American Robin Feeding on Berries 25.5 TC GPP Jon Dun Nature Gold
J1 Great capture - the maker has caught a good nature story of the Robin feeding. Background is nicely blurred where it needs be, and the subject is in focus, even with the close crop of the bird#039;s body, the motion of the wing frames the action well - giving the image a good composition. Suggest lessening the vignette, as it darkens the surrounding perhaps a bit too much.
Balcony Steps 24.5 HM SPP Jim Orcheson Creative Silver
J2 very different perspective on an architectural subject. the deep black really makes the bricks and concrete stand out. the pattern is partially random and makes me want more structure instead of each brick/concrete being so different. there is an opportunity for repeating patterns that might be more attractive.
Dahlias in Motion 22 Karen Blunt Creative Gold
J3 Dancing shapes of pink. Apparent movement ads good dynamics to the image. Interesting shapes and patterns. Suggesting not to cut off top tips of petals and give some darker space on top.
Redheaded Duck 23.5 SPP Jim Orcheson Nature Silver
J3 Good detail. Nice composition. Pleasing colors. It#039;s better to include more space in front and below the bird that is sharp than above. The background is soft, but could be even less distracting, esp. directly to the right of the head.
Eastern Black Swallowtail 22 David Evans Nature Master
J1 The maker has captured the butterfly with good technique - the subject appears sharp, and good contrast. If anything, I would suggest a bit more separation from the background when capturing nature subjects at close range.
Port Credit Harbour 20.5 Emanuele Nasello Pictorial Bronze
J2 opening the shadows under the bridge and along the wall and buildings would be a good starting point to bring some life to this image. it feels tilted down to the right. There are 2 sun flares.Perhaps shooting from a lower perspective would reduce the amount of middle ground in this image; rarely is an image taken from eye level compelling. Find something interesting to shoot in this scene, such as the snow patterns in the middle third portion of the river.
Water Main 20.5 Emanuele Nasello Pictorial Bronze
J3 Nice light on the scene. Good sharpness and depth of field. Good use of complementary color like blues and oranges. Play with your timing and tall car behind the bikes (let the truck pass). Could be vertical image with the right side cropped beyond the first wheel of the first vehicle...
Bridge at Last Light 22 SPP Lan Gao Pictorial Silver
J2 it appears that the light was so low that the shutter speed was so slow that all of the vegetation and the clouds were blurred, leaving only the bridge and buildings sharp. given that, the water is reasonable sharp, making one wonder if areas were intentionally blurred in post processing. difficult to really appreciate the overall aspect of this image.
Crimson Lift 24.5 HM SPP Lan Gao Pictorial Silver
J1 a lovely image! The angle of the bird with the wing spread is magical. the snow adds a wintery element to the image. sharpness looks like it has been increased - but doesn#039;t distract from the overall presentation - the image has a very artistic flair. J2 high key image with what appears to be purposeful grain creates a very artistic image that has high impact as an artistic shot. if it was submitted as a nature image, it would score very poorly but as a pictorial is a wonderful shot. I expect a wide range of scores is possible on this image, depending on the other judges' preferences.
Oh shit I turned my dog green 21 Brie Langs Pictorial Silver
J3 Nice clean background. Other than learning about editing hues in your program, making your dog green for the clinic does not serve any purpose. When photographing your loved pet, get lower to his/her level and capture her essence through her eyes (which we barely see in this case). Use deeper aperture to render his nose and muzzle sharp as well. Lovely dog by the way.
Daffodils in the Woods 17.5 Don Poulton Pictorial Master
J2 good exposure. most of the image is out of focus. a better perspective would be shooting from a lower position to see the center of the flowers, rather than the backs of most of them. J3 Nice soft background, get even lower to the flowers and focus on the flower heads. The exposure is fine, just could be a tad faster time for sharper capture. Consider even shallower depth of field to isolate your subject.
Journey to the stars 23 BPP Alison Hilborn Pictorial Bronze
J1 Good image, with a good graphic quality. Light is well handled, as well as technical aspects. Suggest the maker crop the bottom #039;curve' of the escalator, as the straight lines lead the viewer to the circle of the building above.
