Golden Pholiota Fungi 21 Laura Nelson Nature Silver
J3 The subject is pleasingly photographed at eye level and the composition is good except for the very blurry green leaf and earth in the near foreground. Use a higher fstop and/or change the angle to correct this in future. The overall dark tonality of the image establishes a moody feeling and reflects the habitat of the subject. Background and leaf highlights could be toned down a little .
Cedar waxwing Feeding on Berry 24.5 DP Geoff Dunn Nature Master
J1 wonderfully sharp image with excellent detail front to back. good nature story. image is a bit tight in the frame and the tail is cropped out. better to move back a bit when shooting or crop less. J3 Very strong nature story . While the tail of the bird is cut off, this does not affect the close intimacy of seeing the bird eating .
Pitcher Plant 18.5 Roy Oldfield Nature Gold
J3 The strength of this image is that it presents a relatively rare and interesting botanical species in its natural habitat plus the colours are natural. Improvements in the composition and impact of photographing botanical subjects next time would involve moving the camera down to eye level with the subject and ensuring that there are no distractions or highlights in the background. For a subject like this with flowers on long stems one flower would likely have to be chosen as the main subject.
Hummingbird preening 23 Geoff Dunn Nature Master
J3 The nature story is good and the subject is sharp enough. The light brown stick running through the background on a diagonal is distracting and a slight change of angle when shooting might have corrected this. Chest and tail feather detail has an unnatural appearance which may have resulted from over post processing.
Ambush Bug Captures Honey Bee 24.5 DP Geoff Dunn Nature Master
J3 Strong story, sharpness, and composition. The extreme capability of camera gear to capture detail has produced a visual perception of some messy areas. Some processes in post processing applied very slightly in selected areas might help: lowering texture /clarity; removing noise; toning down the background and lightening the subject; removing selected areas of added sharpening. However the subject is very seldom captured and the nature story is remarkable.
Morning Mist 22 BPP Lan Gao Nature Bronze
J3 The colours are natural , the composition is pleasing and the fresh morning mood and reflections are good . The impact would be improved by toning down the rocks a little in the bottom right.
Common Loons 20 Derrick Butler Nature Bronze
J3 The nature story of two adult and one chick is good, sharpness is good and the water is an appropriate and natural looking background. More detail is needed in the heads of all 3 birds and this may be possible to correct in post processing by tweaking the highlights and shadows.
Canada Goose Goslings 19.5 Derrick Butler Nature Bronze
J3 The action story is good with a strong mood of chaotic flight. The composition is not strong because of the overlapping of birds and blurry light coloured lines and shapes in background that causes visual confusion. Next time try to capture a single sharp bird and if other birds are necessary for the story, they should be separated and slightly toned down. Other background elements in the image should also be slightly darker to keep the attention on the main subject.
Female Cardinal 23 TC BPP Kathleen Wheeldon Nature Bronze
J3 The bird is well captured with good eye detail. Framing the bird with green tree twigs draws the attention to the nature subject but is more a pictorial treatment, and is not consistent with nature photography where it is desirable to show the whole bird. The 2 blurry twigs in front of the subject need to be sharper as they are very eye catching .. could tone them down a little. Darker background is well done.
Egret Landing 18 Dan Copeland Nature Master
J1 the image has good potential as the maker has captured just the right moment of the bird in action. Unfortunately there are some problems with processing and capturing. the image is underexposed too much for this category, in nature we want to see the environment more than seeing a pictorial quality. the bird is not sharp, use a higher ISO and try to lock the focus as it moves. Detail is lost on the white feathers and there is an orange band on the empty area on the right. Empty space not needed.
Egret in Flight 19.5 Dan Copeland Nature Master
J3 The strength of this image is the impact of the action /nature story in strong lighting. However this is also the weakness: there is not enough detail in the highlights and dark areas. Using the RAW format when shooting would facilitate tweaking both lights and darks in post processing so that more detail can be brought out. This would likely achieve a more balanced tonality, revealing beautiful background reflections and feather detail in the bird.
