I just received word that I won a third place award for a feature picture in the National Press Photographer's Association Region 3 monthly clip contest for March 2009. In an earlier post I discussed awards and the state of current photojournalism after winning another award. In that month the judges said the category was weak, so it took a little of the pride of winning away, a little of the feeling good about doing good work. This picture above was given high praise and the judges this time said it was a strong category. Awards are a funny thing, as I stated before. I've taken pictures that I thought would win, but didn't and others that I felt very good about, that I took a good picture and did justice to the story, but didn't think it would win, but does. I think thats the key, does the picture do justice to the story, so that it elevates the story in order to convey its importance, or possible importance to the readers. I guess thats the key. We take pictures of probably 5-10 different band rehearsals a year, finding something new is a challenge to say the least. I think this was rewarded because we're not the only ones having to come up with a different way to tell the same basic story over and over again. Meadville Tribune photograph by Richard Sayer