SCNPA.org http://www.scnpa.org The online home of the South Carolina News Photographers Association. Tue, 13 May 2008 18:38:12 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5 en March 2008 Clip Results http://www.scnpa.org/2008/05/13/march-2008-clip-results/ http://www.scnpa.org/2008/05/13/march-2008-clip-results/#comments Tue, 13 May 2008 18:26:44 +0000 SCNPA Admin http://www.scnpa.org/?p=24 SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "March 2008 Clip Results", url: "http://www.scnpa.org/2008/05/13/march-2008-clip-results/" });]]> Congratulations to the March 2008, clip contest winners. We are still waiting on the results of the February contest and will have them posted as soon as we get them.
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Spot News
1st: Gerry Melendez-The State – Tornado Damage
2nd: Sefton Ipock-Anderson Independent-Mail – School bus accident
3rd: Nathan Gray-Anderson Independent-Mail – Fire

The first place entry was a clear winner because it
had good emotion in the foreground and a story-telling
background. Second place had good emotion but the
context was more difficult to determine. Third place
was hard to decide but we chose to reward the
photographer for getting to the fire quickly and
capturing a lot of flames.

General News
1st: Sefton Ipock-Anderson Independent-Mail – Vietnam Wall
2nd: Heidi Heilbrunn-Greenville News – Antiwar candlelight vigil
3rd: Nathan Gray Anderson Independent-Mail – Scots-Irish Festival

Most of the photos entered in the category should have
been entered in the Features category in our
opinion. First place was a clean, easy-to-read photo
with some good emotion. Second place had a nice
graphic quality. We liked the third place photo a lot
even though it didn’t seem to be a general news
photo. However, it is a great feature photo and we
thought it deserved recognition.

Feature Single
1st: Nathan Gray- Anderson Independent-Mail – Dog Splash
2nd: Heidi Heilbrunn-Greenville News – Umbrella
3rd: Ken Ruinard-Anderson Independent-Mail – Skateboarders

The first and second place photos are nice moments
that everyone can identify with. Third place had some
good action and faces, but one judge thought it was
cropped too loose.

Sports
1st: Rebecca Ducker-The Morning News – Basketball Dejection
2nd: Gerry Melendez-The State– Baseball catch
3rd: Ken Ruinard-The Anderson Independent-Mail – NC Basketball jube

The emotion of the first place photo outweighed its
technical problems. Second place was the best of all
the peak action photos. Third place is a good
basketball jubilation shot composed well with lots of
good faces.

Portrait
1st: Randall Hill-Sun News – McCain baby
2nd: Ken Ruinard -Anderson Independent-Mail – Ten Dollar Tip
3rd: Ken Ruinard -Anderson Independent-Mail – Dog

First place was very funny and cute. Second place was
a good real moment. Third place was clever. There
was some discussion about the purpose of this
category. Was it meant to reward good portraiture or
a more loosely defined type of “portrait”? The actual
“real” setup and lit portraits were not as good as the
found moments.

Illustration
1st: Lindsay Semple-The State – Presidential food
2nd: Sefton Ipcok - Anderson Independent-Mail– Pancakes
3rd: Rebecca Ducker- The Morning News – Dog bath

There were only four entries in this quarterly
category.

Feature Multiple
1st: Gerry Melendez-The State – Skating Rink
2nd: Ken Ruinard- Anderson Independent-Mail – Fragile X Syndrome
3rd – Sefton Ipock- Anderson Independent-Mail– Firefighter funeral

First place was the clear winner. It had lots of
variety and moments. Second and third place were the
best of the rest.

Standings (These standings are only for the January and march contests as we have not received the results from the February contest yet.)