Anhinga Feeding Chicks 19.5 Herb McClelland Nature Gold
J3 The nature story is good with some interesting light on the chicks heads. The lighting is very contrasty and negatively affects the ability of the viewer to enjoy the story. Some careful toning down of highlights and lightening of dark areas would help. However capturing nature images during the soft light hours at the beginning/end of the day or in slightly cloudy conditions would be a better solution .
Maple Leaves 19 Mike Moffat Nature Silver
J1 beautiful colors captured and the sunshine on them give it a nice warmth. image might have more impact if you came in close to focus on fewer leaves or moved back to show more of the colourful tree. some leaves are a bit overexposed (top and bottom).
Painted Turtle 23.5 SPP Mike Moffat Nature Silver
J3 The unusual angle and rich colouring of the turtle are very engaging. However for a nature image the reds, particularly on the log in the foreground, are a little too saturated. Colours should be natural for nature images.
Redbreasted Merganser 22 SPP Jim Orcheson Nature Silver
J3 This image captures bird behaviour well with a high shutter speed to get good sharpness of the fast moving head and water droplets. Subject is well placed in the frame and colours are natural. The white wing feathers could use more detail as could the black head ... try tweaking the whites and blacks in post processing.
Unimpressed 20 Laura Nelson Pictorial Silver
J3 The strength of this image is the capture of the child#039;s expression that shows strong emotion. The face needs to be lightened slightly in post processing. Also the background has distractions such as the light blue patch, the brown shape on the left and the light coloured shapes behind the head. A slight change of angle can eliminate these distractions when pressing the shutter release and after a while quick assessment of composition and shift of the camera position can become routine.
Splash 20 Roy Oldfield Pictorial Gold
J1 action of the splash well captured but it is a bit far from the viewer, crop the bottom off a bit, all the water is not needed. this would bring the action closer. Also increase contrasts, the image is a it flat. add a little sharpness to rock and ligthouse.
Waterfall 21 Roy Oldfield Pictorial Gold
J2 The patches of white sky do not add to the image. Unfortunately, he light is flat making the scene less attractive than it is in reality. Perhaps in this case, a slower shutter would render the flowing water in a more dynamic fashion.
Tom 18 Leonie Holmes FCAPA Pictorial Master
J1 face has been way over processed (smoothened) the skin does not look natural. part of hair on the head, mustachio and beard is blurred part is sharp as is on the shirt. suggest going back to the original image and re process. leave more room on the top and sides rather than crop so closely.
Chasing the Line 21 Michael Coomber Pictorial Gold
J3 The strength of this image is the use of long shutter speed and panning to show movement of the subject. Also conversion to high contrast black and white works well to reduce colour distractions. Some of the camera movement shadows are in front of the subject and thus conflict with the obvious forward movement of the rider, likely a panning issue. Also some halos exist where white and blacks meet .. this can be eliminated in post processing.
Above the Clouds 23 SPP Loretta Monteleone Pictorial Silver
J3 Well composed landscape with foreground, middle ground and background, with the valley forming a leading line. It is recommended that the light rocks in the foreground be toned down slightly to allow the viewer#039;s eye to move into the image more easily.
Sidewalk Reflections 20 Loretta Monteleone Pictorial Silver
J1 its a good idea to catch the reflections, it adds interest to the image however the reflections area are not the main subject. 3/4 of the image is dedicated to the items in the centre. suggest to cropping the bottom up to removing the lines there and leaving only the reflections.
Rails of Color 21.5 BPP Lan Gao Pictorial Bronze
J2 The low angle and the leading lines lead the eye into the frame. The large amount of white sky and upper portions of bare trees add little to the composition, perhaps a 16x9 format would make for a stronger presentation.
SteamPunk Woman 21 BPP Kathleen Wheeldon Pictorial Bronze
J3 The elaborate costume evokes an era in the past and creates the story of the image. However the lighting on the face is quite flat as is the expression. The backdrop does not add anything either so the lighting and backdrop are opportunities lost to enhance the story.
Elegance 22.5 Janet McNally Pictorial Gold
J3 High quality capture and good quality post processing. The lighting is good, the simple background strengthens the mood of elegance, and the colour combination of black and red is very strong. The slope of the rose creates dynamic energy. There is a little too much negative space on the left and it might strengthen the picture if it were to be cropped a little on the left.
