Click on an image thumbnail to see the full image.

Photographer of the Year: C. Aluka Berry, The State

Runner Up: Gerry Melendez, The State

Third Runner Up:  Ken Ruinard, The Anderson Independent Mail

Spot News

First: “Blocked,” Ken Ruinard, The Anderson Independent Mail

Second: “Mustang,” Sefton Ipock, The Anderson Independent Mail

Third: “Shooting,” Nathan Gray, The Anderson Independent Mail

General News

First: “Greene Campaigns,” Anne McQuary, Freelance

Second: “Soldier Funeral,” Rebecca Ducker, The (Florence) Morning News

Third: White Dove,” Gerry Melendez, The State

HM: “Trails of child abuse,” Ken Ruinard, The Anderson Independent Mail

HM: “Viewing,” Gerry Melendez, The State

Feature

First: “Morning Smoke,” C. Aluka Berry, The State

Second: “A Kiss,” Gerry Melendez, The State

Third: “Innocence,” Gerry Melendez, The State

HM: “Fishing Pond,” C. Aluka Berry, The State

Sports Action

First: “Fear,” Gerry Melendez, The State

Second: “Tandem Surfing,” Grace Beahm, The Charleston Post and Courier

Third: “Shoeless Tackle,” Patrick Wright

Sports Feature

First: “Jedi Master,” Gerry Melendez, The State

Second: “Helping Hand, “ Ken Ruinard, The Anderson Independent Mail

Third: “Gamecocks Win,” Travis Bell, Travis Bell Photography

HM: “Belly Disruption,” Gerry Melendez, The State

HM: “Praying for a Championship,” Gerry Melendez, The State

Portrait

First: “Eerie,” Gerry Melendez, The State

Second: “Hate,” Rebecca Ducker, The (Florence) Morning News

Third: “Going Home,” C. Aluka Berry, The State

HM: “Off  To Work,” C. Aluka Berry, The State

Pictorial

First: “Citadel Wedding,” Travis Bell, Travis Bell Photography

Second: “Ride Home,”  C. Aluka Berry, The State

Third: “Festival Tepee” – C. Aluka Berry, The State

HM: “Fallen Peaches,” C. Aluka Berry, The State

HM: “Peace on the River,” Sefton Ipock, The Anderson Independent Mail

Illustration

First: “Palmetto Palate,” Kim Kim Foster, The State

Second: “Easter Sunday,” Kim Kim Foster, The State

Third: “Cinnamon Rolls,” Anne McQuary, Freelance

Picture Package

First: “Dixie Youth Baseball,” Gerry Melendez, The State

Second: “West Nile,” Gerry Melendez, The State

Third: “Service Dog Camp,” Anne McQuary, Freelance

HM: “Lake Baptism,” Sefton Ipock, The Anderson Independent Mail

News Picture Story/Essay -  first photo displayed only

First: “Honor Flight,” Nathan Gray, The Anderson Independent Mail

Second: “Honor Flight,” Heidi Heilbrunn, The Greenville News

Third: “Marine Dogs,” Anne McQuary, Freelance

Feature Story/Essay – first photo displayed only

First: “A Harvest Hoped For,” C. Aluka Berry, The State

Second: “Dr. Bob W. Todd,” Sam O’Keefe, The Greenwood Index Journal

Third: “D.I.V.A.”  Kim Kim Foster, The State

Sports Story/Essay - first photo displayed only

First: “Masters,” Gerry Melendez, The State

Second: “Champs,” Gerry Melendez, The State

Third: “Rodeo,” Nathan Gray, The Anderson Independent Mail

Multimedia – Click on story name to view

First: “Beauty From Ashes,” Ken Ruinard, The Anderson Independent Mail

Second: “Sign Language Church,” Ken Ruinard, The Anderson Independent Mail

Student Photographer of the Year

First: “Tough Reach,” Aaron Middeke, USC-Columbia

Second: “A Snowy Stroll,” Sarah Langdon, USC-Columbia

Third: “Gold Coast Surf,” Aaron Middeke, USC-Columbia

THANKS TO EVERYONE FOR A GREAT CONTEST!

Please note: Competition entries are due by midnight TONIGHT.

Corey Perrine is an award-winning photojournalist for the Augusta Chronicle in east central Ga. He is a graduate of Brigham Young University (Dec. 2003) and has also worked for newspapers in Utah, Kansas City and New Hampshire.

Mike Stewart is the South Regional Photo Editor based in Atlanta.

Stewart joined the AP in 2005 at the State Photo Center in Washington, D.C. , then was promoted to Headquarters Supervisor at the New York headquarters in 2007. In his roles he helped lead efforts to enhance U.S. newspaper photo contributions to the AP nationally.

