WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHER TO LEAD WORKSHOP, PRESENTATION MARCH 10

HATTIESBURG - The George County High School Student Press newspaper took top honors in the 2003 Southern Mississippi Scholastic Journalism Association Conference Tuesday at The University of Southern Mississippi.

The Student Press was recognized as the best overall newspaper for 2002-2003 as part of the annual competition that is part of the spring SMSJA conference. The second place award in the Best Overall Newspaper category went to The Crest, from Mandeville High School in Mandeville, La. Third place winner was Wayne County High School's Eagle Claw. Honorable mentions in the overall newspaper category went to the Hound's Tale, from Ocean Springs High School, and The Panther Press at Petal.

In addition to the competition, about 70 students from nine schools participating in the half-day conference heard presentations on news writing, graphic design and photography from journalism professionals, including Executive Editor Jon Broadbooks, Sports Editor Van Arnold and photojournalist Annette Kennedy from The Hattiesburg American newspaper in Hattiesburg; Assistant Managing Editor/presentation Earnest Hart and photojournalist Greg Jenson from The Clarion Ledger newspaper in Jackson; and sports page designer Jared Head and photojournalist Jamie Bates from The Sun Herald newspaper in Biloxi.

Other winners in the SMSJA contest included the following:

• Best News Story: April Havens, George County, first place; Meghan Scott, George County, second place; Ashley O=Neal, Wayne County, third place; and Elli Jenjahn, Wayne County, honorable mention.
• Best Feature Story: Emily Ranager, Ocean Springs, first place; Brittany Brown, George County, second place; April Havens, George County, third place; Jordan Bradford, Ocean Springs, and Emily Susko, Mandeville High School, honorable mention.
• Best Column: Brittany Brown, George County, first place; Phillip Londeree, Petal High School, second place; Megan Kelleher, Ocean Springs, third place; Abbye West, Wayne County, honorable mention.
• Best Editorial: April Havens, George County, first place; Kyle Wall, Mandeville High, second place; April Havens and Brandy Vise, George County, third place; Timberley Triplett, Wayne County, honorable mention.
• Best Sports Story: Erin Smith, Mandeville High, first place; Emily Ranager, Ocean Springs, second place; Katie Dearman, Wayne County, third place; Crissy Sanford, Petal High, honorable mention.
• Best Page 1 Layout: April Havens, George County, first place; Mollie Partesotti, Ocean Springs, second place; Daniel Hammett, Petal High, third place; Ashley Haddad, Mandeville High, honorable mention.
• Best Inside Page Layout: Cathy Hayes, Wayne County, first place; Ashley Haddad, Mandeville High, second place; Phillip Londeree, Petal High, third place; April Havens, George County, honorable mention.
• Best Feature Photo: Hagen Danish, Ocean Springs, first place; Ashlyn Smith, George County, second place; Mollie Partesotti, Ocean Springs, third place.
• Best Sports Photo: Sean McLemore, Wayne County, first place; Heath Davis, George County, second and third place; April Havens, George County, honorable mention.
• Best News Photo: Timberley Triplett, Wayne County, first place; April Havens, George County, second place; Cathy Hayes, Wayne County, third place; April Havens, George County, honorable mention.
• Best overall Photo: April Havens, George County, first place; Lucci Chambless, Harrison Central High, second place; Christ Newbaker, Ocean Springs High, third place; Cathy-Anne Whigham, Wayne County, honorable mention.
• Best Editorial Cartoon: Amanda See, Long Beach High, first place; Karie-Anne Kirstein, Hancock Central High, second place; Krysty Mizell, George County, third place; Spencer Kingston, Mandeville High, honorable mention.
• Best Ad Larger than One-Half Page: Mollie Partesotti, Ocean Springs High, first place; Patricia Moore and Jessica Bobinger, Harrison Central High, second place; Mollie Partesotti, Ocean Springs, third place.
• Best Ad Smaller than One-Half Page: Lindsey Phillips, Ocean Springs, first place; Samantha White, Wayne County, second place; Nicole Gardner, Mendenhall High, third place; Ashley Haddad, Mandeville High, and Laura Herndon, Harrison Central, honorable mention.
• Best Overall Ad: Sadie Fryfogle, George County, first place; Ashley Haddad, Mandeville High, second and third place; April Havens, George County, honorable mention.
• SMSJA, sponsored by the Southern Miss School of Mass Communication and Journalism, sponsors a high school conference in the spring and fall each year. The date for the fall conference is Sept. 30. For more information, contact Maggie Williams, (601) 266-6746.

OCEAN SPRINGS -- Award-winning wildlife photographer Tom Ulrich will lead two photographic events at the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory on Wednesday, March 10.

He will present a nature photography workshop from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and then a talk and slide show called "Wildlife Images 2003" at 7 p.m., both at The University of Southern Mississippi GCRL.

Admission to the evening event is free and will be held in the Caylor Auditorium at GCRL. The veteran photographer will feature photos from his 2003 photographic safaris abroad and in North America. He will answer questions and sign his books during the reception following his slide show.

The registration fee for the all-day workshop is $50 per person, payable to GCRL. Registration includes a continental breakfast, light lunch and snacks. Participation is limited to 20. Though the workshop is geared toward beginners, Ulrich tailors the experience to meet needs for all degrees of skill.

"The beginners will definitely benefit from the workshop, but I always help the more advanced get something out of it also," Ulrich said. "I lead many photo trips and always find a wide range of levels."

Ulrich said participants do not need to bring their photographic equipment unless they need an explanation about some aspect of their equipment.

Topics include a brief review of the principles of photography, relationships between shutter and aperture settings, fundamental elements of composition, use and timing of fill-in flash, digital versus film photography, techniques of close-up photography, and a brief discussion of slide etiquette, the photography business and marketing.

Ulrich grew up in South Chicago, graduated with a degree in biology from Southern Illinois University and taught for four years before launching his career as a freelance photographer. He has supported himself with nature photography for the past 29 years.

His library of more than 300,000 transparencies includes birds and mammals from all over the world. His photographs have been featured in publications such as National Wildlife, Audubon, National Geographic, Montana Outdoors and Life.

He has published six nature books, including Mammals of the Rockies, Birds of the Northern Rockies, Once Upon a Frame and his 2002 release, Photo Pantanal. Dr. William E. Hawkins, GCRL executive director, said Ulrich brings the scientific and artistic worlds together.

"Tom earns his living photographing wildlife all over the world," Hawkins sad. "He is an outstanding observer and a biologist. His approach to photography is to capture his subjects exhibiting their natural behavior."

The GCRL is home to the university's Department of Coastal Sciences, the Center for Fisheries Research and Development, and the Gulf Coast Geospatial Center. The J.L. Scott Marine Education Center and Aquarium is also a unit of the laboratory. The GCRL is part of the Southern Miss College of Science and Technology. For more information, call the laboratory at (228) 872-4200.

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