1. Gerry Melendez-The State-304 points
2. Sefton Ipock-Anderson Independent-Mail-254 points
3. Ken Ruinard- Anderson Independent-Mail- 224 points
4. Nathan Gray- Anderson Independent-Mail- 204 points
5. Randall Hill- Sun News- 124 points
6. Angie Kershner-114 points
7. Rebecca Ducker-Morning News-84 points
8. Heidi Heilbrunn- Greenville News- 82 points
9. Lindsay Simple- The State- 54 points
10. Grace Beham- Post and Courier- 34 points
11. Tom Priddy- 4 points
Tracy Glantz- The State-4 points
12. Jeff Blake-The State-2 points
Ken Osbourne-Greenville News-2 points

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]]> http://www.scnpa.org/2008/05/13/march-2008-clip-results/feed/ Get your Think Tank gear while you can! http://www.scnpa.org/2008/03/21/get-your-think-tank-gear-while-you-can/ http://www.scnpa.org/2008/03/21/get-your-think-tank-gear-while-you-can/#comments Fri, 21 Mar 2008 21:16:21 +0000 Chip http://www.scnpa.org/2008/03/21/get-your-think-tank-gear-while-you-can/ SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Get your Think Tank gear while you can!", url: "http://www.scnpa.org/2008/03/21/get-your-think-tank-gear-while-you-can/" });]]> SCNPA has been accepted into Think Tank Photo’s Camera Club Program.  Your club’s special code is CC-141.

You can enter this code right now by clicking here to see how the system works and you and your members can begin ordering.

Soon you will receive a program membership card with your unique code printed on it.  We will distribute these to you ASAP.  It’s a wonderful way for you to order the bags you need while supporting your organization.

If your order exceeds $50, you will receive for free, one of several bags of your choosing with the order.

Three times a year we will run reports on all of the orders placed by SCNPA through this special program and send a 20% commission check to the name and address you provided on the application form.

Thank you for participating in this program.  We look forward to supporting
your efforts.

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]]> http://www.scnpa.org/2008/03/21/get-your-think-tank-gear-while-you-can/feed/ January 2008 Clip Results http://www.scnpa.org/2008/03/03/january-2008-clip-results/ http://www.scnpa.org/2008/03/03/january-2008-clip-results/#comments Mon, 03 Mar 2008 20:17:57 +0000 SCNPA Admin http://www.scnpa.org/2008/03/03/january-2008-clip-results/ SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "January 2008 Clip Results", url: "http://www.scnpa.org/2008/03/03/january-2008-clip-results/" });]]> Thanks to Mark Gormus, Dean Hoffmeyer, Eva Russo, Bruce Parker and Clem Britt of the Richmond Times Dispatch in Richmond, VA for judging our clips.

Don’t for get you have until March 10th to send in February’s clips. Only have received two entries so far. Just a reminder to take out all identifiers in the file info. No name of publication, city, etc.

Gerry Melendez of The State racked up the most points
in January with 162 points. Congrats.

Spot News
1st Place-Ken Ruinard Anderson Independent-Mail-01ohltg01
comments: Nice moment. We all liked it.

2nd Place-Sefton Ipock-Anderson Independent-Mail-01asdfg02
comments: Emotion captured very well

3rd Place-Randall Hill-Myrtle Beach Sun News-01mahrl01
comments: Nice attention to light

General News
1st place-Gerry Melendez-The State-02galmh03
comments: good moments from the campaign trail

2nd place-Angine Kershner-Florence News-02zebra05
comments: good visual seeing and use of color

3rd place-Angie Kershner-Florence News-02zebra04
comments: everyday assignment handled well

Feature
1st place-Sefton Ipock-Anderson Independent-Mail-03asdfg02
comments: our favorite all around

2nd place-Nathan Gray-Anderson Independent-Mail-03qwert03
comments: some visual thinking going on here. might have been cleaner with a crop

3rd place-Gerry Melendez-The State-03galmh01
comments: We’ve seen this before, but this one is still nice

Sports (not a very strong category according to judges)
1st place-Nathan Gray-Anderson Independent-Mail-04qwert02
comments: Nice face and fairly clean

2nd place-Angie Kershner-Florence News-04zebra01
comments: On camera flash and basketball should not mix, in our humble opinion. Otherwise this would be a clear first place.

