Judge: Gail Stent
Medium: Digital only. Max number of images: 2 (Set and/or Open). Flora & Fauna - so anythng 'living'
Restrictions: Digital only. Two images allowed to be submitted (Set and/or Open)
Anything in the garden, weeds, botanical gardens, along the river, up the river, on the river. Bugs (ladybugs, insects). Yes - it can be ANYTHING that is living. So go wild, weird, amazing, crazy, beautiful ...
Trees
https://digital-photography-school.com/8-creative-ways-to-photograph-trees/
Flowers
https://digital-photography-school.com/10-tips-for-improving-your-flowerphotos/
Open
Set Subject
From Gail Stent
| Title | Rating | Comments |
| SET SUBJECT - C Grade | ||
| After the sprinkler | Hons | You have captured with just the right depth of field so the whole flower is very sharp, allowing a soft out of focus background. I also like your square crop showing just the subject. Well done! |
| Australian Coot Chick | Merit | Lovely early light on this baby coot. I like the subdued water background but the debris on the land is bright and quite distracting. Possibly tone this down and then the coot will stand out more, Lovely and sharp with a good capture of the chick. |
| Beginnings of a Flower | Accept | I enjoy the arrangement of the three blooms, however, I’m not sure you have focused on the right one. I feel the dominant flower is the one on the left as it’s the largest, but it’s not the most focused one. A change of camera position could benefit the camera position here. |
| Dwarf Mongoose. Kenya | Merit | This is a lovely view of the mongoose, with the camera lower than the face, looking up. It’s beautifully sharp, yet I feel the whole image is a bit flat and lacking contrast. By brightening up the subject a bit more, the image would be improved greatly. |
| Emerging | Merit | An interesting subject to photograph with the curls of the ferns creating a pattern across the image. You have chosen a good depth of field, but I find the foreground sharp parts of the image are not really at a good angle, thus becoming a bit lost in the image. |
| Hot Day | Merit | The image is lovely and sharp with great colours and detail of the tiger visible. Just a pity we are only seeing the profile of the face and not directly into it’s gaze as it drinks. |
| Koru | Hons | The simplicity and delicacy of the Koru has been captured here by means of a very shallow depth of field. Suggestions of the rest of the plant are in the background allowing the viewer to know it’s environment. Well done. |
| Lord of the Flies. Kenya | Hons | Great capture! Very sharp and detailed and captured at the right moment in mid snarl. Well done. |
| Ngaio flower | Accept | An interesting subject and nicely square crop. I feel the crop is very tight, with the petals very close to the edge - especially at the bottom. A little more breathing space may improve the image. |
| Oyster Catcher | Hons | It’s lovely to see the spread of wings on the bird, and then have it mirrored in the shadow. The Oyster Catcher is lovely and sharp with a great sparkle in it’s eye. The image could be improved if you put a slight vignette around the edge of the image to darken this down, holding the attention on the bird. |
| Protea | Merit | A very moody image for this beautiful flower. The pinks and whites stand out well against the dark background. Possibly a little lightening of the flower itself would give it a bit more life, and even a slight crop, as I feel there is a bit too much background which is not necessary. |
| Two Buddies | Accept | Lovely diagonal lines framing the two buds, creating a wonderful symmetry in the image. I feel the bright bokeh in the background is drawing my eye away from the buds, so you could either brighten the buds or tone down the bokeh. |
| OPEN - C Grade | ||
| Dinghy | Hons | Great composition in this image showing only half the boat and a lovely dynamic diagonal feeling. Good use of negative space as well. |
| SET SUBJECT - B Grade | ||
| A slither of light on a golden Gazania | Merit | Gorgeous contrasting colours in this image and well composed. I really enjoy the background and the depth of field that you have used, allowing parts of the petals to blur out. I don’t feel it’s that necessary to have that much light on the spent flower below, so you could tone this down. |
| Backend Bumble Bee | Accept | Lovely colours in this image and a great idea, but I feel the backend is not drawing my eye - the kowhai in the background is. Focus is also a bit of an issue in this image as I don’t see anything really sharp. |
| busy bee on a daisy | Merit | A well captured sharp image of the bee and I love the impressions of the field of flowers in the background. The bee will be “busy” - very apt title. The white petals of the flower on the left border are very bright and distracting. Possibly if you vignetted the image these would tone down. |
| Just a Fun Guy | Hons | Wow! This is gorgeous! Such sharp detail and a perfect depth of field. Great composition too with the slight diagonal line of the ground. |
| Nothing Like a Quick Bath | Accept | Well titled and a good capture with the fast shutter speed freezing the drops of water. Unfortunately the focus is not that sharp to show good details. |
| Pink beauty | Accept | The water drops add a lot to this beautiful rose. I feel that the image is a bit bright and would probably look better slightly underexposed with more contrast. |
| Purple and a weed | Accept | Lovely colours in this image, but I feel the composition lets it down . My eye is jumping from one to the other, wanting to look at the bigger flower which is very tightly cropped out the image. Perhaps if you were able to move slightly more to the left, you would get more of the flower and a closer gap between the two subjects? |
