Cath won hers for her pictorial feature on a ride-along with Echuca police and Steve’s was for a four-page spread on army manoeuvres at Puckapunyal which ran in the Seymour Telegraph.
Cath said anytime you get to work alongside police gives you a flying start to getting some good images. “I was on the job with Ivy Jensen and we spent a whole shift patrolling town with two officers. But I was still surprised to get back from holidays to be told I had the award,” she said.
It is Cath’s second major award this year after receiving international recognition with her study of local firefighters on a practice drill.
Steve has been working as a freelance photographer with the paper since 2016.
He got his first camera as a four-year-old and in recent years was working as a game day photographer with AFL Victoria, covering mostly the Bendigo league.
“It would have been hard to miss getting good pictures on the day, there was so much happening,” Steve said.
“From helicopters firing rockets to tanks in combat roles and soldiers launching ground to air weaponry it was quite a show,” he said.
McPherson Media group editor (non-dailies) Andrew Mole said the work of both photographers was a cornerstone of the success of the paper – both in print and increasingly online.
“Steve joined us without any specific media or professional photography experience and has been an absolute asset to the company and the papers he works with,” Andrew added.
“While Cath had worked in photography the Riv has also been her first fulltime media role and her work has been getting better every week since she joined us,” he said.
“The hallmark of a good news photographer is their ability to innovate – and answer the phone at midnight to go and cover some breaking news story and be wide awake before they get out the door.
“Both these awards were well deserved and they were brilliant features and we all congratulate Cath and Steve on jobs very well done.”
18°C