Stewart began his career as Staff Photographer at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in Little Rock in 1989, and became Director of Photography at the Columbia Daily Tribune  in 1994. He was later named Director of Photography at The Albuquerque Journal , and in 2002 he joined Polaris Images in New York as Senior Photo Editor.

Stewart holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from Cameron University.

You have ONE WEEK until the deadline to submit your Pictures of the Year entries. The deadline is Monday, January 31, 2011.

We have great judges and great prizes (thanks to our sponsors). I will post more detailed information soon.

Meanwhile, keep checking the website for more information AND contest rules. And if you are wondering, “How do I submit my photos?” Well, you are in luck. That is on the website, too!

See you in February!

Please look over the contest information and rules on the website and start sending your entries now. The deadline is Monday, January 31.

The FTP information is as follows (Thanks, Rich!):

hostname: ftp.rgpix.com

username: scpoy

password:  scpoyupload

OR, you can send your entries using snail mail to:

Heidi Heilbrunn

Photo Department

The Greenville News

305 S. Main Street

Greenville, SC 29601

Rebecca Ducker, SCNPA VP, and I have been on the phone planning our 2011 SCNPA Pictures of the Year competition. We are looking forward to seeing everyone the weekend of Feb. 19-20. We will have a dinner/meet-and-greet planned for Saturday night and the competition and meeting will take place Sunday the 20th. As we have more details and secure our fantastic list of judges, we will send out an update.

Make sure your dues are paid up and start pulling those contest pix now.
-Heidi

Hi All,

Congratulations to all the winners and a big thanks to our judges, Stacy Pearsall, Christopher Record and Michael Holahan. Thanks to everyone that attended and helped out. You can scroll through all the images from left to right. Some stories are out of order but they all have a title that tells you where they placed. See you next year.

SPOT NEWS

1^st - “CHURCH FIRE” – SEFTON IPOCK/ANDERSON INDEPENDENT-MAIL.

2^nd - “FLIPPED SUV”- NATHAN GRAY/ANDERSON INDEPENDENT-MAIL.

3^rd – “COLD FOOD”- KEN RUINARD/ANDERSON INDEPENDENT-MAIL.

HM – “PILEUP”- WADE SPEES/CHARLESTON POST & COURIER.

HM – “DEALING WITH THE DAMAGE” – GRACE BEAHM/CHARLESTON POST & COURIER.

GENERAL NEWS

1^ST – “UNTITLED” – RANDALL HILL/THE SUN NEWS.

2^ND – “ILLEGAL” - NATHAN GRAY/ANDERSON INDEPENDENT-MAIL.

3^RD - “RETURN HOME” – - NATHAN GRAY/ANDERSON INDEPENDENT-MAIL.

HM - “UNTITLED” – C. ALUKA BERRY/THE STATE.

HM – “UNTITLED” – REBECCA DUCKER/FLORENCE MORNING NEWS.

FEATURE

1^ST – “UNTITLED” – C. ALUKA BERRY/THE STATE.

2^ND - “FULL”- GRACE BEAHM/CHARLESTON POST & COURIER.

3^RD – “RACE THE TRAIN” – GERRY MELENDEZ/THE STATE.

HM – “THREE’S COMPANY” – NATHAN GRAY/ANDERSON INDEPENDENT-MAIL

HM – “UH OH” – KEN RUINARD/ANDERSON INDEPENDENT-MAIL.

SPORTS ACTION

1^ST - “UNTITLED” – TRAVIS BELL/SIDELINE CAROLINA.

2^ND - “UNTITLED” – RANDALL HILL/THE SUN NEWS.

3^RD – “ZONE CONE” – KEN RUINARD/ANDERSON INDEPENDENT-MAIL.

HM – “END OVER END” – BRIAN SCHNEIDER/CLEMSON UNIVERSITY.

HM – “DIVING CATCH” – NATHAN GRAY/ANDERSON INDEPENDENT-MAIL.

SPORTS FEATURE

1^ST – “HAPPY GOLFERS” - KEN RUINARD/ANDERSON INDEPENDENT-MAIL.

2^ND – “UNTITLED” – C. ALUKA BERRY/THE STATE.

3^RD – PLAYER’S DANCE” – GERRY MELENDEZ/THE STATE.

HM – “LONE WOLF” ANGELA KERSHNER/THE ISLAND PACKET.

HM – “UNTITLED” – C. ALUKA BERRY/THE STATE.

PORTRAIT

1^ST – “MY BEST FRIEND” – GRACE BEAHM/CHARLESTON POST & COURIER.

2^ND – “WAR HERO” – GERRY MELENDEZ/THE STATE.

3^RD – “SARGE” – GERRY MELENDEZ/THE STATE.

HM – “JOY” – KEN RUINARD/ANDERSON INDEPENDENT-MAIL.

