Photos of the Month Contest: October 2013 Results

Barbara Davidson (@photospice), Pulitzer Prize winning photojournalist and staff photographer at The Los Angeles Times, was the judge for October 2013 Photos of the Month.

Judge's overall comment: Over all I would say students need to be shooting more and need to enter these clip contests. The only way to get an internship is to get your name out there. A good way to achieve that as students is to enter your clip contest. There should be more entries from all students. The ones who are not entering need to start their game. Photojournalism is not a profession for the lazy – trust me on that! To all the winners congrats and to the ones who didn’t make the cut keep trying – you will get there.

Entries Stats:
Photographers — 17
Feature — 23
News — 5
Sports — 24
Portrait — 15
Multi Photo — 8 entries/77 photos

FEATURE
Judge's comments:

1) Nice angle with lots of activity to keep me looking around at everyones faces. These are the kinds of images that newspaper photographers are asked to make on a daily basis.

2) Nice expressions on these kids faces –decisive moments make for strong single feature images.

3) Good find – a screamer centered in the middle of the frame when everyone else is doing something else. Fun image that could easily make it into any newspaper.

The runners up also had good light and candid moments. The pig feeding shot was photographed really nicely – yes, I did write that!

1. Justin Chin

KINGSTON, Ont. (05/10/2013) — Students jump over the fence of the audience stands during the half-time of the homecoming football game between the Queen's Gaels and the Wilfrid Laurier's Golden Hawks on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2013 at Richardson Stadium in Kingston, Ont. Queen's Gaels' overtime heroics gave the Queen's Gaels the 40-34 victory over the Wilfrid Laurier's Golden Hawks in front of 9,037 Homecoming fans. Photo by Justin Chin

2. James Wood

AJAX, Ont (13/12/2013)- Brothers Zuvann Hamilton and Zumeel Hamilton race along the boardwalk at Lynde Shores Conservation Area near Ajax. The warm afternoon weather brought out many families to the park, and the boardwalk into the marsh proved the main attraction, both for footraces and bird-watching. Photo by James Wood

3. Justin Chin

KINGSTON, Ont. (05/10/2013) — Queen's University students cheer on the Queen's Gaels during the homecoming football game between the Queen's Gaels and the Wilfrid Laurier's Golden Hawks on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2013 at Richardson Stadium in Kingston, Ont. Queen's Gaels' overtime heroics gave the Queen's Gaels the 40-34 victory over the Wilfrid Laurier's Golden Hawks in front of 9,037 Homecoming fans. Photo by Justin Chin

H.M. Annie Sakkab

Toronto, Ont (19/10/13) - A family peering with amazement at the official opening of the Ripley's Aquarium of Canada. The brand-new Aquarium is a 12,500 square-metre awe-inspiring attraction depicting marine and freshwater habitats from around the world. Photo by Annie Sakkab

H.M. Guillaume Nolet

MOSCOW, Ont. (29/10/13)-- Justin Hilborn tries to attract pigs,at his farm in Moscow Ontario, into a trailer where they will be transport to the slaughter house on Oct. 29, 2013. Photo by Guillaume Nolet

NEWS

Judge's comments: All I can say about this category is there mustn’t be much or any news where you students work and live because this category was not strong at all. Gather round the police scanner, read the paper to find out about demonstrations, or protests, or rallies or whatever – something more than Rob Ford must be happening for you students to photograph.

1. Emily Cumming

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (17/10/13) - The Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo (Las Abuelas De Plaza De Mayo) march on Loyalty Day in Buenos Aires on October 17, 2013. Loyalty day is dedicated to showing support to Peronist government that ruled Argentina before military dicatorship. The Abuelas (Grandmothers) have marched every Thursday since 1977 to protest the disappearance of their children and grandchildren during Argentina's dirty war. Photo by Emily Cumming

2. Kaitlin Abeele

TORONTO, Ont. [26/10/13] Toronto Mayor Rob Ford shares a snack on 'human' flesh at the 11th annual Toronto Zombie Walk held in Nathan Phillips Square on Saturday October 26, 2013. Mayor Ford says he looked out his office window and saw a horde of zombies forming outside Toronto City Hall, and so he came downstairs and posed for some pictures with the 'infected' participants. Photo by Kaitlin Abeele

3. James Wood

AJAX, Ont (18/12/2013)- Firefighters exit the front door of 329 Harwood Avenue. An explosion ripped through the third-floor residence on the morning of October 18th, which led to part of Harwood Avenue being closed to traffic and an evacuation of the rest of the buildings tenants. An investigation by the Fire Marshal is ongoing. Photo by James Wood

PORTRAIT

Judge's comments:

1) Lovely portrait by Hannah Yoon. The photographer captured an intimate and pure moment of joy in this image.

