collision" by Benton Reed. Great composition in this photograph.

2nd. Leader News, Lytle - "Glory, old and new" by Greg McReynolds. Striking photo. It really caught my eye. "Summer twister" by Shauna Lewis. Great composition and reproduction.

3rd. The Springtown Epigraph - "Safety lesson" by Vanessa Sanders. Love looking at the small children watching the firefighter. "Car crash victim" by Edwin Newton. Lots of movement without overbearing. Good job!

4th. The Farmersville Times - "Train wreck" by Matthew Riley. It's bright and very interesting just to look at! "Fire" by Autumn Barton. Explosive photo. Great detail!

Division 9 Small Medium Weeklies

1st. The Rosebud News, Brenda Allison - "Man pinned under tractor" Great photo of the excitement surrounding accident. "Fire" Explosive!

2nd. Palacios Beacon, Nick West - "Waves from Claudette" Nice photo of seawall. "Tower collapse" Great angles and composition.

3rd. Hansford County Reporter-Statesman - "Church roof collapse" by Harletta Carthel. Superior angle. "Storm damage" by Gary Smith. Great quality photo.

4th. The Ozona Stockman, Scotty Moore - "Fire truck rollover" Good angle and composition. It's very eye-catching. "Thunderstorm damage" Okay photo, needed some humans in it.

Division 10 Small Weeklies

1st. The Morton Tribune, Chris Woolam - "Work progress" Good photo, updating progress of major project. "Surf's up" Timely photo with good cutline.

2nd. Burnet County Citizens Gazette, Rick Espitia - "Football, oh boy" A great photo, fun for a change! "On to state" Says it all!

3rd. Van Banner, Treva Prater - "City work" Good photo. "Trained dogs" A good photo relating to life today.

4th. Joshua Star - "Car crash" by Darlene Moore. "Basketball" by Leslie Stewart. This is OK photo. Somewhat typical subject in sports!