The KNPA will hold it’s annual POY Contest judging on Friday, January 20, 2012, which is open to the public from 10:30 a.m. until about 10 p.m. Both Still and TV contests will be judged.

The 2012 KNPA Educational Seminar will be help Saturday, January 21, 2012 from 8:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. with eight speakers/presenters that are recognized as industry leaders. Canon and Nikon vendors will be set up to let you look, touch and drool over some of their latest cameras, lenses and accessories.

The Embassy Suites Lexington is located ate 1801 Newtown Pike  Lexington, KY 40511   (859) 455-5000. When you call to make reservations, tell them you are with the KNPA/KPA/KIPA event to get the discounted rate.

The KNPA Still and TV Contest info will be posted in about 7 days. So dust of that hard drive and dig out those tapes and start compiling your entry. Visit www.knpa.org after Dec. 5 for contest rules, entry forms, seminar registration and KNPA forms.

Please email Joe Imel or Amy Wallot

Results from Friday’s judging are posted. You can see the list of results and links to the winning images here. Television results are here.

POY winner and SPOY runner-up Charles Bertram received one of his many awards from Amy Wallot during the luncheon Saturday.

Student POY winner Scott McIntyre, from WKU, was congratulated by Amy Wallot during the luncheon.

2010 KNPA Schedule (updated)

Jeff Tang, News Channel 5

Jeff Tang is a reporter at WTVF in Nashville, Tennessee. He is a 12 time Regional Emmy Award Nominee, and a three time winner.

He was also named Reporter of the Year by the Associated Press in 2008 and 2009. Tang is no stranger to Kentucky- he worked for three years at WAVE-TV before moving to Nashville.

In Louisville, he learned about crafting memorable stories from some of the best photojournalists in the country. Jeff graduated cum laude from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism in 2004.

Jahi Chikwendiu, Washington Post

Jahi Chikwendiu was set to start a career as a high school math instructor. In fact, he taught for a year, enjoying the everyday challenges of being an educator. But when the Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader, the local newspaper he freelanced for during summer vacation, called to offer him a full-time staff position, he couldn’t say no. Three months later Jahi was named 1998 Photographer of the Year by the Kentucky News Photographers’ Association. In another two years, he would join the staff of The Washington Post, where he’s been a staff photographer since January of 2001.

Since joining the Washington Post, Chikwendiu has worked on a variety of stories that include a coming-of-age story about 9/11 Marines, the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, AIDS and poverty in Kenya, genocide in Darfur, night-commuting children in Northern Uganda, cluster bomb victims in South Lebanon, Sudanese refugees in Egypt, DC Public Schools’ broken system, and Iraqi refugees who have fled the country since the 2003 invasion.  Chikwendiu spent the first three months of 2009 in Africa covering the Barack Obama inauguration from the Kenyan home village of the US president’s father and other stories in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Kenya, and South Sudan.

Chikwendiu has been recognized for his work by such organizations as White House News Photographers Association (whnpa), NPPA’s Best of Photojournalism, Pictures of the Year international (POYi), World Press Photo, Overseas Press Club, Harry Chapman Media Awards, Days Japan International Photojournalism Awards, and Kentucky News Photographers Association (knpa).

Rob Carr, AP

Rob Carr, Kentucky native,  is an Associated Press staff photographer currently based in Baltimore. He joined the AP in Montgomery, Alabama, just 28 days before Hurricane Katrina hit the coast.

While a student at Eastern Kentucky University, he got his first journalism job in 1986 with the Commonwealth Journal in Somerset, Ky., working as the weekend photographer until interning at the Kentucky Post in Covington, Ky., during the summer of 1987.

After graduating in 1988 with a degree in journalism, he interned on the photo desk of the AP in Chicago bureau for five months before taking a full time job as a staff photographer at the State-Journal in Frankfort.

After leaving the paper in 1994, he freelanced for the AP and other clients as well working a nine month full time temporary stint with the Herald-Leader in Lexington.

In 1996 he took a job as the Director of Photography at the Athens Banner Herald in Athens, Ga., then later became the sports photo editor at the Atlanta Journal Constitution before becoming the DOP of the Augusta Chronicle in Augusta, Ga., in 1998 where he worked until being hired by the AP in 2005.

During his career, he has covered 21 Kentucky Derby’s as well a host of Triple Crown Races and Breeders’ Cups, 10 Masters Tournaments, more high school basketball games than he cares to remember, as well as endless days of the Kentucky legislature, hurricanes, Olympics, and a lot of college and pro sports.

