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2024 February Entries
Topic: PETS Judge: Melissa Sonnen
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BASIC LEVEL WINNERS
There were no basic level entries for February
ADVANCED LEVEL WINNERS
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- 1ST PLACE 10.0 – I find this image to be impeccable. The liked the entire frame being used to tell the story – dogs have the most peaceful sleep. The technical aspects of color balance, lighting, focus, contrast, etc. are perfect. I especially liked the kind of diagonal aspect the head makes, bringing that beautiful nose right out to the viewer. The added bonus of the single white dog hair on the cushion next to the head just finished it off for me. I wish I had taken this – even more, I wish that were my dog!
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- 2ND PLACE 8.0 – Sometimes dogs just try SO hard, and when THIS happens, they usually feel guilty. This tells a precious story – big strong pooch giving in to his weariness (but still sitting tall). The technical aspects are quite good – focus is sharp right down to the individual hairs, color of his coat is beautifully lit and the pose is great. At first, I thought that the couch and white wall were distracting, but the more I looked at this, the more I thought those elements really helped to make the dog the only subject. Good and funny shot. I would not change a thing here.
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- 3RD PLACE 8.0 – For me, this was very interesting because of the dogs being dressed up for their nap (which did not seem to bother them at all.) The scene is captured well as to lighting leaving some shadows to bury the muzzle into. The color values seem true, and the balance between the two dogs’ heads is on a nice corner-to-corner diagonal. For me there seems to be a need for just a little more “context”. We all know this is a dog bed, but I would have liked to see a little more of it surrounding these guys in front. There seems to be a little pixelation of the hair, and I suggest more PPI, or a larger raw image to avoid this (which is common on hair.)
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- 7.0 – My thoughts were at first “who is the super dog?” because both critters were nicely captured, focused and lit well, and had attractive poses. This is the tiniest of Superdogs, looking like he is about to jump into flight. The image is a good record of the relationship between Master and pet. For me, I might suggest toning down the yellow of the grass, and cloning out the black steel pole on the right, as they are really eye-catching. I just wish that SD was looking at the camera!
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- 6.8 – The overall colors in this image are really nice, and texturally it is lovely. For me, without the title, I would not know what is happening, which means the real story is lacking here. The placement of the dog in the frame is great, but I feel that the focus is overall soft (pixelation). But your dog is beautiful!
MASTERS LEVEL WINNERS
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- 1ST PLACE 10.0 – This tells me the story best. Our animal friends long to be with us and really look pitiful when that cannot be so. Here, the desire is evident, and that is a huge story. The fact that all the items are ordinary on the porch kind of places the dog in that same category.On first look, there is a lot going on around the dog until you look at the facial expression and the eye (which you CAN see). That locks you into the story. All the colors look very natural, and the lighting is also good. For me, this is an emotional image.
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- 2ND PLACE 10.0 – This “pure dog” shot gives us the sleep story, but much more – it is wonderful in technique. All the elements – light, shadow, background, focus, color rendition, subject full in the frame, etc. are there. We all know the story, but not all single subject images make us say “Awwww” like this one does. Nice job!
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- 3RD PLACE 9.0 – For me, this was very interesting because we don’t usually see our critters in this situation. The story is there in those frightened eyes. He seems to be pleading “get me out of here”. Technically, part of his ears should be there, but the story does not need that. It would be nice if some of the background was blurred (in PS) to remove the distraction of the countertop, and the shine in the right foreground.
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- HM 9.0 – We sometimes forget that not all pets are cats and dogs. This is a wonderful photo of a beautiful pet in gorgeous colors. I find the image most interesting because of the great texture, which is visible down to the closest scrutiny, The placement of the lizard on the hand is perfect with the tail curling around. Front-side lighting is superb, and the background is blurred n focus just enough to give him some context. I would like to see some light injected on the dark tail to bring out that texture too. I might suggest playing with cropping here. Cropping it down to his nose and ear makes the texture really pop, and there is still the face of the master behind him to give him context. (It might be good to Photoshop the fingernails down into the nail bed to eliminate distraction.)
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- HM 9.0 – As the category is “Pets”, having a human so prominent in the scene is OK with me in this case. The Title, My Baby, says it all. Without the happy girl, there would not be a pet here. The poses are excellent, colors are fresh, and the feeling of the story is quite strong. I find no serious distractions in the background, and the downward shot is appealing. In close-up, there is a little softening on the kitten. But I like it for an Honorable Mention.
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- 8.0 – The image is nicely shot, with very good focus for such a close picture. Both the mistress and dog are totally engaged with the photographer. I feel the dog, with the full face showing, is appropriately placed as the subject. I might suggest toning down the bright, nearly blown-out, light on the left side of her face, and adding some light to the right side of her face. Berkley could use some more light in his left eye area. The background is fine the way it is.
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- 7.0 – This sweet pup shows a curious look at something with the sharp doggy eyes. He is displayed nicely. For me, the multitude of things in the background, and the lightest part of the image being on those things, really detracted from the pup. I suggest, when photographing any pet, you always take a wider view, remembering that we can always crop, but never add to the .jpg. In this case, I feel we needed to see more of him, less of the background, and a more head-on view to make this effective.
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- 7.0 – The lucky couple (the dogs) are on an outing. Having them in the backpacks adds humor to the image, which is well-handled technically. For me, the image suits the title somewhat, however, it seems to be mostly about the humans, which really detracts from the “pets” theme a little. I love it as a PJ image, but I believe it falls a little short of the category because there is not enough relationship displayed between the humans and dogs.
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- 5.5 – Here is a case of a beautiful portrait of the pet. The image does match the title in that this appears to be a special “bed” for the pet pooch. The idea of the color match to his environment is great. Unfortunately, the focus here is off nearly everywhere except his eyes. Sometimes, an image like this is better handled when shot from a longer distance to get the focus, then cropping to the subject.
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- 5.5 – Here is a case of a beautiful portrait of the pet. The image does match the title in that this appears to be a special “bed” for the pet pooch. The idea of the color match to his environment is great. Unfortunately, the focus here is off nearly everywhere except his eyes. Sometimes, an image like this is better handled when shot from a longer distance to get the focus, then cropping to the subject.
