Madeline Malhotra, from Chaparral HS, has been named the 2014 CHSPA Photographer of the Year. This contest, in just its second year, honors photojournalists for a portfolio of 7-12 images from the past year, rather than for a single image or even a photo essay. You can check out Madeline’s winning portfolio here.

Second place went to Ian Marynowski, from Smoky Hill HS. His portfolio can be found here. Chosen as third place was Andrew Mares of Arvada West HS. His portfolio can be found here.

Honorable mentions included: Elijah Jarocki, The Classical Academy; Payton Bonino, Brighton HS; Brianna Bradley, Rock Canyon HS; and Elliott Douglas, Ponderosa HS.

The contest drew 22 entries, all submitted either through a photo sharing service or through Dropbox. Each CHSPA member school medium could enter one student in this competition. Judges were from the Seattle Times: Sara Kennedy, Special Projects Editor; Erika Schultz, staff photographer; and Ken Lambert, staff photographer. Sara wrote that the overall quality of entries was tremendous, but singled out the top two, saying, “I hope they intern at the Times.”

The overall judging comments: Entries were technically very strong and the judges were impressed with the quality of work. The winners stood out for their ability to capture strong faces and peak impactful moments. The winners had the most photos that stick with and elicit emotion in the viewer. The winners also had well-rounded portfolios that featured academics as well as sports and pep rallies. The quality of portraits really stood out this year. However, some portfolios seemed overly weighted with portraits. Also consider cropping tighter into images to draw the reader’s eye directly to the key subject.

Award certificates were mailed to all our honorees on May 2.