Darren Durlach, WBFF

Darren Durlach realized in the 3rd grade that his dreams of becoming an astronaut were unlikely when his teacher told him that math was involved.  After a brief denial period he set his sights on the right side of his brain and after graduating from Radford University he started as a Production Assistant at NBC 29 in Charlottesville, Va and soon convinced the Chief Photographer to let him shoot.  After attending a career changing NPPA workshop in Norman Oklahoma Darren got a job as a Photojournalist at Fox 45 in Baltimore where he still works and is honored to work with the best news people in the country.

Darren’s greatest career achievement was being named the 2009 NPPA Ernie Crisp Photographer of the Year and the best part is getting the chance to hear from amazing speakers at different conventions around the country. Darren has been honored with 7 Emmys and numerous NPPA and AP awards. He was also named the 2008 and 2009 b-roller of the Year.

He credits any success he may have to great parents, his awesome wife kathryn and his mutt Maggie (even though she eats his shoes).

Gary Cosby, The Decatur Daily

Gary Cosby, Jr. ,46, has been a  newspaper photojournalist for almost 20 years.  he began his career at The Daily Advance in Elizabeth City, NC where he was the chief photographer and has worked for the past 15 years at The Decatur Daily, in Decatur, Alabama.  He has a BS degree in commercial photography from the University of North Alabama and attended, but did not finish, graduate school at Regent University in Virginia Beach, VA.  He has been married to his wife Patty for 22 years and theyhave had eight children.

Gary has won numerous photography awards from the Alabama Press Association and the Alabama Associated Press Managing Editors contests as well as monthly clip awards in the NPPA and Sportsshooter.com organizations.  His most cherished awards have come from community organizations such as the Special Olympics and the ARC of Morgan County for work done with the developmentally disabled.

He is also the author of a photojournalism blog, alittlenewsphoto.com, that focuses on helping young and small market photojournalists excel.  The theme of my blog is “For Small Town But Not Small Time Photojournalism,” which is basically the theme he applies to his  career.

Patrick Murphy-Racey, Freelance, Knoxville

Patrick Murphy-Racey is a native of Chicago but has made his home in Knoxville Tennessee since 1989.  He graduated with a Photojournalism degree from Marquette University in 1988 and worked in newspapers from 1986-1992.  Murphy-Racey has four covers of Sports Illustrated and has shot over 700 assignments for SI since 1992.  He has two books to his credit: Run Through the T was self-published in 2003 and the WWE book, Unscripted, was published buy Rare Air Media in 2004.

Murphy-Racey is also an ordained Catholic Permanent Deacon and now splits his time between shooting stills and video assignments along with his ministry in Haiti, Knoxville Catholic High School, and his parish assignment.  Murphy-Racey is in the process of working on his third book on the Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball coach, Pat Summitt.  An avid motorcyclist, Murphy-Racey did the 12,000 mile ride to Prudhoe Bay Alaska in 2007 in just 23 days, and in 2009, he got to the other north-eastern most point of North America when he completed a ride to Goose Bay in Labrador.  He is married with two children.

Murphy-Racey is a recovering newspaper photographer, working the 12-step program to produce meaningful imagery with both stills and video and is really excited about the future of story telling.

Drew Cook, WAVE TV

Drew Cook, a four-time KNPA TV-POY lists the following about his career;produced stories for CNN’s “Tales of Old Kentucky” series, twice a session leader at the Ky. Governor’s Scholar Program, guest lecturer and panel member at the Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University, won National Press Photographer’s Association (NPPA) Regional Photographer of the Year in 2004, winner of five NPPA National Awards, was a session leader, New Media Workshop, was featured speaker at the Indiana News Photographers Association Conference, judge at the White House Press Association Annual Competition,  finalist in the NPPA National Photographer of the Year Contest, 7 Emmy Awards and an Eclipse Award.

“Drew Cook is an acute and skillful observer of the current state of broadcast journalism. As a key member of regional organizations, he has been a mentor to scores of ambitious young journalists. If you’re looking for a keen eye and professional judgement, Drew’s your guy. ” Keith Morrison, Dateline NBC.

Nathan Sharkey, WTVF Nashville

Nathan Sharkey is a photojournalist at WTVF in Nashville, Tennessee. In his 11 years in the business, Nathan has earned a number of awards, including three Regional Emmys and two national NPPA awards. Nathan was also named as Michigan’s top photographer by his peers in 2003. Sharkey’s station is widely recognized as one of the best in the country for photojournalism. He was part of the staff that was runner up for NPPA Station of the Year in 2008, and Nathan is currently in contention to win Photographer of the Year in his region.

You can now download the current rules and categories for the 2010 KNPA Television and Still Contest. The download links are available in the sidebar or below.

2010_KNPA_schedule (updated)

2010 KNPA Still rules and entry form

2010 TV contest entry form

2010 TV contest rules

Other downloads

2010 Room reservation form

2010 KNPA registration form