2008 Better Newspaper Contest — News Photo
Division 2 Dailies 7,001 to 99,999
Division 3 Dailies 7,000 or Less
Division 4 Semiweeklies 4,001 or More
Division 5 Semiweeklies 4,000 or Less
Division 6 Large Weeklies
Division 7 Medium Large Weeklies
Division 8 Medium Weeklies
Division 9 Small Medium Weeklies
Division 10 Small Weeklies
News Photo
View Winners' Slideshow
1. Laredo Morning Times — by Andy Ellis. “Playing it safe” and “The last call” Nice moment. Tight angle and lens selection makes the moment work. You can really feel for this family.
2. Odessa American — by Cindeka Nealy. “Badge no. 422” Nice play of image. Nephew’s face is striking. “Funeral” This photo is not as strong, which dropped the entry to second place.
3. The Beaumont Enterprise — by Dave Ryan. “Funeral” and “Car up wire” Use of nice angles to tell the stories helped this entry in placing in the top three. Good caption information.
4. Port Arthur News — by Mike Tobias. “Goodbye to hero” and “PAISD protest” Captions in photos hurt this entry. Protest needed a tighter crop.
1. Vernon Daily Record — by Mike Chacanaca. “Comforting mother” Takes courage to shoot this. Tough. “Flag for soldier” Well done, very solemn.
2. Seguin Gazette-Enterprise — “Flood” by Michael Cary. Great subject, baby is even looking. Do we need full frontal of fireman? “Paint war” by Melissa Johnson. Veronica’s hands make this with expression.
3. The River Cities Daily Tribune, Marble Falls — “Close call kitty” by Chris Porter. The cat’s one arm makes this work, little too much background. “Stampede” by Daniel Clifton. Nice colors and highlights with movement.
4. Alice Echo News Journal — by Ofelia Garcia Hunter. “Manhunt” Brave soul capturing this, surprisingly not much emotion. “Car wreck” Good angle, several faces captured places this.
1. Beeville Bee-Picayune — “Time to chime” by Jason Collins. Good emphasis on maintenance man working on clock face. “Storm cleanup” by Gary Kent. Nice tight shot of storm cleanup, catches reader’s eye.
2. Hood County News — by Mary Vinson. “Dark invasion” Good presentation. Shooting form a lower angle with more emphasis on crickets could help. “Rescue” Best photo of the pair submitted. Could have been cropped tighter on the right.
3. Wise County Messenger — by Joe Duty. “Flood” Nice presentation, could have been cropped tighter. “Teen killed” Good photo, but should have been used larger.
4. El Campo Leader-News — by Shannon Crabtree. “Final respects” Nice, tight crop. “Comfort in chaos” Composition was good, color outstanding.
1. The Jack County Herald — by Kim Gibby. “Angels of mercy” Nice moment. Firefighters concern for the crash victim tells the story. Good caption details. “Tactical training”
2. The Monitor, Mabank — by Pearl Cantrell. “Officers shot” Photographer was on scene fast to get shots of officers being transported in an air ambulance. Both photos could have used a tighter crop. “Community mourns”
3. Lamesa Press Reporter — by Russel Skiles. “Attic work” Good angle of the firefighter looking out of the house while fighting this fire. Photo is nicely framed by the charred frame. “Rescue”
4. The Highlander, Marble Falls — by Fred Afflerbach. “Blaze” Good color reproduction display of images. Good rack appeal. “Brush fires”
1. Pleasanton Express — “Rollover” by J. Garcia. Top photo in entries. Really liked how the image had key moment throughout the frame. Very nice. “4-year-old hit” by Gerald Black.
2. Fredericksburg Standard Radio Post — “Fire” by Anna Migeon. “Water rescue” by Danny Hirt. Photographer was on the scene quick and used tight crop to bring readers to the key action.
3. Bandera Bulletin — “Flood” by Jessica Hawley Jerome. Good low angle helps show the power of this flood. “Bucked” by James Taylor. Caption needed more detail. Was the cowboy injured?
4. Port Aransas South Jetty — “Tough competition” by Dan Parker. Good season ending moment. Nice to see that the photographer waited for the medals to be passed out to capture the story. “Fire aftermath” by Phil Reynolds.
Division 7 Medium Large Weeklies
1. Duncanville Today — by David Goodspeed. “Car fire” Best of the two. Smoke surrounding firefighter makes the moment. Photographer was quick to react to this spot news. “Piano concert”
2. The Cameron Herald — “Car in river” by Candace E. Velvin. Best of two photos in entry. Good timing and use of lens selection.“Fire” by Kerri Kelm.
3. The Big Bend Sentinel — by Fred Covarrubias Jr. “Overturned vehicle” Best of the two entries. Skid marks and driver’s dejection tell the story. Nice moment. “Wreck”
4. The Progress, Three Rivers — “Drug arrest” by Rita Arnst. A tighter crop would have pushed this entry up to third place. Best photo of the two entries. “National Guard” by Sally Rodriguez.
1. Lake Country Sun, Graford — “Flood” by Peg Howeth. Concise shaving of flood level with good color element. “Fire” by Mark Engebretson. Impressive image composition, balance of light and dark areas. Firefighter and water spray are dynamic elements and perhaps should be emphasized a bit more. Fantastic photo!
2. The Dublin Citizen — by Mac McKinnon. “Daily rains” I like these compositions and variety. But the main image really shows the scale of the flood. The people add a lot of significance. Wish there were info on where images were taken. “Storm” This set not as dynamite but some good compositions.
3. The Canadian Record — by Laurie Ezzell Brown. “Tornado” New perspective, strong image. Puts the reader in the scene and lets their eyes wander about. “Creek damage” Not clear exactly what type of work being done, but good supporting image.
4. Cedar Hill Today — by Steve Snyder. “Banned books” Books are a tough subject to photograph in an interesting way, but this is a good image. “Dogwood” Like how the leaves draw the eye to the center of interest. Photo engages the reader.
Division 9 Small Medium Weeklies
1. The Eldorado Success — by J.L. Mankin. “Free at last” Good action but poor cropping, the roof in the top of the photo is distracting. “Head-on collision” Nice choice to focus on hat and windshield, but again poor cropping. I’d like to see all of the hat.
2. Frankston Citizen — by J. Tom Graham. “Fire” and “Grads” No comments.
3. The Albany News — “Graduation” by Donnie Lucas. Nice moment. “Creek tubing” by Sheryl Spore. Could be cropped tighter.
4. Crowley Star — “Fire” by Bitty Reilly. “Construction” by Tom Beesley. Nice composition, at least something different from most photos in category.
1. Keene Star — by Wayne Tomblinson. “Wreck” Nice moment. Did you move further to your right at all to get face of little girl? “Fire” Great flames, combined with appropriate action.
2. Alvarado Star — by Michael Rayburn. “Collision” and “Water rescue” No comments.
3. Big Lake Wildcat — by Marla Daugherty. “Total loss” and “Driver trapped” No comments.
4. Wallis News Review — “Motorcycle fire” by Joanie Griffin. Nice shot, well done to capture this moment. “Press conference” by Johnny Griffin. Not much action for a news photo.
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