Kenny Reynolds

All I can say about this category is wow. We had two stories that would have surely been among the winners disqualified for rules infractions - both of which instigated spirited debates lasting well over an hour each.

1) Straight up Mystery Rock

In terms of the winner, this story was very well done. It had a nice set-up. The sound weaving and nat breaks were exceptional. Good, solid photography throughout. There were several great moments in this piece that made me laugh out loud. The photographer "proved it".

2) The Dunes

This was a story I fought for. There was a debate between this piece and the third place story as to who would get second place. I felt that this category was specifically tailored to great looking pictures, and this story had the others in the category beat, hands down. This was brilliant photography. The nat sound was amazing - the bees, the sand, the wind - I could go on. The shots were composed with loving care. I felt that I was there. I loved the way the man mentioned a child's sandbox one moment, and we saw kids sliding down the dune in the next. In my opinion, this is the best looking piece I have seen up to this point.

3) Patriots Don't Go to War

You could tell that the photographer and reporter were in-sync on this one. The nat sound was nicely used throughout. There were good, solid sequences - steady shots - great composition. In a word, this piece was smooth. A very well-crafted piece in which you could feel emotion.

Honorable Mention - Practice Perfect

This was a nice piece, with a lot of hustle. The pacing was nice, but I couldn't decide how much I liked the jazzed up edits throughout. There was an obvious commitment to telling this story. It was very worthy of and Honorable Mention in this category.

Katrina (Brown) McCann

#1 Straight up Mystery Rock

This was a very entertaining story to watch. The set-up was great, the lighting was creative and the characters were interesting. The photographer and reporter worked very well together, because without the shots the photographer had, the reporter wouldn't have been able to write the words. The shots were unique, and there was a lot of "say it...prove it." The story would mention something and the next shot would prove it. I liked the production of the newspaper article, and I loved the shot of the main character rubbing his face. This story showed how a photographer could tell a great story, but not overshadow it.

#2 The Dunes

I liked this story, because this is the one category we can honor photography technique. This photographer showed great patience and attention to detail to tell a story. The nat sound was amazing, and it pulled you right into the environment. The photographer really made the shots come to life.

#3 Patriots don't go to war

This was a very moving story with a variety of shots. It was a solid story, with great pacing. You really felt like you knew the person in the story. There were great close-ups and great attention to detail. The pacing was great, and the nat sound was woven in perfectly.

HM Practice Perfect

The commitment from the photographer in this story was evident. They had to travel to many locations to get the complete story. I loved the transitions, and it went perfectly with the music. There was also good use of light and sound. The photographer's effort on this story was exceptional, and they did a great job getting reactions. This story had great production qualities, and imagination.

Scott Hedeen

Seven hours of my life are gone.

Although it took almost a third of my day away from me , picking the winners in this category was a hard workout for my ethics and my love of photography.

My favorite stories fell by the wayside because of rule infractions. One for the issues of staging shots to tell a story ... the other for a percentile of file/other footage not shot by entering photographer.

The contest is a game of rules. If this was a football game the best play of the day was called back by a flag on the field. Like it or not, rules are rules. Another day means another story and a new set of lives to be captured for the benefit of ourselves and our viewers. Point of this? Just because a story fails to meet criteria of this contest it does not in anyway destroy the stories that were told.

The above is meant in no way to discredit the actual real winners. The stories that were brought back for from the initial viewings and presented before the complete judging staff were absolutely some of the strongest shooting I have seen in a long time.

All were solid and were very well crafted from all sides.

Bravo.

Richard Essex

This is a very difficult category to judge, we all loved so many different stories and due to rules infractions a few stories were removed..

Straight Up Mystery Rock...Well crafted interesting interviews...nice play between the central character and the newspaper reporter..

The Dunes...Beautiful...period

Patriots go to war...I was taken right into the story, the writing, editing, photography put me in the cemetery..right in the house..a great example and another KARE 11 classic..

Kurt Austin

This category turned into the 800-pound gorilla. There were over 70 entries, and we finally paired it down to 11. Out of those 11, 2 of our favorites were disqualified. One for apparent staging and another for a rules violation on the amount of historical footage used. My personal favorite of the bunch Wally Pikal was disqualified because the national contest rules apparently did not adapt the quarterly contest rules stating that a story can contain up to 25% of historical footage. The story was within this time limit but exceeded the 90% rule of the national contest. This must be addressed next year.

The 1st place story, Straight Up Mystery Rock was well done. The concept was great. Nice sequences, lighting, and sound. The photojournalist gave this story a nice humorous feel and it worked.

The Dunes was very artfully done. This story looked like an Ansel Adams photograph. Every shot was a piece of art that you could hang on your wall. The attention to detail was phenomenal. Tight shots of bees buzzing. Butterflies. I felt as though I was there.

Patriots Don’t go to War was my other personal favorite. Very well shot. The photojournalist paced this story very well. Great moments. The editing was seamless, blending in bites, audio tracks and nat sound pops effortlessly. Great teamwork between the photographer and the reporter.

Honorable mention went to the extremely well edited story, Practice Perfect. This story profiled two high school marching bands as they got ready for a big competition. The frenetic editing style held up through the story, making this a very stylish piece. How the bands finished in the competition was in doubt as the story ended, however.

Kurt Austin KGW-TV