And the ABSOLUTE WORST PHOTO OF THE YEAR is: Jason Olson, Deseret News – CommuterLink Presser.
A press conference. White guy in a suit, weakly gesturing with his hands. Cluster of TV mics to one side. And really, when you think about it, the majority of the photo is little more than an image of an image. (And a boring image, at that.) I can categorically declare that this is one of the worst photographs I’ve ever encountered. Why, I actually fell asleep — twice — just looking at the photo. Bad, bad photog!

Judge – Mark Saal

THIRD RUNNER-UP: Rick Egan, Salt Lake Tribune – Bowling Queen.
I’m not really sure you can ever define a portrait of an elderly woman in a bowling alley as a “worst.” The photographer may not have liked the assignment, but frankly, I’m strangely drawn to this intriguing photo. And the brightly colored bowling balls add just the right touch.

SECOND RUNNER-UP: Trent Nelson, Salt Lake Tribune – Closed for Lease.
OK, granted, an assignment to shoot the exterior of a closed-up restaurant doesn’t sound like Pulitzer Prize-winning material, but again, the photog made the best of a laughable situation. I’m particularly impressed with the use of the “Closed for lease” message and the gray skies surrounding the sign. Very moody. like a Russian novel. If I ever need a mug shot of a building, I’ll know where to turn.

FIRST RUNNER-UP: Brian Nicholson, Standard-Examiner – Chicken Dance.
As Frank Barone would say: “Holy crap!” This is not merely one really bad photograph, but FIVE really bad photographs! If not for the fact that this woman actually demonstrates the five steps of the Chicken Dance, this series of images would have no redeeming qualities whatsoever. But as it is, I was able to learn the dance, so I can’t possibly name this the worst of the worst.

First Place: Michael Brandy, Deseret News – The long and the short of it. Utah Jazz center and owner enter the arena. Neither mug the camera, neither smile. There’s a strange absurdity to this because you know the person on the right is our of place on the court.

Second Place: Steve Griffin, Salt Lake Tribune – Empathy Belly. The eighth grader shows little empathy as he squeezes the breasts while the teacher is totally serious in the message she’s trying to convey to 13-year-olds. Juxtaposition of the differing actions and the very adolescent behavior of
the student make this a very close second. Background helps.

Third Place: Steve Griffin, Salt Lake Tribune – The rules of the bathroom. That’s one crowded bathroom.

No other places awarded among the remaining 11 entries.

What’s funny is absurdity in everyday activity, not people playing to the
camera, not wearing silly hats. See Elliott Erwitt.

Hope this is helpful.

Alan Berner
Seattle Washington
206.5108205

1: Eli Lucero, Herald-Journal Marriage Ill – This is a clean execution and it effectively communicates the concept.

2: Francisco Kjolseth, Salt Lake Tribune Endangered Minds – There is a lot of borrowed interest in this image, but it is still an interesting visual.

3: Troy Boman, Transcript-Bulletin Checkers – Very interesting graphic and statement. I like the hints of background information.

HM: Robert Casey, Freelance for The Ensign Scripture Before – Interesting visual and execution, but not very effective in communicating the concept.

Judged by Glen Wexler, Freelance for Time Magazine

First Place: Ravell Call, Deseret News – Jacobs Chair Rainbow – the photographer was lucky to find a rainbow, but then used
skill, exposure and technique to elevate the image into something really
nice.

Second Place: Laura Seitz, Deseret News – Dog Walk – a pictorial beauty with a nice little moment wrapped up in it.

Third Place: Rick Egan, Salt Lake Tribune – Wind Cycles – an unusual frame, well seen and exposed by the photographer. you can feel the wind and sand when you look at the image.

Honorable Mention: Rick Egan, Salt Lake Tribune – Single Heart – balloon snaps have been done a lot, but this one is particularly nice. a stunning frame really.

Comments:

The category was very nice overall and it was difficult to make a final
cut.

Laura Rauch
Associated Press
Las Vegas

1st – Baby Bliss – Leah Hogsten, Salt Lake Tribune

2nd – Brenn Hill – Whitney Curtis, Standard-Examiner

3rd – Harmonica Man – Alan Murray, Standard-Examiner

Baby Bliss took first because it felt spontaneous, moody, and more
unconventional than the rest. Most of the portraits here where incredibly
straight forward and just plain boring. Others border on being hokey. In a
portrait category, ones that rise to the top typically exude personality,
and have a hint of a moment in an otherwise controlled situation.

