Chandler, Elmes Earn Awards

Gazette-Virginian staff members Joe Chandler and Nicholas Elmes were named as winners in the 2005 Virginia Press Association News, Editorial and Photography Competition Saturday night during the annual VPA awards banquet in Roanoke.
Chandler, the newspaper’s sports editor, won both second place and third place in the sports feature photo category. Elmes won third place in the spot news photo category.
The awards were earned in the W3 category, the next-to-highest circulation category among non-daily publications.
The second-place award earned by Chandler was for a photo titled “Football Silhouette.” It was a silhouette photo taken of Halifax County High School football players gathered in the end and set against the dark blue sky at late-dusk on a clear fall night.
“It’s all about the quality of light and I like it that this photographer saw and captured that – nothing more-nothing less,” judges said.
Chandler’s third-place winning entry was a photo titled “Steaming.” That photo was a photo of Halifax County High School varsity football player Troy Stephens sitting on the sidelines after coming off of the field during the fourth quarter of the Comets’ Northwest Region football game against Massaponax this past November.
Judges said, “It’s a simple but subtle moment. Thoughtful and restrained composition.”
Elmes’ winning entry was a spot news photo taken at the scene of a highway traffic accident at the intersection of Routes 360 and 58 in Riverdale. The photo depicted one of the accident victims being assisted by an EMT, the vehicles involved and the fallen highway traffic sign.
The judges’ comments on Elmes’ photo was “isolating the aftermath in the scene would have made it a stronger contender.”
This year marked the second year in a row that Elmes has been named as a winner of a Virginia Press Association award. He now has two career VPA awards.
Chandler now has 14 career VPA Awards in photography and writing.
The Virginia Presss Association contest was judged by judges from Oregon and Washington.