3rd place-Gerry Melendez-The State-04galmh02
comments: the best of what was left

Multiple
1st place-Gerry Melendez-The State-12galmh01
comments: Far and away the most striking group of photos

2nd place-Randall Hill-Mrytle Beach Sun News-12mahrl01
comments: Please Please Please edit a little bit more. A few images here add nothing to the rest of the group

3rd place-12ekarg01-Grace Beahm-Charleston Post and Courier
comments: A couple nice, thoughtful images, but each picture often says the same thing as the others.

Current Standings
1st…….Gerry Melendez-The State-162 points
2nd……Angie Kershner-Florence News-112 points
3rd.(tie)Sefton Ipock-Anderson Independent-Mail-92 points
Nathan Gray-Anderson Independent-Mail-92 points
4th……Randall Hill-Myrtle Beach Sun News-72 points
5th……Ken Ruinard-Anderson Independent-Mail-52 points
6th……Grace Beahm-Charleston Post and Courier-32 points
7th…..Lindsey Simple-The State-2 points
Rebecca Ducker-Florence News-2 points
Tom Priddy-2 points

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]]> http://www.scnpa.org/2008/03/03/january-2008-clip-results/feed/ Clip contest entries for March http://www.scnpa.org/2008/02/27/clip-contest-entries-for-march/ http://www.scnpa.org/2008/02/27/clip-contest-entries-for-march/#comments Wed, 27 Feb 2008 16:58:00 +0000 Chip http://www.scnpa.org/2008/02/27/clip-contest-entries-for-march/ SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Clip contest entries for March", url: "http://www.scnpa.org/2008/02/27/clip-contest-entries-for-march/" });]]> February is almost over and that means its time to start thinking about clips.

Just a reminder that they will be due on the 10th of March.

That should give everyone plenty of time to gather their clips and submit them. And if they were published online, it counts!

We had a good number of people enter January, but I would like to see more so get everyone on your staff to enter.

January is being judged by the Richmond Times-Dispatch in Richmond, VA and we should be getting the results back soon.

Take Care,

Nathan Gray

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]]> http://www.scnpa.org/2008/02/27/clip-contest-entries-for-march/feed/ What can we do to help you? http://www.scnpa.org/2008/02/20/what-can-we-do-to-help-you/ http://www.scnpa.org/2008/02/20/what-can-we-do-to-help-you/#comments Wed, 20 Feb 2008 21:21:52 +0000 Chip http://www.scnpa.org/2008/02/20/what-can-we-do-to-help-you/ SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "What can we do to help you?", url: "http://www.scnpa.org/2008/02/20/what-can-we-do-to-help-you/" });]]> The best thing about our new site is that it’s a two-way street for information. Our site last year was very limited in it’s scope. While it was nice and built in flash, it was limited in the ways that you could interact with the data and with people.

I should know, I built the site with the help of Brett Flashnick.

At our paper right now, we’re having bi-weekly roundtable discussions on new technology for our photojournalist. So far this has included recording audio and using Audacity to edit the sound. Pretty soon we’ll discuss how to effectively use Soundslides.

When I received a recent email about our next discussion I started thinking, would anyone in our organization like to have access to this information as well?

Is this something you would be interested in?

So as we move through the new year, and continue to grow, what can we do on our site to help you out and grow as a photojournalist?

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]]> http://www.scnpa.org/2008/02/20/what-can-we-do-to-help-you/feed/ I’m SCNPA and so can you! http://www.scnpa.org/2008/02/15/im-scnpa-and-so-can-you/ http://www.scnpa.org/2008/02/15/im-scnpa-and-so-can-you/#comments Fri, 15 Feb 2008 19:25:03 +0000 Chip http://www.scnpa.org/2008/02/15/im-scnpa-and-so-can-you/ SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "I’m SCNPA and so can you!", url: "http://www.scnpa.org/2008/02/15/im-scnpa-and-so-can-you/" });]]> Over the years, SCNPA has become one of the most valuable organizations that I’m a part of.

