Judge: Lynn Clayton
Unleash the artist within.
Include creative effects either in camera or in post-processing and go from photo to a painting, cartoon, sketch, using photography as a medium to bring something to life that only lives in your mind. The goal of fine-art photography is to express an idea, a message or an emotion. May or may not represent recognisable objects. Can include abstract, composite, creative, still life, tryptic, double exposure etc. The world is your oyster "you are the artist".
https://www.befunky.com/features/photo-to-art/
Open
Set Subject
PRINTS AND THEN DIGITALS
The judged used 4 grades. In the increasing order of
- Acceptance
- Merit
- Highly Commended
- Honours
Grade C - Open Only
Deep in the Pine Forest - Sadly this has slipped in the matt so check how you adhere your image. In C grade I won’t penalise you but I would in A Grade. I love bi forests and they are very difficult to compose, you have done well and my eye travels through the forest to the light patch in the distance. Unfortunately the image has a green cast over it all, no whites or true blacks. I suspect you’ve pushed it too much in your processing.
Merit
Grade B - Open only
Grovetown Lagoons - Congratulations on getting up early. Well worthwhile to capture the golden hour. (might have been sunset of course!) I like how the lines lead one back to the small patch of blue in the sky. It is quite busy but I am enjoying all the intricacies.
Honours
Grade A - Set Subject
Angles Lines Curves - You have put in a lot of effort here. The leaf in the centre seems a little contrived... but I agree it needed something there. Maybe a circular object to connect to the circles in the background.
Highly Commended
Kotuku - A beautifully presented work, love the fine border and clean background. Great exposure on the wings and subtle background, I couldn’t do it as well.
Honours.
Grade A - Open Subject
Foreboding - I love the mood you have captured here. The little peak of the mountain above the glacier is a great composition. The light is lovely. A very pleasing landscape.
Honours
DIGITALS
Grade C - Set Subject
Bear Rock - I really like your composition. I feel the sharpness is letting this down, which may be a result of post-production. Nik software often reduces the quality. Your border is too wide, if you use a border the International recommendation is 2mm or less.
Highly Commended
Boatshed Reflections - Very creative choice of software, it works well for a creative subject. The original photo is I imagine also quite lovely. This is a good composition.
Highly Commended
Botanical print- Delightfully simple composition and the white background fit the creative brief. Did you need the dark line around the petals? I would prefer it wasn’t there.
Highly Commended
Carrelet for fishing on the Atlantic coast - This is also a simple app to use however it really suits this seascape. Probably has made an average photo into something you might hang on your wall. Good choices. My dictionary tells me a Carrolet is a flat fish?? Your title suggests something different?/
Honours
Flower girl - For C grade you are doing some different work and experimenting. I love the colour palette here. The flowers in her hair being two toned I find distracting however a good effort./
Merit
My Twisted Sister - A clever idea for sure. Perhaps less background would make this more dramatic. The very black neck area is a little frightening and makes me rather uncomfortable.
Acceptance
Notre Dame cathedral in flames - Definitely creative...reminds me of Anaglypta wall paper! I feel this is too strong a treatment and the white are on the right hand side could be toned down. What fun you have had.
Acceptance
The colourful layers in a bin of handpicked chardonnay - It might be the title…I love Chardonnay@ Regardless this is a very intricate and fun pattern which I’m thoroughly enjoying. Beautiful colour palette.
Honours
Grade C - Open Subject
Forgotten wheel Well discovered. If only you could be there when the light warmed up the scene and cast some shadows. I would perhaps try it in monochrome as the very even light isn’t adding much. Can you return when the light is better?
Acceptance
The Handsome Quail - Beautiful Photo. However try not to cut off the top of his crowning feathers. Great feather detail and plain background. Well done. There is a tiny catch light in the eye; for a C grader you’ve done very well
Honours
Thomas’s station - This image appears twice with different titles!!! As a photographer you often have to record what you see and this is what you have done. To do well in a competition you need to add your own angle, time of day, colour or mono, composition etc. Try and return and create some magic.
Acceptance
Grade B - Set subject
After the Rain - What stunning water droplets. This could have been Honours with some cropping. The left side as a vertical is superb and removes all that distracting light brown leaf area. Lovely Bokeh and I’m really sad you didn’t notice those pale dead leaves.
Highly Commended
Blue Lighting - A very creative image. I’m not 100% sure what I’m looking at but I guess that doesn’t matter. Perhaps a camera lens and the arrow is strong.
Highly Commended
Flower in a bottle - This is very well done and very creative. The abstraction on the bottle is very pleasing. Well balanced composition great choice of monochrome.
Honours
Glass of Wine?? - Seems to me there are several glasses of wine. One of three might have been enough, it is rather busy. The carafe is rather dark and the overall feeling I get is that I’ve consumed all that wine. Simplify your story if you can but a good attempt.
Acceptance
Just lawn Daisies! - This doesn’t seem particularly creative. Lovely clean image but do those flies add to my enjoyment? I don’t think so. Your stems are very soft and I feel you’ve perhaps tried too hard by over arranging these rather than letting nature lend a hand.
Acceptance
Man in the Rain - I like Man in the Rain!! I like your thinking here and except for one thing this could have been an honours! The man’s feet are chopped off; you needed a little space below them… Lovely colour palette, great mood, sharp water droplets.
