Intriguing Reflections 23 Geoff Dunn Creative Master
J1 Stunning, colourful image and a feast for the eyes. Quite often mirrored elements create characters. This image is no exception, from the happy deity at top to a serpent hiding in the sticks. Looking around the edges, one can see some distracting dots and squiggles that could be cleaned up. The yellow on both side edges could be toned downed a bit and try a little dodging and burning here and there to break the light symmetry.
Long Point Sandhill Cranes 19.5 James Hamilton Nature Gold
J1 Nice soft light time of day to be out shooting. Capturing the backs of the cranes is not ideal and one of the cranes seems to be wary of the photographer#039;s presence. Small amount of weeds or grasses on the bottom edge are a distraction. Birds lack detail and it seems like the editor tried to compensate by over-sharpening.
Whooper Swans in Hot Spring 20.5 Peter Chow Nature Gold
J1 Nice capture with the steam in the background and one can imagine the noise coming from the birds. Framing of the swans makes one wonder if the posturing is with each other or towards the photographer. There is some softness to the swans and they are too tight in the frame with one wing very close to the edge of the frame and one wing touching the frame. There seems to be an unnatural blemish at the shoreline above the right swan. .
Green Winged Teals 20.5 Dean Hughes Nature Bronze
J3 The photographer did well to photograph the pair together. Focus falls off behind the front bird making it difficult for the viewer to see detail in the rear bird. The image could be improved by bringing out more detail in the dark shadow areas in the tail feathers.
Great egret 24.5 HM GPP Jim Maguire Nature Gold
J2 Nice sharp image of subject in interesting pose that adds some story interest. The subject however is quite central. Adding some canvas width on the right side could improve the composition.
Song Sparrow 20.5 Laura Nelson Nature Silver
J2 Nice capture of a singing Sparrow. Decent composition. Focus on bird is a touch less than sharp and out of focus branches distract. Saturation of the blue sky would increase visual impact.
Prothonotary Warbler 22.5 Andy Langs Nature Gold
J3 The yellow adds a great pop of colour. The warbler appears centred in the image. Cropping up from the bottom would eliminate the out of focus foreground and perhaps place the subject in a more interesting position in the frame.
Peacock 21.5 Jim Maguire Nature Gold
J1 Stunning image! Would have scored much higher in the pictorial category due to the abstract element. Showing more of the bird would have a stronger nature story.
Blue Jays fan 24 DP Victor Turczynski Pictorial Master
J1 Very dramatic editing. Looks good as a Bamp;W. Image could benefit with some selective editing on the subject vs. global. Downward camera angle and composition is a little unflattering. Choice of having model wear bright piece of garment is a distraction on the bottom left corner. Having a hard time imagining subject yelling "Go Jays Go".
Fabric faces Ixchel Suarez 21 Peter McCusker Pictorial Silver
J1 Pleasing image of Ixchel with her creation and good pose to match faces in the tapestry. Seeing a little softness and wondering if this was taken handheld with slight camera shake or low aperture setting. Use of a reflector behind Ixchel, to reduce to amount of shadow, would have been beneficial.
City Density 23 GPP John King Pictorial Gold
J1 Nice pleasing detailed image with good exposure, colour and sharpness. A couple of minor distractions are the satellite dishes in the bottom left edge and the white roof on the top left side edge. Fun to explore the city in this image.
Humber Bay 21.5 Ed Espin Pictorial Master
J2 Nicely seen with decent composition. The higher contrast of the foreground shore feature competes too strongly with the background city scape making it draw more visual attention. Suggest a) cropping off a bit of the bottom and b) selectively increasing the contrast of the cityscape portion.
Solitude 21.5 Laura Nelson Pictorial Silver
J1 Solitude is a good title and one gets a feeling of it in this image. More space around the tree, making the tree smaller in the frame would emphasize the loneliness. The tree#039;s position in the frame is at a tipping point where, if the tree was positioned any further to the right, it would become an unbalanced image. Positioning the tree a little closer to centre would reduce some tension and complement the title better. Few spots need to be removed.
