Best Spot News Photo
Sponsored by Canon Canada Inc.
Class 3011 - circ. up to 3999

Judge's Comments

Wow! Small circulation newspapers are no longer taking a back seat to their larger circulation cousins when it comes to image quality and reproduction. There still seems to be confusion about what constitutes news, however. Spot news photography is supposed to capture the unanticipated and the unplanned. Mock disasters, controlled burn fires other scheduled events, do not, in and of themselves, meet the criteria for spot news photos. Neither is there any journalistic merit in publishing a “gotcha photo” just because it was snapped. If there is no context, it is just a sophomoric invasion of privacy to publish it.

When 30 of 48 entries are of fires and the aftermath of car accidents, it’s going to take more than lots of flame or wreckage to elevate an entry. There must be drama, usually expressed by the human element.

Third prize winner, Adam Goring of the Banff (AB) Crag & Canyon captured just such drama in the aftermath of an accident. This photo is well cropped. Nothing draws attention away from the emotions captured on the faces of the central characters in the photo. It’s an accident shot that places readers at the scene and makes them feel the moment.

Second place goes to Pam Doyle of the Canmore (AB) Leader for capturing at-the- scene efforts to rescue a young man, injured in a fall. The figures in the image are well composed and each face tells a piece of the harrowing tale. No need to read a cutline to know what happened here.

First place honours, however, go to Taber (AB) Times photographer Cody Todd for his shot of the guns-drawn arrest of a car theft suspect. There were many prettier photos in this category, but none that describe the essence of photojournalism as well. This is spot news photography that captured a major news event as it happened. Top marks for news value here, and isn’t that what it’s all about?