Welcome to Urke Norway 21 Janet McNally Pictorial Gold
J2 The road makes for a leading line into the frame but ends abruptly. There#039;s a general flatness to the scene due to the lighting. Perhaps a tighter focus, eliminating the upper third would make for a stronger composition.
Falls in Trollfjord 21 Janet McNally Pictorial Gold
J2 The use of slow shutter works well but the water appears overexposed, an ND filter would have helped. The smaller water flow on the right adds little to the composition, a tighter crop would keep our attention on the main falls.
Two Points Of View 22 SPP Jon Dun Pictorial Silver
J2 Would score better as a nature image. J3 Strong story; good eye level camera angle creating intimacy; pleasing background without distractions; title really works. There is a lack of sharpness in the fish and feather detail in the bird#039;s head and neck. This may have resulted from over post processing added to improve noise reduction / sharpening. Using AI for these processing methods can cause sharpening in some areas and unnatural smoothing in other areas. It's recommended to explore ways to do this with good user control.
Lagoon and Trifid nebulas 22.5 Dan Copeland Pictorial Master
J3 Much expertise is required to capture the night sky and this exposure works well without obvious star movement and revealing these two nebulas. However creating a sense of wonder and emotional connection with the subject requires further expertise and work to open up the colours. It is recommended that the maker explore this next step in order to improve the score in a general photography competition.
Perspective 22 Ed Espin Pictorial Master
J1 a good black and white image has definite whites and definite blacks. here mostly gray. try increasing the contrast to make it pop out and thus add impact. However, it is fine as is if that is the look maker intended. excellent composition and good originality. J3 Well constructed image with strong blacks and greys. The absence of some strong lights is noted and could have increased the impact. A lower strip of grey in the image has been constructed digitally and some digital indications are clearly evident with traces of cloning. Smoothing this out would improve the image.
Muskoka Aurora 22 SPP Barbara Bialon Pictorial Silver
J1 Aurora is well captured, image has good impact. the lower area has been softened too much and probably don#039;t need so much of it, try cropping about a quarter off the bottom.. the Aurora should take most of the space in the image, the land area is good but try less.
Sun Flowers 21 Chris Sparks Pictorial Silver
J3 Strong camera angle has created a feeling of intimacy with the artist .. being in their shoes in creating the painting. Good unobtrusive background. A little extra toning of the image in post processing would help to improve the image--slightly lighten the live flowers and the the painter and tone down the wooden bench and other smaller highlights.
After the Paddle 18.5 Chris Sparks Pictorial Silver
J3 The colours are strong and natural and the reflections are beautiful. However there is not enough overall sharpness in this image . This can be corrected in future by using a higher Fstop (stopping down) to increase the depth of field, using a tripod to stabilize the camera, increasing the shutter speed, and increasing the ISO if necessary.
Georgian Bay sunset 24.5 HM SPP Barbara Bialon Pictorial Silver
J1 tone down the exposure a bit especially in the foreground. excellent depth of field clarity from front to back. good composition J3 Well captured, beautiful sunset landscape . The details of patterns and tonality of the sand are excellent. The clouds in the sky are well handled also.
Warriors of the past Spitfire and Mustang 23 SPP Mike Moffat Pictorial Silver
J3 Well done technically; composition and colours are pleasing. Impact is relatively strong for a member of the public. There is high risk and action inherent in flying so close together at very fast speeds however it is very difficult for this to come across visually. A mood of beauty and lightness (drifting through the sky) was evoked for this viewer along with a question of how the maker captured the aircraft from above and why the 2 planes have differing directions/tilts.
Long Point Sunset 21.5 Jim Orcheson Pictorial Silver
J1 fairly nice image, technically well done. it just needs something more for impact. something in the foreground, a passing far away bird, a small boat ....etc. one photography rule is do not centre the horizon however breaking the rule here seems to work as the image is quite pleasing as is. Perhaps if more land (with a bit more exposure) was photographed and less empty sky on top which would have placed horizon off centre that might have given it a different perspective as well.