Brenn Hill took second because I felt like it was the best of all the lit
stuff I saw. When you’re shooting a portrait you have control over
everything — specifically the lighting and the background. The Brenn Hill
shot made the best use of both of those things.

Harmonica man is just plain quirky, and deserving of a third place. Would
have loved to have seen it shot a little wider though and with a cleaner
background, just to exaggerate the hilarity of the situation.

Melissa Lyttle. St. Petersburg Times

There were lots of nice jub images but none that totally came together. Many of them had great moments but were either under or over lensed or the angle was off. I was surprised at how few images were entered in this category.

1st:
7-Freestyle Snowmobile – Grayson West, Park City Park Record
I usually don’t go for setup sports, X-game type events, but the different sized circular lights, I’m assuming some are from snow and some from sun-flare, give this image nice depth and sets it apart from the other images in this category. The riders body language adds to the laid-back dreamy feeling.

2nd:
07-Triathlon Swimmers – Whitney Curtis, Standard-Examiner
The second place winner used the harsh light and turned it into a nice silhouette with good composition.

3rd:
07-Austin Shuffle – Whitney Curtis, Standard-Examiner
Third place is a nice wacky moment. It’s not the best technically but the moment, namely Austin’s face and body-language, overcomes it’s negative aspects.

4th:
07-Victory – Trent Nelson, Salt Lake Tribune
I liked the seeing in this picture. And it would have placed higher if the crowd had been more raucous, obviously not the fault of the photographer, but again, a great way to approach a fan feature. I think a minor crop, cropping out the blue space on the top left of the frame would have helped as well.

Nhat V. Meyer
San Jose Mercury-News

1ST PLACE: Jaren Wilkey, BYU – 06-Robison (67.95): BYU’s Nathan Robison runs in the indoor mile at the 2004 MWC Indoor Track and Field Championships

This photo stood out amongst a large group of mainly hard action shots due to the technical fashion in which it was executed. A lot of the other photos this was going against had busy and distracting backgrounds, but by using a flash w/a rear curtain synch, the photographer did a great job getting the subjects sharp, and the background blurred. Great feel to the photo, the photographer took a chance on this one and it paid off.

2nd Place: Robert Johnson, Standard-Examiner – 06-Flying Bull (85.95): Bull rider James White of Houston, Texas gets bucked off Bo-Talkin during the Professional Bull Riders Utah Classic at the Golden Spike Events Center in Ogden 7/09/04.

A peak action photo that captures a great moment during a PBR competition. Keeps me guessing if the guy got crushed in the next frame. This photo would have probably received first place if the entire bull was present in the photo, but it still works without it.

3rd Place: Jason Olson, Deseret News – 06 – Baseball Dive (65.95): Lone Peak outfielder Jaron Gallagher (2) reaches out to try to snag a pop fly as his teammate Pat Bailey comes in to help as Timpanogos faces Lone Peak at Lone Peak High School in Highland Tuesday, March 23, 2004.

Clean photo, good moment, great body position on the diving outfielder. Solid photo.

Honorable Mention: Scott G. Winterton, Deseret News – 06-Hold on (25.95): T.J. Atkin dismounts his horse as he competes in the Calf Roping portion of the Utah State Rodeo Finals in Heber Utah Saturday June 12, 2004.

I like the rider’s face and the ropes going between him and the horse, especially the one in his mouth. I’m not bothered that the horse’s head is missing, but this photo may have done better if the horizon was straight. Good moment, sharp, nice light.

Well here are my picks for the sports action category, plus a short explanation as to why I chose them. Thanks for considering me as a judge, and please don’t hesitate to contact me for future contests.

Best Regards,
Donald Miralle
Senior Staff photographer
gettyimages sport

While I was very impressed with the creativity of these groups of images, I like to see a strong narrative in a photo essay.

Judge – Julie Denesha

Picture Editor

The Washington Times

A strong group of images with excellent light.  While all of the images were obviously from the same event, I did feel that the story element of the essay was not its strong point.