You’ve probably already heard a coach, professor or parent tell you “You’ll only get out what you put into it” and SCNPA is the same way. Our organization depends on each and every member to contribute their unique skills to help keep the it alive and running.

With all of the talk about what I call “newsdoom” it’s hard not to put things like our group on the back burner, but I’m making a plea that everyone takes a more active roll in our group and in their newsroomIt doesn’t matter if you’re a staff of one, or a staff of 12, there’s no reason why every photojournalist in S.C. isn’t a member of our organization. It’s times like these that we need each other more than ever.

The walls surrounding the newspaper industry might be crumbling (literally) but it’s time that we continue building and strengthening the walls of our organization. We need to continue to foster great documentary images and welcome newcomers from other papers and help them reach their full potential.

Do you remember when you were first starting out as a photojournalist at a newspaper? How great would it have been to have someone from a professional organization reach out and offer to help you out and get your feet wet?

When I first realized that I wanted to be a photographer, I was at a college that had a school of Art, but not a school of photography. I had to take classes and learn on my own, and at the time, I was the only person interested in learning digital photography, because I knew that it would be the future of our industry.

Not long after graduating, I was hired at the Lancaster News, a tri-weekly newspaper in the panhandle of S.C. One day, at work, there was a postcard on my desk from Tracy Glantz, asking me to join the SCNPA. I couldn’t believe that there was a professional organization and they wanted me to be a part of it. How cool was this?

Folley

SCNPA was the greatest thing that helped me advance professionally. Being the only shooter at a newspaper was tough because I had no one to bounce ideas off of and get feedback from, other than non photo folks, (and we all know how that turns out!)

So these are my pleas for you this year.

Help someone else out.

A lot of us have been in the game for years and some of us take our organization for granted. For us that don’t it shows. They’re winning awards and taking home huge ugly trophies. If you’re at a large daily paper, appoint someone who can be in your in house clip contest person that can collect entries and submit them for your whole paper.

If you know a photographer who’s a professional shooter and they’re not a part of our organization, call them up and ask them to join, then call five of your friends and tell them to call the same person and ask them to join.

Go out and be creative.

It’s times like these that we want to crawl in our protective shell and only come out for regular assignments. But if you go out and do some personal vision work and want to display it, let us know and we’ll post here and we can all discuss it.

Get techno-logical.

Do you have a website? Are you promoting yourself? Do you have a blog? If you don’t I’m sure that one of your friends can help you set one up. It’s simple and it’s free. We just installed this new Wordpress blog that you’re reading right now and while it’s hosted on Brett’s site, there are free options out there.

Go to blogger.com and sign up for a free account. All you need is a Google username and password which you can also sign up to get free Gmail! Use all of these free tools to help connect to other shooters. Are you on Facebook? We we are and you should be too. Look us up in the group section and be sure to join it. All of this technology is out there, but it’s up to you to take advantage of it.

Chip Oglesby

2008 SCNPA Webmaster

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]]> http://www.scnpa.org/2008/02/15/im-scnpa-and-so-can-you/feed/ Moving forward by leaps and bounds. http://www.scnpa.org/2008/02/13/moving-in-leaps-and-bounds/ http://www.scnpa.org/2008/02/13/moving-in-leaps-and-bounds/#comments Thu, 14 Feb 2008 03:05:06 +0000 SCNPA Admin http://www.scnpa.org/2008/02/13/moving-in-leaps-and-bounds/ SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Moving forward by leaps and bounds.", url: "http://www.scnpa.org/2008/02/13/moving-in-leaps-and-bounds/" });]]> Ok, I got a little impatient tonight and I decided to go ahead and take our new home in cyberspace online. There is no need to run around in a complete state of panic if you are needing to look at some photos, or find some previously stowed piece of information, the previous flash site is still available at the following URL. Just point your browsers to http://www.scnpa.org/07_archive or check out some of the links we have posted in the right hand column to get your pixel fix. This new site will continue to grow, and as it does your contributions will become an integral part of that growth. I look forward to hearing any suggestions you may have to offer.

