Trib photographer wins top honor

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review photographer Justin Merriman has been named the Photographer of the Year for the fourth consecutive year by the News Photographers Association of Greater Pittsburgh.

Andrew Russell of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review was the first runner-up for Photographer of the Year, and Justin Guido of the Valley News Dispatch was the second runner-up.

Trib Total Media photographers won 27 of 45 awards, including first place in nine of the 12 categories in which multiple prizes were awarded. The contest was judged by an independent panel of photojournalists and educators.

Merriman's Photographer of the Year award was for photographs taken in 2007 depicting, among other subjects, a funeral for a fallen soldier from Western Pennsylvania; photos accompanying an enterprise project on violence in the city's Homewood section; and a portrait of presidential candidate John Edwards of North Carolina.

"These awards are well-deserved recognition for superb photography produced by the outstanding group of photojournalists at the Tribune-Review and all the other newspapers under the Trib Total Media umbrella," Editor Frank L. Craig said. "They're a credit to their profession and to our newspapers."

Trib Total Media photographers won prizes in the following categories:

• Feature Photo: Merriman, second place and honorable mention.

• Sports Action: Russell, first place; Pittsburgh Tribune-Review photographer Phil Pavely, third place.

• General News: Merriman, first place; Pavely, second place and honorable mention; Pittsburgh Tribune-Review photographer Joe Appel, third place.

• Sports Feature: Guido, first and second place; Pavely, third place.

• Pictorial: Pavely, second place.

• Spot News: Pavely, first place; Russell, honorable mention.

• Portrait: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review photographer Jasmine Gehris, first place; Greensburg Tribune-Review photographer Scott Spangler, second place; Merriman, third place and honorable mention.

• Feature Picture Story: Appel, second place; Guido, third place.

• News Picture Story: Russell, first place.

• Sports Portfolio: Pavely, first place.

• Morris Berman Scholarship: Jack Fordyce, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review photo technician.

The News Photographers Association of Greater Pittsburgh was formed in 1970 to promote news photography and assist photographers in Western Pennsylvania.