| Rows and Flows of Angel's Hair | Merit | Great title and a memorable abstract. One can even feel the ebb and flow of the water carrying the Angel’s Hair. I would love to give this Honours, but the blown highlights in the water are letting the image down. Perhaps if you can get back to this place and use a Polarising Filter to cut the glare, you could then get a repeat shot. Or if you can’t, try and underexpose it slightly and tone down the highlights. |
| Seaweed Crab | Merit | Lovely light in this image and you have placed your subject well in the image. I love the long shadow created by the low position of the sun. I feel the image could be improved by removing the distracting spot top left and perhaps lifting the shadows of the dark side of the seaweed. |
| Spring lamb | Hons | A beautifully sharp image and well cropped, showing just what you want to portray. The direct gaze of the mother and the nurturing moment captured fills the image with emotion. The background is not perfect, but your skill of using depth of field has allowed you to highlight the subjects in their environment. |
| Winter trees | Accept | Nicely framed between the trees, but I feel that you could crop the image more, cutting off the left winter trees that are visible outside of the “framing” and at the same time crop the bottom of the image as I feel you don’t need that much of the shadows. |
| OPEN - B Grade | ||
| Pigeon noir | Merit | A lovely silhouette image with the pigeon well placed and easily identifiable. I do find the two bits of creeper above the pigeion a bit of a distraction and could possibly be removed. |
| SET SUBJECT - A Grade | ||
| Blowing in the Wind | Accept | Interesting shot showing the flower without half the petals. The yellow stands out well against the background which is nicely blurred. I find the harsh shadows spoil the image a bit and creating shade over the image may have improved it. |
| Briar Rose | Hons | Beautiful sharp image with the pink flowers standing out well from the dark background.. I enjoy the square crop and the depth of field used here with some leaves visible and the rest blurred. |
| Chaffinch, Fringilla coelabs | Hons | Gorgeous background colours in the same tones as the Chaffinch. You have used a good depth of field to blur the background and allow subject separation. |
| Chestnut webcap Cortinarius rubrocastaneus | Accept | I enjoy the capture of the three progressively different sizes of the fungi. I feel the reflective wet surfaces are a distraction. Possibly a polariser filter may work in these conditions to cut the reflective surfaces? |
| Colourful Rose | Accept | This is a beautiful capture of the rose, however there appears to be some “greyish” areas on the edges of some of the petals. It seems to me that they were maybe highlight areas that you have tried to tone down.I do like the off centre position, but the composition may be improved if you flipped the image horizontally so that there was more space on the right with the flower on the left?? |
| Corps de Ballet, Coral fungi | Merit | Such an amazing fungi and it has been photographed well to separate it from the background. I do however find the image to be a bit flat and perhaps adding a bit of contrast could improve it. |
| forest jewels | Merit | Well photographed with some lovely sharp detail drawing the eye to certain parts of the image. I enjoy the dark background, but there are some highlights at the bottom which could be toned down to avoid the distraction. |
| Golden Crested Penguin | Accept | A well seen shot of the penguin under shelter and very interesting to see the feathers on the rock. I do find that the face is a bit soft and I feel the focus is not in the correct spot for this image. |
| Greetings | Accept | A wonderful moment with the two horses connecting. Your choice of background however is distracting with the pole and fencing coming out next to the horse’s head , as well as the large depth of field and light background taking my eye into the image rather than on the horses. |
| Grey Warbler- Riroriro | Hons | Well done on a great image. The diagonal lines, the plain background, the sharpness of the Warbler and particularly, the moment of capture. |
| In Miniature | Not Accepted | I don’t feel that this image meets the title nor the set subject. |
| Iridescent Begonia | Accept | Compositionally the image is well done using the Rule of Thirds and leading lines. However, I feel that if you had under exposed it a bit and possibly used a different depth of field, the image would be improved. |
| Kea | Accept | Lovely to see the Kea in action with it’s beak, however I feel your choice of point of view has not allowed you to capture the face well, and particularly the eye of the Kea. |
| King shags | Hons | What a gorgeous shot with great composition and well exposed for the black and white of the shags. I love the framing of the centre bird by the other birds looking in, and the indifference of the far left bird who is just not interested. |
| Pollen Harvest | Accept | A lovely dark background allowing the bee and flower to stand out. However I feel the bee is not in the best position and the lighting is a bit harsh. |
| Spring Daisies | Merit | This is a gorgeous pattern shot of the daisies with strong areas of focus and not too repetitive. I wondered if you zoomed in a bit more, the image may have been a bit stronger? |
| The Beauty of "Spent" | Accept | Very sharp details in the image and a lovely colour palette. I too enjoy spent flowers, but I feel that you haven’t quite captured the “beauty” of it here. Perhaps a different point of view and less of the bright green of the stem could allow that to be seen. |
| Wetland Biodiversity | Merit | Well spotted little fungi and insect. I enjoy the point of view you have chosen and the shallow depth of field to separate the subject from the background. Perhaps a lower exposure on the red, as well as a bit more contrast on the image would create more of a wow factor? |
| Working Bee | Hons | What a beautiful macro shot of this bee. Lovely sharp detail against an out of focus background has given you a gorgeous image. |
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