Highly Commended
Pop Art Penguin - Crazy mad colours and I love what you have done. It takes photography into the art sphere. Clever apps make it easy to do but knowing when to select these apps is a different matter.
Honours
Spaghetti on Ice - This is very creative too. I love the spaghetti however the ice seems to be unrelated, a picture of two halves. I didn’t know it was ice except for the title. What fun you had.
Highly Commended
The Sound of Trees - You have created lots of blur which is always fun. There is a darker patch on the right hand side which is distracting I feel you could have done more with this subject
Acceptance
Grade A - Set subject
Different perspective - Absolutely a unique perspective. I like this idea and feel you can perhaps do even more with this reflective pot – the shadow patterns are quite strong, perhaps tone them down a tad and have the woman hold a cup of tea perhaps.
Merit
A Singapore Scene- I do like your colour palette choice. This is soft and charming, days of old style despite the modern architecture. Did we need that entire foreground? If we do pop a duck in there- ha ha.
Merit
Bouquet of Moths - Well this is different… I rather like this treatment of the poor old humble moth. Soft delicate colours add to the design. My preference would be for a narrow 2mm border in a soft mauve or brown but the grey/blue is too strong. Despite the border -
Honours
Brain Drain - This is well thought out and a clever title. I’ve never seen picture hooks look so interesting. The concept is great however I feel a touch of red somewhere might have associated it to the brain better and you could have done a little more. It’s also cropped very tight at the base.
Highly Commended
Brancott Valley - I love the colour palette and the simplicity. The treatment is creative without losing the story. Strong converging lines – I hope Brancott buy a large print from you.
Honours
Bubbles in space Delightful arrangement or bubbles. Quite clever but I don’t stay spellbound, there is nothing to hold my interest for long. Good colour palette, sharp and ‘I’m sure fun to create.
Highly Commended
Geometric Beauty- I have no idea how you made this; it is a fun frame for a view..however the view isn’t holding up to the frame which my eye keeps going to, the wishy washy landscape is lost. Maybe find a stronger focal point.
Merit
Intersection of grass, sky, and pendulum motion - Well that’s a long title… not necessarily adding much. I love the lower left quarter but then I get lost in the space. At this level I expect more composition and creativity.
Acceptance
Kaiteriteri - What stunning water colour. My eye is doing a sea saw from the NZ bag to the boat…no real connection and the bag is a distraction for me. The treatment is fun and the original is probably beautiful, if there is an original.
Merit
Leah - I like the vibrancy in this, The very long stick makes her hand look a little un natural and maybe the stick could have been separated from her shoe, or next time use a standard size walking stick? This isn’t the prop I would expect with a young trendy woman?
Merit
Love that Grass - This definitely made me smile. The strip along the top doesn’t add much. Anyway a fun image
Highly Commended
One Evening in Europe an interesting treatment choice... The bright green is rather conflicting with the brick tones however if you like it that’s all that really matters. I do like the fact that the windows are so colourful…maybe a golden colour? /
Merit
Painted Tui - A fun treatment of the tui and kowhai. I really like the soft tones and then the bright blue sky came along and spoilt it. It dominates the image and takes my eye away from the subtlety of the image.
Highly Commended
Street Lamp - This is quite effective… creative in a subtle way. A witch on a broomstick would have been apt
Merit
Tiger - This is a very simple effect using one of the many apps. I don’t feel the photographer has put in a huge amount of thought to the suitability of this treatment in the top grade – I would have preferred a lot less of the white lines. At least they aren’t over the tigers eyes.
Acceptance
Tomatoes - another subtle form of creativity…the tomatoes now look like a metal sculpture which I quite enjoy. This screams out for a very fine border 1mm so we know how much is the background when projected on black. There are a few small spots you could clone out but I do like the image.
Highly Commended
Wiggly Wobbly Architecture - a good reflection and either water has distorted this or you’ve done it in Photoshop, regardless it is an effective treatment. It is very busy and I feel half of it would have worked and allowed the viewer to enjoy the detail in the lighter areas more. Cropping into those areas I get quite excited and they are lost in the big picture.
Merit
Winter Trees - I like the choice of monochrome. This suffers a little from being very dark at the base through to no detail at the top left of the image. It doesn’t hold my attention unfortunately.
Acceptance
Grade A - Open Subject
Blue Weed - I love the simplicity of this. Did you want this in the centre or on the third?? I do find all that green a little uninteresting… maybe crop in a little, this made it more dynamic. I do like the square crop.
Highly Commended
Ethereal in Pink - This is subtle, beautiful colour palette. Not much to say really, well composed, sharp.
HONOURS
Organic monument Well seen and a good title. However this lacks sharpness especially in the green mossy area in the centre. Good composition.
Acceptance
Print of the Month
KOTOKU – a beautiful image without fault.
Digital of the Month – between these three, a very difficult choice
1st Ethereal in Pink - this is the one picked for the club
2nd Bouquet of Moths
3rd Flower in a Bottle
Thankyou for inviting me to comment on your work. I know some of you will be disappointed but I’m sure others are happy. Creating Art is a tough subject and very subjective, out of the realms of normal photography so I say well done all of you for some amazing concepts and creativity.
Cheers
Lynn Clayton Hon PSNZ APSNZ EFIAP ESFIAP
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