BetterBNC

Best Sports Photo (Multi-day) ( Class V) Back

Place Name: First Place
Contestant Name: Iowa City - The Daily Iowan
Entry Title: Steeplechase
Entry Credit: Ayrton Breckenridge
Judge Comment: This was a tough category with half a dozen stand-out images that all could have been first place. This one was not the most difficult shot from a technical standpoint. But compared side-by-side with the other top contenders, this is the photo that made me want to read the story. I love the angle, the reflection and the simplicity. This was less about what the camera can do and all about the creative thought of the photographer. Well done.
Place Name: Second Place
Contestant Name: Cedar Rapids - The Gazette
Entry Title: 3A No. 1 Cedar Rapids Xavier beats Iowa City Liberty in boys' basketball
Entry Credit: Savannah Blake
Judge Comment: This photo really wowed me. What set it apart and elevated it was the angle, the stop action and the emotion on the faces. Timing is everything; from this angle, it's difficult to get a composition that works, where you can see the subjects' faces and feel that emotion. I regret that I can't award more than one first place; this is a worthy photo.
Place Name: Third Place
Contestant Name: Dubuque - Telegraph Herald
Entry Title: Blocked Dunk
Entry Credit: Dave Kettering
Judge Comment: How can this photo not win something? It's just a great right-time-right-place photo. A tighter crop would have helped this image. When viewed as a whole, I find the bottom half of the photo to distract from the meat of the image.