James Neiss Takes Top Honors in Photo Contest

Grand Prize Winner and

1st Place – Spot News

James Neiss,

Niagara Gazette

Niagara Falls, N.Y.

James Neiss of the Niagara Gazette in Niagara Falls, N.Y., has been awarded top honors in SNPA's 2012 Photo Contest.The Niagara Falls paper is published by Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc., based in Montgomery, Ala.

Neiss was recognized with first-place honors in the spot news category, as well as the overall Grand Prize for a photo depicting the efforts of emergency responders who tried to rescue a man who fell through the icy waters of a lake. The man died trying to rescue one of his dogs. Judges commented on the tension shown in the expressions of the rescuers, as well as on the presence of the dead man's dog, which was holding the man's gloves in his mouth.

James Neiss

Grand Prize Winner

The SNPA Photo Contest recognizes and rewards excellence in newspaper photography. As the Grand Prize winner, Neiss receives a $1,000 prize and an engraved award.

Judges said of this photo: "The dramatic scene unfolding in its simplicity is poignant and draws the reader's attention to details that make this a great news photograph. The stretched out firefighter, the owner's glove in the mouth of a sad dog, even the body language of the rescue team itself, with water splashing in the foreground and police looking on, make this a very complicated and three-dimensional photo."

Runner-Up and

1st Place – Sports

Lauren Carroll

Winston-Salem Journal

Winston-Salem, N.C.

Another judge said: "The spot news photo is No. 1. Hands down! The glove in the one dog's mouth – that just broke my heart."

The first-place sports photo shot by Lauren Carroll of the Winston-Salem (N.C.) Journal was recognized with runner-up status. Judges were captured by the football player running over a bystander. They said it captures the height of a sports action photo, along with a very unusual scene as the player runs over a sideline bystander. The young girl clutching her stuffed animal as she is hit allows this dramatic photo to have even more impact. Judges also commented on the picture at another level – on the common practice of loading sidelines with non-essential personnel. They said this photo illustrates that this is a bad idea, in general.

Judges said there were many, many great images in the contest this year. One judge commented: "What made one stand out more than another was often due to a 'surprise' element, for example, the dog holding the glove, and in sports, the winning image was tight and sharp, but had the little girl holding her stuffed animal. I think it will be rare to have a winning image if it doesn't have that something extra. It needs the three Ss: Subject, Situation AND Surprise. This is especially true for sports. Improvements in cameras and lenses have leveled the field as far as getting a good, stop action sports moment."

First-place in feature photography went to Arthur Lauck of The Advocate, Baton Rouge, La. (see photo to the left)

Top honors in the video category were awarded to Gary Cosby Jr. of The Decatur Daily, Decatur, Ala. Cosby's video tells the story of a man who survived two EF5-level tornadoes that destroyed his home 37 years apart in Limestone County, Ala. (view the video)

To view all of the contest winners and read judges' comments, click here.