Cheers,
Brett Flashnick
scnpa.org - admin

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]]> http://www.scnpa.org/2008/02/13/moving-in-leaps-and-bounds/feed/ Welcome and Congrats! http://www.scnpa.org/2008/02/13/welcome-and-congrats/ http://www.scnpa.org/2008/02/13/welcome-and-congrats/#comments Thu, 14 Feb 2008 00:46:04 +0000 Gerry http://www.scnpa.org/blog/2008/02/13/welcome-and-congrats/ SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Welcome and Congrats!", url: "http://www.scnpa.org/2008/02/13/welcome-and-congrats/" });]]> Congratulations to everyone on a successful 2007!
Heaven From HomeThere are many things to get excited about as an SCNPA member for 2008.

For one, the 2009 conference will be held in Charlotte in conjunction with the Southern Short Course in News Photography. Details will be ironed out throughout the year so stay tuned.

The Southern Short Course is America’s longest-running photojournalism seminar. To celebrate its 60th anniversary SCNPA and NCPPA (the other Carolina) havebeen invited to participate and as of now, will be sharing judges with the short course for their respective contests.

Not only will we have the opportunity to showcase South Carolina’s outstanding photography but we will have the added benefits of taking part in one of the year’s premier seminars.

We need you!

We need to make SCNPA a stronger voice and resource for South Carolina photographers. This organization has been kept afloat by a great group of committed individuals.

Now is the time to take the lead and become more proactive this year in participation and recruitment of new members. If you have any ideas on how to make this organization better don’t hesitate to email me or any of the officers.

A new revamped website is under construction. This one will be interactive with the ability to post videos, discussions, training tools, mini workshops, links, etc. and Chip Oglesby and Brett Flashnick have been hard at work to make it a place to come to on the web.

I’m excited about the possibilities to interact with all of you, bounce ideas and learn from each other.

The site will also showcase members websites so if you have one and want to share it, please email Chip ( webmaster at scnpa dawt org)

Enter the clip contest!

It’s a great way to see what others are doing throughout the year and be inspired. Plus, somebody has to give Sefton and Ken a run for their money.

Again, as a reminder, you may enter photos published on your newspaper’s website in addition to those which made print.

That’s pretty much it for now.

Again, thanks to everyone in Anderson for a great weekend. Thanks to everyone that has been committed to SCNPA over the years.

I’m looking forward to seeing great work from everyone in 2008.

Best,
Gerry Melendez
2008 SCNPA President

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]]> http://www.scnpa.org/2008/02/13/welcome-and-congrats/feed/ Hello world! http://www.scnpa.org/2008/02/12/hello-world/ http://www.scnpa.org/2008/02/12/hello-world/#comments Wed, 13 Feb 2008 02:05:20 +0000 SCNPA Admin http://www.scnpa.org/blog/?p=1 SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Hello world!", url: "http://www.scnpa.org/2008/02/12/hello-world/" });]]> Testing, testing… 1, 2, 3… is this thing on? Ok everyone welcome to the new SCNPA ExecuBlog 2000. In the next few days I will be getting the word out to everyone about this little spot in cyberspace, and making some cosmetic enhancements. Hopefully this will work for our needs better than the existing system. I hope you all had a great time at the conference in Anderson this past weekend, sorry I couldn’t make it. Check back often, and I’ll see you around.

Cheers,
Brett Flashnick
SCNPA.org - admin

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