Nelson Star photojournalist Samuel Dobrin captured a Canadian Community Newspapers Award for the photo he took of Nelson artist Mark Randell.
Dobrin was nominated in the Best Feature Photo Award category (circulation 4,000 to 12,499) for his photo of Randell that was featured on the cover of {Vurb} on May 11, 2012.
Dobrin, 23, worked at the Star as a reporter/photographer between November 2011 and May 2012. He’s is currently a freelance photographer in Kelowna.
“At a newspaper you're never really quite sure what kind of environment you'll be in from one photo assignment to the next,” Dobrin said, looking back on the assignment that garnered him the award.
“As a photographer you'll often arrive on location with limited information on what the environment will be like, or even what the story is about, with the task of making a compelling image to compliment the article it's running with.”
The Nelson Star also picked up a blue ribbon in the Canadian Community Newspapers Award’s General Excellence category, which was won by the Coast Reporter (Sechelt/Gibsons).
This year’s awards had 250 non-daily publications submit from coast-to-coast. Judges looked at 2,222 entries to determine the winners in 33 categories.
Earlier this month Dobrin’s photo was also announced as a Ma Murray Award finalist. The British Columbia and Yukon Community Newspapers Association’s annual awards will be handed out in late-April in Richmond.
Former Star reporter/photographer Megan Cole is also up for a Ma Murray Award in the sports photo category.