Hey, thanks to everyone for submitting your pics, theres some very cool stuff here-- you didnt make my (subjective) judging very easy! Hope I dont offend with the critiques-- purely subjective, and just exploring further options/possibilities.
If there was one thing that struck me overall, it was the preponderance of negative space in so many shots. I usually consider the rule of thirds as well, but its only a rule-of-thumb, meant to be broken, when its advantageous.
I think you know the first three could easily be the first six...
AlexH: (that name sounds familiar...) Beautiful colors, both the buckeye and the gaillardias. Nice composition, sharp, and perfect DOF as well. Now if only those things would learn to land right-side up!
ijohn.8.80: Great capture and timing. Good composition as well. No substitute for sharp focus, as this illustrates. Background foliage works, with no confusing diagonals-- perfect foil for the foreground subject.
I AM THE MAN: Like the extreme crop, and placement of the gull. The subdued palette/tonality unifies it all. Maybe just a bit brighter white point?
milbournosphere: Love It! Terrific comp. and crop, lighting was perfect for bringing out the smoke. I suspect that taking it to (or shooting it in) b &w emphasized the values and movement, and that color wouldve been a distraction.
psychotropic: Beautifully colored bird, nice bokeh (background blur), and a good exposure. Seems a bit soft, esp. the eye, which you want as the sharpest thing.
Rule of Thumb (for photography & painting): watch out for diagonals, like the branch on the right, that exit at a corner-- leads the eye right out of the frame at that point.
fireman32: Really like the palette on this, deep blue-greens with a hint of violet. Lighting is great, as well-- the highlight behind the butterfly on the right really makes the subject pop. Light/vs/dark. Nice & sharp. Value of the petal in the right corner fights for attention a bit?
someoldguy: Bombs away! Neat action shot-- Assume it was diving into the water? Good to have the horizon showing at the bottom, to give it context. How would this work cropped to vertical?-- the squared comp may be robbing the picture of even more drama/tension.
Cheese&Apple: Wow, I really like this. Beautiful lighting-- love the direct light on the head, and backlight on the near wing. Razor-sharp focus, and perfect placement within the frame, leaving a bit more room in front of the bird to give it room to fly...
seattle: Crazy! Is that a flying porpoise or an alien? Nice comp, the guys in front make it complete-- you know this is something special. This type of photo (easily over or under-exposed) can benefit from processing in
Lightroom, esp. the latest version. One can punch up the lights and darks even more, tone down the sky a bit, and add a little more color to a relatively monochromatic scene. Very cool.
dampfdruck: (had to type that carefully) Really like the simplicity of this. No distractions. Sharp focus in the limited depth-of-field available.
Hard to do, but just a bit more DOF might be desirable--e.g, keep that beautiful veining pattern on the near wings in focus. If the subject stays still long enough, one can try a stacked focus (combining several exposures taken with slightly varied focal points). Maybe a tad tighter crop and less green saturation?
acearchie: Nice panning, to get that action shot in such sharp (and I mean SHARP) focus. A bit dark? Looks like theres a fair amount of room to raise the white point/highlights and make things pop even more.
imac wannabe: Can anyone shoot a bald eagle that doesnt look regal? Still in question after this one! Sharp in the right place,very nice lighting. Very nicely composed.
Fezwick: This has it all! Focus, excellent composition, beautiful bokeh, simplicity, and captures the moment. Very attractive subdued palette as well. Cute sells.
hankster: Another beaut-- nailed the focus, nice background blur, and got it in a good position. Could this work as a square/vertical crop?
orangeillini14: Focus: check; composition: check. Well done!
JDDavis: Neat! Great comp-- nice to finally see another vertical! Taking us to a different place... The red smudge in the background?? (Like your Zen site-- started getting dizzy...)
MacRy: What a lonely bird... Taken from behind makes him even more forlorn. If thats a starling, he can keep his distance
.
DirtySocks85: Why not indeed! Like I didnt already have a hard enough time choosing a winner...
Thats the cardinal shot I want a chance at. Gorgeous color with the scarlet, blue, and subtle earth tones. Great shot-- if the sunlight blessed us three inches higher, fantastic.
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1ST PLACE: Fezwick!
2ND PLACE: milbournosphere
3RD PLACE: Cheese&Apple
Congrats & thanks to all!
