2023 January Entries

Topic: OPEN Best of 2022

: 5.9 The idea of a macro shot of chicken feathers is good. The colour is attractive. As the focus is on the feathers only, the feathers need to be sharp with details. Use higher shutter speed if the chicken is moving.

: 6.0 The maker has some idea on composition. This image has too many elements and looks cluttered. Simplify by zooming in on 1 or 2 elements like the front cactus and make it sharp and focus.

: SECOND PLACE 6.5 The image is relatively sharp with a bokeh background. The girl is cute and draws attention. Image will improve if she is not merged with the person in the background. The white shirt is slightly overblown.

: FIRST P[LACE 7.0 Nice garden and relatively well captured. Pay attention to the patches of water that looks overblown from the sun. Experiment with the edit sliders for stronger impact.

: 7.2 Image has a prominent sharp focus of interest. Pay attention to the reflections on the chrome to ensure they are not overblown and less reflection of the environment. The strong colours and the many elements in the background are distracting.

: 7.5 The main focus of the image should be sharp. The lizard is overexposed. Crop tigher to bring focus to the “thief”.

: 7.4 The image captured the life on the Nile. It looks slightly oversharpened. There are many different elements in the image that it is difficult for the eye to rest on. It might be more interesting if a special area or action is zoomed in to tell the story, e.g. the line drying portion with the red clothings.

: THIRD PLACE 7.7 Maker has handled the lights very well. It would be better if all the reindeers are sharp. Prehaps crop off the top slightly to bring focus to the lights.

: SECOND PLACE 8.0 The image tells the story of the life in the Nile. All parts of the image are sharp, perhaps just slightly oversharpened. For a more focused story. Suggest to zoom in closer to show more the story of the people near the river.

: FIRST PLACE 8.5 The image has a nice calm colour pallet. It shows the neighbourhood very well. Suggest to find a special interesting story or object to create more impact.

: 6.0 The main subject of interest, the Bald Eagle is not sharp. The focus seems to be on the claws and not on the face. The face is in the shadow. There are too many branches all around the eagle. An image with clear, sharp view of the subject is more pleasing. Try with a faster shutter speed to capture all the details of the eagle.

: 6.5 Nice attempt. Suggest to straighten the horizon by checking that the people are standing up straight. The subject of interest are the climbers. Highlight them by increasing the contrast and lowering the exposure of the mountain so the climbers stand out. As it is, the climbers disappear amongst the rocks.

: 6.5 There are too many elements in the image that are drawing attention. Suggest to move the tricycle so it will not merge with the boots.

: 7.0 Good action. Would score higher if the left arm of the front player is not overblown and the faces are visible. A higher shutter speed may also help to freeze the action.

: 7.0 Good capture of a hawk with catch. Good eye contact. The bird is slightly over-sharpened from post processing. Ease off a little for a more natural look. For a pictorial image, suggest to clone off the leaves in front of the bird for a cleaner image.

: 7.0 Beautiful coloured gecko with good eye contact. Unfortuantely the face, the head, limb and tail of the gecko are not in focus.

: 7.0 Very colourful Thistle with colourful leaves. It will help if all parts of the plant is in focus. The background, especially the left side and the bottom is too clustered. Experiment with DOF for a simplified bokeh background or adjust in post.

: 7.0 Nice use of the tree as a frame. The curve on the bay complements the arch of the tree. The branch on the bottom right can be removed for a cleaner image. It is not distinct if the castle or the house is the main subject of focus in the image. If possible, suggest to move to an angle where there are less plantation that clusters around the building(s).

: 7.3 A very interesting image that takes advantage of the keyhole, the vistors and the reflection. The top of the white building is cut off. If it was cut off at time of shoot, suggest to crop off the bottom part of the image so it will be more balanced. As the scene is not symmetrical, suggest to crop off a bit of the right side, so the square structure will be on right third of the image. The tree line acts as a leading line to the structure. Suggest to also cloning off the family on the left for a cleaner image.

: 7.4 Good story, nice bokeh, clear subject of interest. It will score higher if the bird is sharp and in focus.

: 7.6 The layering colours of the mountain is very attractive. The mountain is not sharp and not in focus. The image is a bit noisy. The cloud formation on the right is not adding much to the image.

: 7.6 Good tonal range for a monochrome image. The image is sharp and has a story. The horizon is slightly off. Suggest to experiment with cropping for a higher impact to the story. Consider cropping off about 1/3 on the right side of the image , the top and the bottom. The tighter crop could still demonstrate the storm and the waves but will showcase the long dock better and even the surfer will be more visible.

: 7.9 Beautiful sunset image with a very colourful foreground. The sun is a bit too central. Suggest maker to move over to the left slightly next time or crop off a bit of the top and the right side of the image so the sun will be off centre for a more balanced image. The water is a bit noisy probably from over sharpening. Move the noise reduction and detail sliders in LR may help.

: 8.0 Gecko BY: Clay Hodson 8.0 The image is generally well shot without any blowout highlights. It is however slightly over sharpened. This is perhaps due to the texture of the skin of the Gecko.

: THIRD PLACE 8.1 Good shot of the mountain. Consider lowering the contrast, the vibrance or saturation so the mountain would look more natural.

: SECOND PLACE 2.0 Nice outdoor model shot. Good side light highlighting the hair. Watch that the right arm of the model is not overblown from the sun. Try lowering the contrast for a softer finish. Not sure if the vignette is adding to the image or not.

: FIRST PLACE 8.3 The image is generally well handled. It would be a stronger story if the maker can wait till the person to look out the window for more connection. If possible clone out the tree on the bottom left that is distracting.