mppa reflections.

Jake May, left, Neil Blake, me, and Sean Proctor celebrate after the Michigan Press Photographers Association awards banquet Saturday in Lansing. These are my best friends, and this was one of the best days of my life. I owe everything I am as a photojournalist to these people, and to Kent.

Neil, Jake, and I form the "trifecta" - a term Jake coined to describe our friendship and our pushing of each other as journalists and photographers. With Sean, we are what we call the "Rat Pack."

Since sometime last semester, we've grown together as friends and joked about winning Michigan College Photographer of the Year (CPOY), an MPPA category with three top placings and usually an Honorable Mention.

I can hardly believe it...but we did it.

Neil is College Photographer of the Year for 2010, and received Honorable Mention for Sports Picture Story of the Year. Jake is 2nd place CPOY, with an Honorable Mention for Feature Picture Story of the Year. I am 3rd place CPOY. Sean's portfolio was the last to be cut by the MPPA judges, who debated an Honorable Mention (HM), but decided against it. I can't say I agree with that decision - Sean will always be MPPA CPOY 2009's HM in our hearts - but I am blown away by what is, literally, a dream come true.

I also received first place in Feature Picture Story of the Year category for my piece, "Hearts Wide Open," which I began working on for my JRN 422 class last semester with Kent Miller (who won MPPA's Pictorial Picture of the Year). This story was essentially the first picture story I ever began. It is my biggest work so far, and it is really, as my friend Tanya says, my baby.

The all-nighters and time spent as a fly on the wall in other people's lives seem to be coming full circle. I am both buoyed and humbled by MPPA weekend. This may end up being a novel of a blog post, but I have to expound on everything I learned.

Friday's judging was a cold splash of water. One of my images (below) made it through several rounds of judging but was knocked out because of something Neil and Jake have been at me for all semester: something they call the "Libby vignette." The judges said, (and I quote) I "burnt the hell out of it." Looking at it on the big [big, BIG!] screen, I felt about two inches tall. I knew they were right. I over-edited.

EJ Bussell, 5, enjoys a candy cigarette as his cousins play wall ball behind him on the street in Mount Pleasant Mobile Home Park in Mount Pleasant, MI Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009.

I often have to learn things the hard way. Apparently this was one of those times - getting called out for over-editing by nationally renowned photojournalists burned much more than I burned down these corners.

The second part of my MPPA 2010 wakeup call came during the Multimedia category judging. I entered "Hearts Wide Open," the soundslide version, and it made it to viewing status (with 50+ entries, the judges previewed everything and selected candidates to judge at the public judging). It was then promptly chewed up and spat out.

I can't even recall any exact adjectives, but I can only say I was an ant. And the judges were holding a magnifying glass. On a beautiful day. In the Sahara desert.

They appreciated my efforts photographically, but considered my audio work and production editing very poor. This year, I was weighed, measured, and very much found wanting. The next time I work on a multimedia project, I will be vigilant about sound quality, and I will meticulously edit for a smoother viewing experience. I'm honestly still not sure where I went so wrong, but I don't ever want to be the rookie failure again. No matter how big the pond is.

Saturday, after the Feature Story and CPOY results, I was overjoyed. My "cup runneth over," with two good friends given the recognition they deserved, and placing in College Photographer of the Year.

It's surreal. A year ago, I was an art kid tripping my way through JRN 220. I remember seeing a soundslide for the first time and thinking it'd be years before I'd make multimedia pieces. Now my close friends are photographers, my camera is a staple before my wallet, and storytelling is slowly becoming integral to my thought process.

I've met some of my most respected and favorite people through photojournalism just in the past year, be they subjects or journalists. I am generally amazed by the character of people in this profession. Good photojournalists are individuals who know how to listen, and see the things that should be remembered. MPPA is an incredible experience because while you may be trimmed down, if you're paying attention, you'll come out fuller.

Looking at good pictures and absorbing criticism for two straight days is exhausting, yet affirming. It's a sort of purification process, I think - to put your work on the line and watch it roll by without the elusive "in" from a judge, or to have your heart bruise as it hammers in your ribcage, waiting to know if your piece will 'make it.' You begin to understand a standard - you are whittled down and polished. You are being refined.

And you are given the challenge and the invitation for the difficult, scary, exhilarating work you will do, and the inspiring, admirable, and significant people you will meet, over the next year. I can only hope I will have half the caliber of experiences I've been given in 2009.

[Lower set of photos: middle, by Sara Winkler, outer two, by Kent Miller]