2) Justin Chin did a nice job working with the subject in this portrait. He looks very comfortable and the composition is very nice. Always makes for a successful image when the subject of a portrait looks comfortable even in a contrived situation.

3) Adam Dietrich creates a nice intimate portrait here and makes good use of natural light. Long live widow light!

The honorable mentions are also well lit and nicely composed images. The others were just a cut above.

1. Hannah Yoon

STIRLING, Ont. (23/10/13) - Cuthbert, 24, lies down with a newborn chick as he rests. Cuthbert is blind and is dependent on his sense of touch to know what's going on around him. He lives in the Holloway House, a group home for children and adults with different kinds of disabilities. Photo by Hannah Yoon

2. Justin Chin

BELLEVILLE, Ont. (02/10/2013) — John Irvine, 60, owner of John's Hairquarters in Downtown Belleville, Ont., poses for a portrait on Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2013 in Belleville, Ont. He has been operating the business since 1983. A haircut used to be around $5 - $10 30 years ago and it's now $20. His biggest satisfaction in working is to be able to have 15 minutes "chit-chats" with his customers when they from all walks of life. Photo by Justin Chin

3. Adam Dietrich

BELLEVILLE Ont. (24/10/2013) - Lois Foster is pictured at her home in Belleville Ontario. For more than 30 years she helped her husband run veterinary practice out of their home, doing field work with farm animals and small animal surgery in their garage. Now nine years after his death Lois still lives in the home they share sand has become one of Belleville's most respected archivists having helped author several books on historical properties in town. (Photo by Adam Dietrich)

H.M. James Wood

BELLEVILLE, Ont (10/02/2013) - Singing alto, Jean Harrington is a longtime member of Eastminster United Church in Belleville.Music has been a part of Harrington's life since she was a child, taking piano lessons and being raised by her mother and father, both very musical. After moving to Belleville around twenty years ago, Harrington sat in the congregation for a year before finding the courage to join the choir. Since joining, Harrington has enjoyed the social aspect of being in a musical group, and has found music to be a large part of her worship as well. Photo by James Wood

H.M. Guillaume Nolet

KINGSTON, Ont. (21/10/13)--Tom Watson has been diagnosed with seasonal affective disorder commonly know as S.A.D. or winter depression. Watson has been using light therapy for over three years, which helps him combat his symptoms of depression and fatigue Photo by Guillaume Nolet

H.M. Justin Chin

BELLEVILLE, Ont. (01/10/2013) — Paul Dinkel, 66, of Toronto, owner of Dinkel's & Paulo's Restaurant on Front St., Belleville, Ont. poses for a portrait on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2013 at the Dinkel's restaurant dining room. Dinkel started Dinkel's in 1978 and expanded with Paulo's Italian Restaurant in 1995. He has always been in the food business and worked at Four Seasons in Toronto before starting his own business. He looks back in time and recalled a soup used to be $1.25 and it's $6 dollars now. Photo by Justin Chin

SPORTS
Judge's comments:

Strong category with several good photos.

1) Micah Bond had really nice peak action using good lens selection. Great expressions.

2) Hannah Yoon also captured good peak action with a nice out of focus background. The key to sports is clean backgrounds.

3) Hannah Yoon must like football because you are good at it. Again really nice peak action.

The 3 honorable mentions also had really good peak action, nice composition and good lens selection.

1. Micah Bond

BELLEVILLE; Ont. (05/10/13) — Lancers Kyle Cathcart (left) and Cody Travers (right) tackle George Manoukas during Saturday's rugby game. The Loyalist Lancers went on to win the game against Seneca college . Photo by Micah Bond

2. Hannah Yoon

KINGSTON, Ont. (05/10/13) -Wilfrid Laurier University Golden Hawks player, Isaac Dell, 11, slams into Queen's University Gaels player William Zed, 13, at the Queen's University homecoming game. Queen’s Gaels had a 40-34 victory over the Wilfrid Laurier’s Golden Hawks in front of 9,037 homecoming fans. Photo by Hannah Yoon

3. Hannah Yoon

KINGSTON, Ont. (05/10/13) - Queen's University Gaels player Giovanni Aprile, 11, flies in the over Wilfrid Laurier University's Golden Hawks' Benjamin Millar, 13, during Queen's Homecoming game. Queen’s Gaels had a 40-34 victory over the Wilfrid Laurier’s Golden Hawks. Photo by Hannah Yoon

