Included in an award-winning photo essay of opening day of the 2006 Evergreen State Fair was this picture of Monroe resident Marika Dunham participating in a 4-H event.

Valley View editor recognized for excellence in photo journalism

Valley View editor Lisa Allen has been taking pictures for the paper since her days as a freelance writer for the publication, 20 years ago.

“I remember the old black and white days of rolling our own film and developing it in the office bathroom,” says Allen with a chuckle. “Just as I finally got good at the developing part, we went to color. Color’s certainly nice to have now.”

The veteran newswoman and photographer has always enjoyed being behind the camera and even before she went to work for the paper, she took lots of pictures as a hobby.

“It’s been a creative outlet of mine,” explains Allen. “I like capturing moments in time, whether it’s of my grandchildren playing, my cats, my farm, or the beaches on Hawaii. They’re great mementos.”

Allen believes that pictures should tell a story at a glance and she places great importance on facial expressions when she is taking photos of people. She tends to take many shots of one event or one subject because she finds that often only one photo is good enough for publication, in her opinion.

Allen’s natural eye and gift for capturing those special moments was recognized recently at the 2007 Better Newspaper Contest award ceremony, held in Yakima on October 5th.

The contest, which is sponsored by the Washington Newspaper Publisher’s Association (WNPA), is an annual event to distinguish outstanding journalism among the more than 150 weekly and small daily papers in the state. Over 2,000 writers and photographers entered the competition this year. Allen won third place in the Best Photo Essay/Picture Page, Color for her group of five pictures taken on opening day of the Evergreen State Fair.

Ian Gleadle/staff photo
Lisa Allen, editor of The Valley View

The photos appeared on the cover of The Valley View’s August 28, 2006, edition. In describing her award-winning work, Allen says, “There was a shot of the Tualco Grange Agricultural Display, which was one of those awesome geometric displays of home-grown vegetables and jars of canned goods. The display had won a first place award at the fair. Then there was a picture of a local girl and her Holstein heifer, one of the Wacky Worm, and two shots of children enjoying the fair food and rides.”

Allen explains that she wanted to put together a group of pictures that showed the variety of events at the fair. She felt that the photo of the girl and her calf was especially appealing and adds, “I have been taking pictures of opening day at the Evergreen Fair for the paper almost every year since becoming editor (in 1994). As a retired dairy farmer whose youngsters showed their dairy animals every year there, I always make a point of hitting the cow barn first to take some shots of the 4-H kids and their calves.”

Allen’s page of pictures was evaluated on photography, text and design. In their comments about the page, the judges said, “Good photo coverage of a traditional event.”

Allen said she was very pleased when she learned of the honor.

This is Allen’s first personal award. The Valley View, however, was honored previously in 1999 with a community service recognition from the Riverview School District.

Additionally, two other staff members (Ian Gleadle and Jeanette Knutson) from the publication’s sister paper, The Woodinville Weekly, were past winners of WNPA’s contest.