HM – “SHELTERED TEARS” – KEN RUINARD/ANDERSON INDEPENDENT-MAIL.

PICTORIAL

1^ST –“OCEAN CURVES” - GRACE BEAHM/CHARLESTON POST & COURIER.

2^ND – “SPINNING” – GERRY MELENDEZ/THE STATE.

3^RD – “UNTITLED” - TRACY GLANTZ/THE STATE.

HM – “BALL TOSS” – REBECCA DUCKER/FLORENCE MORNING NEWS.

HM – “GRAND MOTEL” – GERRY MELENDEZ/THE STATE.

ILLUSTRATION

1^ST – “OUCH” – KIM KIM FOSTER-TOBIN/THE STATE.

2^ND – “STUCK” – KIM KIM FOSTER- TOBIN/THE STATE.

3^RD – “RAILWAY” – REBECCA DUCKER/FLORENCE MORNING NEWS.

HM – “TAXING HABIT” – KEN RUINARD/ANDERSON INDEPENDENT-MAIL.

HM – “ORGANIC EATS” – REBECCA DUCKER/FLORENCE MORNING NEWS.

PICTURE PACKAGE

1^ST – “COWBOY ACTION” – GERRY MELENDEZ/THE STATE

2^ND – “UNTITLED” – REBECCA DUCKER/FLORENCE MORNING NEWS.

3^RD – “CHITLINS” - ANNE MCQUARY/FREELANCE.

HM – “UNTITLED” – RANDALL HILL/THE SUN NEWS.

HM – “POLAR EXPRESS” – REBECCA DUCKER/FLORENCE MORNING NEWS.

NEWS PICTURE STORY

1^ST – “CHURCH FIRE” – SEFTON IPOCK/ANDERSON INDEPENDENT-MAIL.

2^ND – “ATLANTIC BEACH CARRIES ON” – RANDALL HILL/THE SUN NEWS.

3^RD – “RECOVERY FROM THE APRIL WILDFIRES” – RANDALL HILL/THE SUN NEWS.

HM – “LIVING WITH HIV/AIDS” – NATHAN GRAY/ANDERSON INDEPENDENT-MAIL.

HM – “THE YEAR OF THE RAIN” – NATHAN GRAY/ANDERSON INDEPENDENT-MAIL.

FEATURE PICTURE STORY

1^ST – “HOUSE CALLS” – GERRY MELENDEZ/THE STATE.

2^ND – “DANI’S STORY” – RICH GLICKSTEIN/THE STATE.

3^RD – “OLYMPIA” – GERRY MELENDEZ/THE STATE.

HM – “DOGGIE WEDDING” – ANNE MCQUARY/FREELANCE.

HM – “A MONTH OF MOTORCYCLES” – RANDALL HILL/THE SUN NEWS.

SPORTS PICTURE STORY

1^ST – “MASTERS” – GERRY MELENDEZ/THE STATE.

2^ND – A BOXING STORY” – GERRY MELENDEZ/THE STATE.

3^RD – “UNTITLED” – C. ALUKA BERRY/THE STATE.

HM – “DAVID VS. GOLIATH” – RICH GLICKSTEIN/THE STATE.

HM – “FIGHT NIGHT” – SEFTON IPOCK/ANDERSON INDEPENDENT-MAIL.

MULTIMEDIA

1^ST – “HOUSE CALLS” – GERRY MELENDEZ/THESTATE.

2^ND – “A BOXING STORY” – GERRY MELENDEZ/THE STATE.

3^RD – “FAST BUSBOY” – RANDALL HILL/THE SUN NEWS.

HM – “STATE CHAMPS” – TOM PRIDDY/SPARTANBURG HERALD-JOURNAL

HM – “BARBER” - REBECCA DUCKER/FLORENCE MORNING NEWS.

BEST IN SHOW

“HOUSE CALLS” – GERRY MELENDEZ/THE STATE

2009 PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR

GERRY MELENDEZ/THE STATE

2009 RUNNER UP PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR

C. ALUKA BERRY/THE STATE

2009 SECOND RUNNER UP PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR

SEFTON IPOCK/ANDERSON INDEPENDENT-MAIL

CLIP CONTEST PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR

KEN RUINARD/ANDERSON INDEPENDENT-MAIL

Cost to enter is free for SCNPA members.

You can download application forms, contest schedule and instructions here.

Prizes will be handed out for SCNPA Photographer of the year, Best in Show and Clip Contest Photographer of the year. Door prizes will be drawn throughout the judging.

Schedule of events:

8-9 a.m. – Breakfast, coffee and bagels provided.

9-9:30 a.m. – Judging of student and individual categories begins.

Noon – Lunch for judges and staff.

1 p.m. – Still photo and multimedia judging continues, with closed portfolio judging.

5 p.m – Judges panel discussion on the state of the industry and related topics.