H.M. Sarah Vissers

BELLEVILLE, Ont. (10/10/13)--During a game between the Quinte Secondary School Saints (blue) and Moira Secondary School Trojans, Meghan Weinhold of the Quine senior team gets a mouthful of fingers. Photo by Sarah Vissers

H.M. Justin Chin

KINGSTON, Ont. (05/10/2013) — Austin Spilotro, right, of Wilfrid Laurier's Golden Hawks holds onto the jersey of Scott Macdonell, left, of Queen's Gaels during homecoming football game between the Queen's Gaels and the Wilfrid Laurier's Golden Hawks on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2013 at Richardson Stadium in Kingston, Ont. Queen's Gaels' overtime heroics gave the Queen's Gaels the 40-34 victory over the Wilfrid Laurier's Golden Hawks in front of 9,037 Homecoming fans. Photo by Justin Chin

H.M. Mandy Larade

BELLEVILLE, Ont. (02/10/13) - Jordan Subban of the Belleville Bulls encounters and trips over Sam Bennett of the Kingston Frontenacs unexpectedly in a chase for the puck during the Bulls' home game in Belleville at the Yardmen Arena. The Bulls lost 4-3. Photo by Mandy Larade.

MULTI-PICTURE

Judge's comments:

1) Justin Chin worked really hard on this assignment to create a wide variety of well-lit and mostly candid images of the brutal life of a student during exam time. I would have edited tighter as there is some redundancy but overall Justin is getting the mechanics down of shooting an essay.

2) Justin Chin, again – lol, does a really nice job with this simple story about a families Halloween night. There is a good variety; it’s nicely lit, and full of candid moments. Chin lets the story unfold and he is there to capture the moments as they happen naturally. The fly on the wall is the best approach for muti image stories. First place and second place were so close it could go either way.

3) Emily Cumming creates a nice set of portraits for 3^rd place.

4) Guillaume Nolet shoots a fun essay about the left over red cups that litter a college town. Smart idea. This would have looked great if it was shot with a medium format camera – could easily hang in a gallery J

There should be many more entries in this category. Picture stories separate those who want to be photojournalists and those who are! Bravo Justin, you win the hardest working student award this month too.

1. Justin Chin

KINGSTON, Ont. (16/10/2013) — Queen's University students prepare for their mid-term examinations on Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2013 in Kingston, Ont. Photo by Justin Chin

2. Justin Chin

TRENTON, Ont. (31/10/2013) — Madison Drake, 6, and Mackenzie Drake, 3, go trick-or-treating with their parents, Jason and Randi Drake, who dress as Minions for halloween on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2013 in Trenton, Ont.. Their Minion costumes were designed, hand made by the Drake family. Photo by Justin Chin

3. Emily Cumming

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (13/10/16) - Ana Hitters, 32, dances in the courtyard of the Young People for Equality centre in Buenos Aires. The centre hosts a therapeutic dance company for people with Down syndrome called Expressive Movement. Every Wednesday evening the dancers meet for a two hour session of dancing, socializing and fun. Parents are not allowed to take part in the classes, instead it is opportunity for the students to develop a social life independent of their family's control. Photo by Emily Cumming

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (13/10/16) - Jimena,15, is one of the youngest members of the dance company Expressive Movement - a therapeutic dance program for people with Down syndrome. She recently took part in the company's dance production Helium. Expressive Movement first formed in 2005 and put on their first production in 2007. Photo by Emily Cumming

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (13/10/16) - Eliseo De Ruggiero, 17, takes a moment out of his weekly therapeutic dance class to strike a dance pose. De Ruggiero is a participant of Expressive Movement, a dance group for people with Down Syndrome. He recently performed with fellow dancers in 'Helium', the dance company's most recent production. Photo by Emily Cumming

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (13/10/16) - Florencia Castillo, 23, does not communicate verbally due to her Down's syndrome. The dance company Expressive Movement helps people with Down's to communicate their thoughts and feelings through movement. Photo by Emily Cumming

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (13/10/16) - María Elis Gómez Ortiz, 23, shows off her playful side while posing for a photo in the courtyard of the Young People for Equality Centre in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Gómez Ortiz is a member of the dance company for people with Down Syndrome Expressive Movement and also the sister of one of the co-founders, Belén Gómez Ortiz. Photo by Emily Cumming

H.M. Guillaume Nolet

KINGSTON, Ont. (05/10/13)-- This years marks the first official homecoming celebrations at Queen's University in Kingston. The University canceled the event from 2009-2012 after rowdy street partying and sometimes riots were making the headlines, hurting the university's reputation. The tradition of welcoming back alumni coupled with heavy drinking is fairly common amongst US colleges and universities and less common in Canada. Photo by Guillaume Nolet