To the B and B 18 Cherylene Stimers Pictorial Bronze
J3 A lovely memory image. While the path works well as a lead in into the scene, there is little to keep the viewer involved. Adding a person to the scene may have helped create a story. The upper left area has blown out white areas in the sky.
Just another biker 24 DP Victor Turczynski Pictorial Master
J2 Very good subject capture and excellent composition and good natural lighting. Darkened background sets up excellent contrast. Sharpness is generally very good but minor skin patches of face are a touch soft suggesting some over/or unbalanced processing.
Burlington Pier before sunrise 23.5 GPP Jim Maguire Pictorial Gold
J1 Beautiful time of day to be out shooting and good to try this composition. The soft part of the railing is a distraction, a technical capture issue. The railing is a large leading line, leading the viewer#039;s eye out of the frame, which is not ideal. Viewer's eye does back up for second to look at the bird, but it is also heading out of frame. The contrail intersecting the bird's wing is not ideal and is also a line that helps lead the viewer's eye off the frame. Remove star and object in water.
Lotus Closeup 3 20 David Evans Pictorial Master
J1 The centre of the flower dominates the image and has a wonderful abstract quality to it along with the surrounding anthers. The bee is minor in the frame and distracts from abstractness of the image. The left edge of the image with its colour difference and brightness is also a distracting feature.
Lunch time 20.5 Roy Oldfield Pictorial Gold
J2 Interesting candid shot with decent composition. Background figure is a bit distracting. Focus is a touch soft. The image is not level i.e. the column in background is not vertical..
Lotus Closeup 5 21 David Evans Pictorial Master
J3 The water drops add interest to this lovely lotus. The small insects are distracting, consider cloning them out in post. Darkening the white area at the top of the frame would help keep the viewer#039;s eye on the main subject.
All Grown Up 23.5 SPP Ariel Andres Pictorial Silver
J2 Nicely seen or set up with the hair style, facial lighting and focus on the eyes. Consider cropping using an 8 X 10 aspect ratio thereby reducing the relative height and zooming a bit on the face.. Try a darkening vignette to accentuate the nice lighting on the face.
Early Morning Hoar Frost 20 John King Pictorial Gold
J2 Nice attempt to capture the effects of hoar frost. The processing is overworked and the brighter sky masks the effect on the upper tree. Perhaps some reprocessing and use of noise reduction software could improve.
Bus Stop 18 Dean Hughes Pictorial Bronze
J2 An interesting attempt to capture motion. The composition is good. The image is too noisy, overprocessed and may have some cloning that could be improved so the noise level is reduced.
Vendor with eye makeup 18.5 Roy Oldfield Pictorial Gold
J2 Interesting subject in an animated posture. The image has a lot of bright elements in the background and has a lot of noise. Suggest brightening the woman darkening the whites in the background as well as the the yellow behind her head to get better separation of the subject from the background. Noise reduction processing will help.
Boy In Manila 24 HM SPP Ariel Andres Pictorial Silver
J2 Nice candid capture with strong main subject with nicely textured background including a muted chicken. Suggest the motorcycle be either cropped out or the license plate and other brighter elements in left background be darkened and/or decolourized as they present a distraction. Perhaps a closer crop would also without losing the complimentary quality the background brings. This image has the potential of at least a 9.5 J3 The photographer has captured a lovely contemplative expression in great light. The bright white license plate in the background draws the viewer#039;s eye away from the main subject. Consider toning it down in post.
Light Dress 23 GPP Andy Langs Pictorial Gold
J1 Very impactful image! Light seems a little hot in areas, particularly around the head and under the arms. The cloth held by the model is a distraction from the light shape. The head of the model seems to have an unnatural shape and size. A little more clean-up editing is also required.
Lotus Closeup 1 19.5 David Evans Pictorial Master
J2 Lotus blossoms are very interesting subjects. Very little of the flower are in sharp focus. Suggest a shot taken a bit further away with a smaller aperture so a less central position might make for a more interesting composition and more of the subject could be sharper.
Fall Colours 21 Peter Chow Pictorial Gold
J3 The riders on the curved road add interest to this colourful autumn scene. The harsh light detracts from the image. The large expanse of sky does not add to the story, consider a crop from the top to draw more attention to the riders.