6:30 p.m – Awards presentation and viewing of Pictures of the year.

7 p.m. – SCNPA members meeting and elections.

7:30 p.m. – Adjourn and dinner.

If you have any questions about the contest you can email SCNPA president Gerry Melendez at gerrymelendez@gmail.com.

Contest Entry Form

download this form and mail it in or FTP it along with your entries to Rich Glickstein:

Rich Glickstein/Photo Department

The State

1401 Shop Road

Columbia, SC, 29201

FTP information

hostname: ftp.rgpix.com

username: scpoy

password:  scpoyupload

You will find all the detailed contest information in this form

2009-scnpa-poy

Cost of entry is $35 which includes a membership to SCNPA.

Membership Form

If you have any questions about the contest you can email SCNPA president Gerry Melendez at gerrymelendez@gmail.com.

Stacy Pearsall

Stacy Pearsall began her career as an Air Force combat photographer at 17. She traveled to over 41 countries, and attended S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. After three tours in Iraq, Pearsall shared her experiences as a female combat photojournalist on the Oprah Winfrey Show. Her work has appeared in print and television media, including Time magazine, BBC, The Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Soldier of Fortune and more. Pearsall’s photographs have also been featured in the Oscar-nominated PBS production, Operation Homecoming, and GQ magazine’s “This is Our War.” Pearsall was one of only two women to win NPPA’s MPOY competition, and the only woman to have earned it twice. Her images have been exhibited across America from Hollywood to New York. She is now retired from military service and currently freelances. She is the owner/director of the Charleston Center for Photography in South Carolina

Christopher Record

Christopher Record is a versatile corporate, portrait, editorial and wedding photographer whose award-winning background in photojournalism influences all of his work.

With a diverse base of clients including advertising agency Eric Mower and Associates, Farm Bureau Insurance Racing, Crosland, TradeKing, Tier One Partners, Mad GENIUS Inc., the United States Golf Association, the Professional Golfers Association, , Pass & Seymour Legrand, HGTV, the North Carolina Dance Theatre and Habitat for Humanity, Record prides himself on finding the best visual solutions for every assignment.

Record’s resume is lined with awards from the top photojournalism groups including the National Press Photographers Association, the Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar, the Southern Short Course, the Society of Newspaper Design, the North Carolina Press Photographers Association and the North Carolina Press Association. He has been a North Carolina Photographer of the Year, was twice runner-up NC POY and was also runner-up Southern Photographer of the Year.

Record was the lead photographer on a team project selected as a finalist for the 2008 Pulitzer Prize. The Charlotte Observer project, “Sold a Nightmare,” was a finalist for the Gold Medal for Public Service. The series focused on the area’s high rate of housing foreclosures and questionable sales practices by one of the nation’s largest homebuilders.

Record has spent the past 20 years photographing presidents, celebrities and athletes and his work has appeared in The New York Times, The London Times, Newsweek, Sports Illustrated, ESPN, U.S. News & World Report, USA Today and numerous other publications and books.

Record covered the Carolina Panthers from their inception to the Super Bowl in Houston. He has also covered numerous NCAA Final Four basketball tournaments, ACC basketball tournaments and many professional golf tournaments including the men’s and women’s U.S. Open, the PGA Championship, The Players Championship and The Quail Hollow Championship in Charlotte.

His career has included stints at three newspapers with roles ranging from reporter, photographer, picture editor to director of photography. Record most recently spent 14 years as a staff photographer at The Charlotte Observer in Charlotte, N.C.

He left newspapers in 2007 to concentrate on his freelance photography business.

Record accepts corporate, portrait and editorial assignments and he also does a select number of documentary weddings each year.

Michael Holahan

Michael Holahan is a staff photographer at The Augusta Chronicle. He was recently

honored in the NPPA Best of Photojournalism as an honorable mention photojournalist

of the year for smaller markets. His images have also been recognized by The Southern

Short Course, The Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar and The Gordon Parks Photo contest.

Born: Los Angeles, CA

Childhood: Lived in the Chicago area

Teen years: Lived in Naples, Florida. Graduated from Naples High School

College: University of Florida. Earned a BA in Political Science and BS in Journalism

Internships: The Gainesville (FL) Sun; The Florida Times Union, Jacksonville, FL; Patuxant Publishing, Columbia, MD; The Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph.

Staff: The Sacramento Bee – Zoned Editions; The Augusta Chronicle (1997-present)

Family: wife, Amanda and son, Elliott, 2.

Recent awards (2008-09) from: Pictures of the Year International (POYi); NPPA’s Best of Photojournalism; The Southern Short Course; The Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar; The Gordon Parks Photography Contest; Georgia AP; Georgia Press Association; Placed second in NPPA’s 2008 clip contest Region 6.