2024 Q3 Singles
Khai Le
Quarter 3 judges, Josh Morgan and Nathan Howard
General News
First Place: We liked the interesting composition and complete caption information that gives us a clear idea of the story is.
Second Place: We liked that the photographer composed the image in a way that shows the people and place of where the beached whale is as opposed to just focusing on the cleanup. We do wish that the image was taken from a slightly higher perspective and/or just a little to the side so that vehicles in the background hauling the whale were separated from the girl’s head.
Third Place: We appreciate the different composition and comical detail of the bee that it makes it stand out from what could have been a typical campaign photograph.
Honorable Mention:
We liked the emotion in the frame and thought it was a strong photograph but we weren’t sure why they were hugging each other. We saw “Park Fire” in the keywords section of the metadata but thought that more information should have been provided in the caption itself.
Feature
First Place : This image left us asking a lot of questions and we really appreciated the detailed caption information provided. There is a lot going on with the birds that could have been distracting but the photographer did a good job of using that to their advantage to make a compelling photo.
Second Place : We like that this image manages to convey emotion even though it is taken from behind the subject. We do think that the image would have been more effective if the point of focus was on the hands. It looks like it is on the shirt.
Third place: Nicely framed but it feels like it could be cropped better
Honorable Mention: This is a nice frame but I am wanting more info so it wasn’t placed higher than HM.
Portrait
First Place: We liked the interesting perspective, good light and composition of this portrait. The caption information was detailed and told us a story which helped us understand why his image was taken.
Second Place: This was a really interesting way to take a portrait of this group of students. Great use of light. We do feel like the image was overexposed though and would have been better if their faces were exposed properly.
Third Place: We really liked the creative use of the magnifier and the photographer’s willingness to experiment. We do think that adding some additional lighting would help this photo a lot to give it more contrast and add more visual interest.
Honorable Mention: We liked the composition of this image and the detailed caption information. However, we think it would have been stronger if the photographer stopped down more so that the woman in the background was also in focus.
Pictoral
First Place: So many nice layers and the black and white is such a good touch. This could arguably be in the feature category.
Second Place: This is another example of a beautiful photo among destruction. Nicely done
Third Place: The composition is nice and deserved to be placed but it would have been better in nicer lighting not in the middle of the day.
Honorable Mention: This photo here was taken in nice lighting but there should be more human interest or wait for something to happen on the streets below and this would have escalated this image to a higher award.
Spot News
The Spot News Category was slim. There weren’t as many entries.
First Place: This one was easily picked as first because of the pure emotion the photographer captured.
Second Place: This photo had a feeling of urgency, and it was nice the photographer got right in there.
Third Place: The person in the center of this photo really makes it.
Entertainment
First Place: We appreciated the photographer recognizing what appears to be a flash burst in the frame, which gives the image more visual interest than it would have had otherwise.
Second Place:The photographer recognized a funny moment. The bright costume against the very dark background makes the image easy to read and understand.
Third Place: We like that the photographer worked the scene and tried to get a different perspective of the performance.
Honorable Mention: The lighting and timing on this is nice.
Sports Features
Sports Action
Really good Category and hard to narrow them down. Good peak action.
First Place: We thought this was an interesting way to photograph this Olympic event. It’s different but not so much that makes it hard to tell what’s happening.
Second Place: Nicely captured moment that we all saw way too much of during the world series. This photographer was ready to get that shot.
Third Place: We liked that the photographer effectively captured something that doesn’t happen very often. Every part of the frame is filled nicely and tells the story of this moment.
Honorable Mention 1: We liked the placement of the fencers in the lower third, making it a bit more interesting compositionally. The inclusion of the signage lets us know when/where this is taking place.
Honorable Mention 2: This one made us laugh and you can see “Paris 2024” on the ball. What a catch.