V-22 Osprey 23 BPP Alison Hilborn Pictorial Bronze
J3 Good suggestion of motion. Nice panning action. Good sky. Could be cropped a bit from the right to include more space in front of the craft and from cop and bottom to zoom in onto the craft. A bit more sharpening of various parts of the craft would help to separate it from the sky further.
Decades in a Single Note - Gowan 23 GPP Marino Favretto Pictorial Gold
J3 Without knowing the context, it is a moment in time for the viewer. The stage lighting being very harsh - the colors are clashing with each other (reds with hot pink). He is in a neat pose with a good facial expression. Could shot faster for sharper rendering and with less overexposure. Try to diminish the shocking pink tones.
Morning Mist 24 HM GPP Marino Favretto Pictorial Gold
J3 This image speaks to me on another level. It is very strong environmentally. I can imagine this in a mag publication. Good mist capture (although you lost tiny bit of detail in the whites). If you return there on another foggy day consider including even more of the angry sky.
Phantom Reflection 23.5 GPP Loretta Monteleone Pictorial Gold
J1 the maker has presented a well captured image - the juxtaposition of the object and its shadow along with the centre dividing corner and square crop make for an excellent composition. The tones of the Bamp;W are well done - and the image has a lovely vignette that brings the viewer into the centre.
On the wing of a dragonfly 21 BPP Cliff Dominy Pictorial Bronze
J3 Neat abstract image with nice contrasts. The bubbles are a good texture throughout, but they are not overly sharp. Perhaps using deeper aperture or sharpening esp. the larger ones would help overall effect. Watch out for distractions on the bottom edge.
Flames of fall 23.5 GPP Mike Moffat Pictorial Gold
J3 Beautiful colors. Nice almost abstract image. Good juxtaposition against dark background. Eliminated bright distractions in bottom right corner (watch out for what is poking in from edges). Include tidy bit more grass on the bottom (longer trunk).
Chasing a perfect sunset 18 Mike Moffat Pictorial Gold
J2 obvious cloning with a hard edge tool has created an unrealistic reflection of the photographers. suggest asking for help in improving your editing technique. J3 Nice clean background, good composition. When pasting objects into an image, take better care with selecting your edges, so you don#039;t have a halo around the reflection. Watch skin tones and don't oversaturate reds.
The Fisherman 21 Jon Dun Pictorial Gold
J3 Nice light on the main subject Avoid distractions in the front and instead zoom into the image and let him be juxtapositioned against the background. Subject himself could be sharper and some of the specular bigger spots could be eliminated for less eye distraction.
Hang On 22 SPP Cherylene Stimers Pictorial Silver
J2 exposure is good but could use a little bit more exposure on her face. a very slight crop from the left would eliminate that bit of rail in the bottom left corner. good choice of shutter speed.
Misted 21 Cherylene Stimers Pictorial Silver
J3 The spacing of the people in the image is quite good with the couple being where the mist thins apart. Compositionally, I#039;d include more space in front of her or even show what she is looking at, still keeping the couple in the image and cropping just beyond where the mist gets thick again.
Out of the gate 19.5 Cherylene Stimers Pictorial Silver
J2 good composition. the chosen shutter speed resulted in motion blur so nothing is really sharp. a higher shutter speed was required OR some post processing tools can recover this slight blur. J3 Somewhat busy image. Shoot faster to freeze the action. Slightly de-saturate distracting loud colors (like the reds and bright blues).
Identity 22.5 Janet McNally Pictorial Gold
J2 good tonal range in this bamp;w. sharp throughout. would prefer to see a bit more above the sign instead of below the sign, or at least an even amount to balance the scene with the reflection.
Milkweed Reflection 24 TC BPP Jan Huizinga Pictorial Bronze
J3 Well-chosen interesting object. Good light and exposure. If you were on a tripod shoot faster for sharper textures, if not, do use tripod for this type of setup. The wisps and texture of the body could definitely be more in focus and sharper.
Model Monika Schnarre 23 GPP Peter McCusker Pictorial Gold
J3 Nice pleasing pose with good clean colors. Good skin tones due to well exposed subject. Consider composing with less central pose, perhaps leaving more on the left and cropping the light from the right just slightly beyond her left hand.
1 abstract 19 John Bunyon Pictorial Gold
J2 so little is in focus in this image, it#039;s hard to tell what is the story. the large amount of dark out of focus subject in the bottom right foreground is a major distraction.
