Lorne Independent Wins Best Photograph At State Awards
‘Dolphins Dig Deep’ by Amber Noseda, Great Ocean Photography
At the annual Community Newspapers of Victoria Awards, Lorne Independent was awarded Best Photograph for the September 2024 cover, which was captured by Amber Noseda of Great Ocean Photography. The Community Newspaper Association of Victoria (CNAV) is the peak body representing not-for-profit community newspapers across Victoria.
Caroline Roff, Editor of the Koo Wee Rup Blackfish, shared the judge’s commentary on our entry:
“In over 30 years in the business I could honestly not tell you how many footy finals and qualifying finals I’ve photographed. So, I can tell you that Amber’s shot of the weary, but elated Dolphins after a qualifying final is an easy one to take but a VERY hard one to get right.
You’ve got: A rowdy group of pumped-up young players, 1,000 other photographers over your shoulder all trying to get their attention. And the hangers on who will ALWAYS try to jump into shot.
“Above all, this is a joyful photo!! One that exemplifies that important principal of news photography: EVERYTHING in the frame contributes to the story, and nothing in the frame distracts from it.”
Also, uniquely, for this type of photo you often get a level of ‘manspreading’ that’s not always best suited to someone wearing footy shorts. Fortunately, Amber has covered all these very loaded bases.
This is a great sports photo taken under very difficult circumstances. Framing is tight enough to exclude extraneous detail, she’s managed to get pretty much everyone’s full attention (a major achievement in itself), and the lighting is WAY better than it should have been: in the club changing rooms you are usually left with using a direct flash or a bounce flash.
But, this shot has a lovely tonality which is underlined by the decision to run it in B&W. It strips it back to its essential elements giving it a gritty, ‘unplugged’ feel. Above all, this is a joyful photo!! One that exemplifies that important principal of news photography: EVERYTHING in the frame contributes to the story, and nothing in the frame distracts from it.
Congratulations Lorne Independent! Congratulations Amber! I’ll post the certificate in the next couple of days”, Caroline Roff.