Melanie Burford joins the NSC faculty to teach Video Storytelling. Melanie a photojournalist and multimedia video journalist, was part of the team of Dallas Morning Newsphotographers who received the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for their coverage of Hurricane Katrina. In 2009 she won a regional Emmy Award for a video documentary portfolio at the Lone Star Emmy Advanced Media Awards.
Melanie’s work has been recognized at Pictures of the Year International, the 74th annual National Headliner Awards, the Harry Chapin Media Awards and the Best of Photojournalism.
An Adjunct Professor at Columbia University Journalism School, Melanie was a team leader and speaker at the Eddie Adams Workshop 2011, a Video Storytelling instructor with Evan Vucci at the RIT summer workshops and a keynote speaker for the Kodak Seminar Series touring Australia and New Zealand in 2008.
Melanie’s career began in New Zealand in 1990, where she worked for newspapers for ten years before moving to America in 1999, becoming a staff photographer at The Dallas Morning News in 2003 and moving to New York in 2009. She is a founding member of the photo collective, Prime.
Melanie will be replaceing Evan Vucci, who had to withdraw due to a scheduling conflict.
Bryan Barr has been a Chief Photojournalist longer than he hasn't. In that time stuck in middle management, he has learned one classic fact in this business: honest hard work always trumps talent. It’s true. In a perfect world, it’s best to have both. Given the requirement of choice, Bryan would hire someone who is has a positive attitude and is not afraid to get a little dirty. We’ll see great stories highlighting both his work and that of the photojournalist staff at WBFF. You will leave with helpful hints on how to get ahead in the modern television newsroom.
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Stan Heist joins the 2012 NSC faculty. Heist is a veteran of broadcast newsrooms, working for network affiliates in Dayton, OH, Richmond, VA, Baltimore, and Washington as a newsroom manager, photojournalist and editor. In addition to his work at Merrill, he works as a freelance videographer, editor, writer, and consultant.
Stan received ten regional Emmy awards for his work, twice named a Regional Photographer of the Year, and is the 005 National Press Photographers Association National Television News Photographer of the Year. He has taught more than 25 seminars in video journalism to professionals, students, and the military in the United States and abroad, and is the co-director of the NPPA’s annual News Video Workshop on the campus of the University of Oklahoma. Outside of Merrill, Stan serves the community as a Skywarn weather spotter for the Baltimore/Washington forecast office of the National Weather Service.
Ross Taylor of The Virginian Pilot has been named Photographer of the Year in the National Press Photographer Association’s Northern Short Course Contest. Judging for the 2012 contest was held at Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, February 11, 2012.
Judge Linda Esptein said of Taylor's A Chance in Hell entry, “This is an impressive piece, he’s brought this previously unseen aspect of the war forward.”
Second place honors went to The Star Ledger’s Aristide Economopoulos, third to Patrick Smith a freelancer based in Baltimore and honorable mention was awarded to Jahi Chikwendiu.
Judges for the 2012 contest were Getty staff photographer Robb Carr, McClatchy-Tribune Information Services Senior Photo Editor Linda Epstein and Temple University assistant professor George Miller.
A reception honoring the winners will be held Saturday March 10, 2012 at 7:30pm the Hyatt Fair Lakes, Fairfax, VA. View the winning images and multimedia entries on the contest page.
The Northern Short Course and Women Photojournalists of Washington (WPOW) are teaming up to host an opening night reception at the Hyatt Fair Lakes, in Fairfax Thursday March 8, 2012. Join us at the Nova bar from 6- 9pm. Come socialize and network with your colleagues in the media at this special NSC/ WPOW Monthly Media Happy Hour. It's a great way to connect and stay in touch with your friends and colleagues in the media. All are welcome so invite your friends, coworkers, and spouses to join us. See you there and as always Spread the Word. You do not have to be registered for the NSC to attend. Happy hour specials will be announced soon.
The deadline for entries has been extended till 11:59 p.m. Monday February 6th. If you are experiencing any issues uploading please send a message to northerncontest@gmail.com. We will NOT disqualify anyone that attempts to enter prior to the deadline and encounters a problem uploading.
There were 21 submissions for the first ever NSC Visual Educator Teach-a-thon session to be held Friday March 9th at the NSC. Three judges reviewed each proposal for originality, innovation, creativity, practicality and effectiveness. The top three winners will be announced at the NSC and be awarded cash prizes sponsored by Temple University Department of Journalism. Each professor will have 7 minutes to present their innovative idea to attendees. Congratulations to the following professors whose projects have been accepted.
John Beale, Penn State University
Mark Berkey-Gerard, Rowan University
Mark Dolan, Southern Illinois University
Mark Johnson, University of Georgia
Marcy Nighswander, Ohio University
David Nolan, Texas State University
Michael O'Donnell, University of St. Thomas
Stanton Paddock, University of Maryland
There are still a few days left to endter the 2012 NSC contest. Prizes for 2012 include a ThinkTank Retrospective 20 for the first place winner in each still category and a ThinkTank Multimedia Wired Up 10 for first place in each multimedia categories. Photographer of the Year will receive a camera courtesy of NIKON, a plaque and a Think Tank Airport TakeOff.
Entries will be accepted till Monday February 6th at 3 pm. Keep in mind the NPPA BOP is accepting entries till midnight Febraury 3rd and traffic may be unusually high on the site causing a slowdown in the system. Click here for compete rules and the enry site.
Grant applications are now being accepted for the Northern Short Course. Grants are available to cover tuition costs, a limited number of travel grants are also available. The NPPA is able to provide these scholarships through funds distributed by The Authors Coalition of America (ACA), an association of organizations representing independent authors including illustrators, photographers, songwriters, text writers and visual artists. Grants are limited to professional still photographers living in the United States. Applications are due Monday February, 6th. For more information and to apply.
Born in Alsfeld, Germany, Gerd Ludwig studied photography with Professor Steinert at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen, Germany, graduating in 1972. The following year he co-founded VISUM, Germany’s first photographer-owned photo agency, and began working for publications such as Geo, Stern, Spiegel, Time, and Life. Soon after moving to New York in the mid 1980s, Gerd Ludwig started photographing for National Geographic Magazine. His focus on environmental issues and the socio-economic changes following the dissolution of the Soviet Union resulted in a book, Broken Empire: After the Fall of the USSR, a ten-year retrospective published by National Geographic in 2001, and an iPad App, The Long Shadow of Chernobyl, published by Lightbox Press in 2011.
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Ed Kashi is a photojournalist, filmmaker and educator dedicated to documenting the social and political issues that define our times. A sensitive eye and an intimate relationship to his subjects are signatures of his work. As a member of the prestigious photo agency VII, Kashi has been recognized for his complex imagery and its compelling rendering of the human condition.