Standardbred Canada has announced the addition of a photography category to the Media Excellence
Awards.
The media awards program, launched in 2008, is designed to honour those that have, through a piece of exceptional work, covered Canadian harness racing in a manner that is extraordinary and of broad national appeal. In the inaugural year, awards were given out for Outstanding Written Work, and Outstanding Film, Video, or Broadcast.
The new award, Outstanding Photography, will be added to the roster and winners for these three categories will be announced at the 2009 O’Brien Awards on January 31, 2010. In this category, like the others in the media program, the subject matter should be relevant to or representative of Canadian standardbred racing. Each judge will be asked to grade submissions based on the following criteria:
- 1) Technical Merit (attention to exposure, focus, quality of light, and resolution)
- 2) Composition (consideration of backgrounds, foregrounds, balance, and perspective)
- 3) Impact (ability of the photograph to grab and hold your attention)
- 4) Creativity (insight, originality, and uniqueness)
- 5) Subject Matter (potential of the photograph to inspire excitement around, interest in, or intrigue about the standardbred horse or harness racing)
Last year's winner in the Outstanding Written Work category was David Briggs, editor of the Canadian Sportsman for his feature story -- 'The Beach Boys' -- which recounted the story of Brent MacGrath and Paul MacDonell’s chance meeting and the growing legend of Somebeachsomewhere. This story was published in the July 3, 2008 issue of The Canadian Sportsman.
Horse Racing Alberta & Whiteiron Productions took first honours in the Outstanding Film, Video or Broadcast category for their feature on Warren Grant, shown during the live one-hour broadcast of the Northlands Filly Pace on CTV (Alberta and Saskatchewan, May 24, 2008). This feature told the story of Grant's amazing battle for his life following a horrific racing accident.
The deadline for submissions for the 2009 Media Awards of Excellence is Friday, December 4, 2009.
For a complete outline of the requirements, click here.