Judge – Julie Denesha

Picture Editor

The Washington Times

Of the photo essays in this category, I felt this group of images worked together best to tell a story.

Judge – Julie Denesha

Picture Editor

The Washington Times

1): Trent Nelson, Salt Lake Tribune – leaping shadow–a beautiful job of seeing that invokes the feel of lazy, carefree day of play–you can almost feel the warmth of the sunshine and hear the sounds of the outdoors.

2): Trent Nelson, Salt Lake Tribune – silent prayer–compositionally interesting, with plenty to look at—you can spend some time in this photo, with all the interesting lines and angles–It is Escher-like

3): Scott Winterton, Deseret News – sled dog–hilarious fun and a great moment–stood out from among a lot of nice peak action sledding/skateboarding/snowboarding moments because of the angle of the sled and, of course, it’s canine passenger

As a whole there were many very nice “slice of life” moments that I am sure your publications were happy to have as possible “lede art” on a daily basis…Be encouraged that you all are doing a fine job visually, and I hope you continue to work as hard on these “daily” features as you would on something of a more national or international nature…These type of photos probably mean more to your local readers than anything taken out of the country–It is our duty to make these type of photos as excellent as possible, to reflect and report the daily life that we all experience…Keep up the good work!

God bless

Louis DeLuca
Senior Staff Photographer
Dallas Morning News

1st Matthew Hatfield, Standard-Examiner – Locks of Love: Photographer went beyond just seeing a moment and recording it. Photographer searched out a different perspective and brought a photograph to the readers, not a snapshot.

2nd Trent Nelson, Salt Lake Tribune – Honoring the Dead: A very close second, where the photographer found a colorful and different perspective.

3rd Robert Johnson, Standard-Examiner – Racing Governor: The quintescential General News moment where a goofy scheduled event brought a funny moment to the readers, This was the kind of photo that someone reading the morning paper would call over another family member and say “Hey, look at this picture of the Governor!”

HM August Miller, Deseret News – Winter Graduation: Going beyond the standard graduation moment.

HM Rick Egan, Salt Lake Tribune – Baseball Death: Strong color and shape brought our eyes to this
moment

Congrats to the winners!

David Handschuh
New York Daily News

1st – Drowning – Brian Nicholson, Standard-Examiner

2nd – Fire – Alan Murray, Standard-Examiner

3rd – shooter’s arrest – Colin Braley, Standard-Examiner

4th – rollover – Robert Johnson, Standard-Examiner

First was first because it was the most dramatic moment of the bunch, was well composed and told the story of the drowning straight away. A tragic moment for all those involved. There were several sort of scenic spot news photos – one depicting a wall of fire, another of a shoe laying on a rain soaked street at night – but none captured my attention quite like the brush fire photo that is runner up. Generally, I think spot news photos should concentrate on the human emotions of the moment rather than the scene but in the case of this brush fire it was a great way to tell the story. I liked the thin line of fire running along the bottom of the frame and the plane seen behind veil of smoke. Nice composition. Third was being in the right place at the right time and coming back with a good picture from it as well. More than a few of the photographs entered in the category showed me that the photographer was on the scene but didn’t get close enough to the action. Third place put me right in the action. Fourth was another great job of getting to the moment but I was disappointed a bit that the photographer didn’t bring me closer to the action. The photo felt a bit distant and the composition was not considered as much as i thought it should have been.

Rick Loomis
Los Angeles Times

2) Francisco Kjolseth, Salt Lake Tribune – KZ Nice collection of singles and illustrations. The photographer paid attention to details in storytelling. Nice editing from beginning to end. Well controlled picture making skills. Could be more risk taking.

1) Rick Egan, Salt Lake Tribune – ZZ Despite missing a story from the portfolio showed strength of composition and unique perspective with tightly edited portfolio. Each entry could stand alone as a strong visual. The photographer’s statement in pictures carried it’s unique voice.

And the winner is: Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News – single image , the floaters at camp

It’s a very sweet Americana moment. Congers up the lazy, innocent days of
camp. Photographer incorporated all the basics, strong composition and
controlling the mood despite shooting at the worst time of day for light.

There were a few single images that were in contention but the photo essays
were not focused enough to overtake a single entry.

Hope this is what you need,
Best
Janet Reeves
Rocky Mountain News