Gersh Photo Post | Max Gersh | Multimedia Photojournalist

I’m not one to hold too much weight in journalism contests. Especially photography. Everything is subjective. But don’t get me wrong. I love to pad my resume as much as the next guy.

At the end of June or beginning of July (it was so long ago I can’t remember), the newsroom at The Courier-Times went into a bit of a frenzy trying to get stories and photos ready for the Hoosier State Press Association contest. Anything from July 2009 through June 2010 could be entered. We filled out our forms and sent in our clips.

And then we waited.

I think it was some time in October that we found out which members of our newsroom won awards. Many of us did. However, they don’t tell you what you won. They don’t even tell you how many award you won. They just tease you and try to get you to come to the awards banquet in December. That’s right. You have to wait until December to find out what you won.

At first, I tried to guess what photo(s) won awards. A week out, I’d forgotten about the whole thing.

Then came December. I was unable to attend the banquet but got updates via text message hearing how well our newspaper was doing.

This year, The Courier-Times won 18 awards and finished second in our division. Good job team!

Much to my surprise, I racked up seven awards of my own.

I got third place in the multiple picture group for my series on the Titan 500 tricycle race.

I won second and third place in best picture story (with audio soundtrack) for my pieces on Memorial Day and St. Anne’s church, respectively.

I won first place and third place in best video story for my trick shot video and cooks contest video, respectively.

Lastly, I won first place in best spot news photo with my picture of officers transferring custody of someone who was involved in an armed robbery of a store.

John Michael Evans places his hands on his head as Henry County Sheriff's deputies and Indiana State Troopers transfer him into the custody of the Randolph County Sheriff's Department. Evans was caught at his residence after allegedly committing armed robbery in Losantville. (C-T photo Max Gersh) ©2010

To round out my seventh award, the photo above won the recognition of being the best in my division and was one of six finalists (one for each of the six divisions) for photo of the year. Pretty cool.

Like I said, I don’t hold too much weight in these contest. But that won’t stop me from entering.

In the last few months, I’ve won multiple awards in news.

It started in December. I entered the National Press Photographers Association’s monthly clip contest. Photographers enter their best work each month and compete against other shooters in the region. In St. Louis, I am in region 7 (R7). That includes all of Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas and Oklahoma.

One of my images happened to beat out every other shooter in the region in December in the general news category.

Soldiers take a nap Friday morning along the side of a stairwell at Lambert International Airport. Thousands of soldiers were at Lambert for the annual exodus home for the holidays from Fort Leonard Wood. © 2008 St. Louis Post-Dispatch

In April, the Missouri Colligiate Media Association (MCMA) banquet was held in St. Louis. This is where awards are presented for college newspapers throughout the state. My last 1.5 years at Webster, I was the photo editor for our student paper, The Journal.

Last year, I won 1st place in sports photo, feature photo and photo illustration. I also took 2nd place in information graphic.

This year, my images won 1st place news photo, 2nd place news photo, honorable mention feature photo and honorable mention sports photo.

1st Place News - A day after a Kirkwood resident gunned down fice city officials, more than 1,000 people gathered Feb. 8, 2008 for a candlelight vigil and prayer service. The hour-long service was held across the street from the Kirkwood City Hall, where Charles Lee "Cookie" Thornton shot and killed four City Council members before being gunned down. © 2008 Max Gersh

2nd Place News - Gerald Thornton takes a phone interview outside of the Kirkwood City Hall Feb. 8, 2008. Thornton is the borther of Charles Lee "Cookie" Thornton who entered the Kirkwood City Hall armed Feb. 7. "Cookie" Thornton killed two officers and three more city workers before he was killed by police officers. © 2008 Max Gersh

Honorable Mention Feature - Ray Holtmann plows the sidewalk March 4 around the Quad just before Webster University closed for the day. Holtmann has been out plowing since 6 a.m. and is going to keep plowing until he gets called in for the night. He said he would begin plowing again at 6 a.m. the next day and have the sidewalks cleared by 8 a.m. to keep it safe for students. © 2008 Max Gersh

Honorable Mention Sports - Gorlok forward Steve Hrdlicka jumps to block a shot by the Eureka College Red Devils. Webster lead by 20 points at the half and closed out the game be increasing the lead to 30 points. © 2008 Max Gersh

Some of my photo staff also collected multiple awards.

Laila Wessel took 1st place feature photo for a stunning dance image (#11 in her Theater & Dance gallery) and took 2nd place sports for a great basketball image (#25 in her sports gallery).

Phil Crawford, a contributing photographer to the paper, received 3rd place feature photo.

Brent Johnston won 1st place sports photo for a nice moment in a flag football game.

The paper took 1st, 2nd and 3rd place for photo spreads.

Over all, The Journal took home 33 awards, more than any paper in the state. Way to go Journal!

I am awaiting the NPPA R7 results for the month of January. Keep your fingers crossed.