Many thanks to our judge Simon Forsyth.
| Wagon Wheels | Marissa | Brandram-Adams | C | A nicely composed image. I like
the fact that the right wheel is at an angel and leaning against the larger
one. This image needs more exposure and an increase in contrast. The textures in the wood will be enhanced by lightening the image and adding some contrast. Brightening it by 100% then add contrast to separate the tones. | Accepted |
| Old Abby Ruins | Brian | Edmunds | C | The angle you have used here is
good with it leading the viewer across the image. If you had shot this
straight on that wouldn’t have happened. Personally, I would brighten this somewhat then decrease the contrast as the foliage and gateway at the end are too dark which limits the detail there. I suggest you get your monitor calibrated as I suspect it is showing differently than mine. | Accepted |
| Solitude | Lyonne | Van Robinson | C | The idea here is good and the
way you have composed it is good. There are a few things that you could do to give it more impact. I would make the water brighter as I think the meter has been fooled by its brightness and underexposed it. I would also tighten the framing by cropping off the top, bottom and right side, but keeping the same proportions. This will give the image more impact. | Accepted |
| Spill | Dennis | de Visser | C | A good idea here. I like the
fact that the tonal range is limited. I would have angled the pot towards the right a bit to reveal more of it’s shape. I guess the substance is black ink so it should be darker in the foreground. A slightly higher viewpoint would possibly work better. Because there is so much white, the addition of a narrow black line around the image would help close it off. | Accepted |
| Eyes Up | Marissa | Brandram-Adams | C | I’m not sure if the image has
been over cropped or whether the slight pixelated effect is
intentional. The image looks as if you have been a little closer than the lens can focus. I would have tried to balance this by including the right edge of the eye, by going a little further away to introduce the space on the right. | Accepted |
| Moeraki Boulders | Nathan | Green | C | This is well composed. It has
layers in the image, the first being the boulder in the foreground, then the
row in the middle, the waves behind and finally the sky. The horizon is well placed a third down from the top. I would brighten the image by around 100%. This would make the white clouds brighter and the boulders which appear too dark. If you can try reprocessing. | Accepted |
| Mud run Hose down | Lyonne | Van Robinson | C | Well seen. Composition works here. You could possibly crop the very left person. All I would do to this is increase the contrast so the water is brighter as it has light reflected off it. You can do this in processing. | Accepted |
| Rusting Relick | Brian | Edmunds | C | I’m not sure if this was a
scanned negative or is just noisy. The noise doesn’t detract from the image
though. I would give a little more space at the top, bottom and right as it feels a little tight to me. There needs to be more space between the top of the bow anyway. The image shows good detail in the wreck which is good. | Accepted |
| Plant Feature | Cliff | Boddy | C | I like the way you have
portrayed this. The texture of the wood behind it works well with the
sculpture. I would give a little more space at the bottom and the top. Also make sure that the fence is level. It looks like it is leaning down here! Exposure is great and enhances the textures. If there is more space at the top and bottom I would go back and fix this. | Accepted |
| Timeball | Barry | Swaney | C | Well framed. The sky behind it
works because of the clouds. A bald sky wouldn’t work! I would lighten the tower itself, but leave the ball and its pole untouched. You could increase the contrast on the sky to make the clouds whiter. | Accepted |
| Overgrown | Barry | Swaney | C | I like the effect here, with the
light foliage at the top working well and the darker areas further
down. The bottom of the building needs to be lightened a little to enhance the detail. Also darken the pole at the bottom as being light it draws the eye. I suggest cropping the left a little to balance things. | Accepted |
| Seen better days | Jenny | Leadbetter | C | Some woolsheds are in much worse
state than this and still used!! I like the way you have composed this with the tunnel effect. This works in B&W because of all the shapes and tones. You could actually increase the contrast a little. Crop the right at the post by the open gate so the other room doesn’t draw the viewer away from the main point of interest. | Accepted |
| Winter’s Day | Carolyn | Cosgrove | C | A pleasing image here. Composition is good. All I would do is tone down the snow to give it a little detail. This will reveal. The background and the snows texture. It’s worth going back and playing with the processing on this. | Accepted |
| Air-borne | Jenny | Leadbetter | C | This is similar to an earlier
image in B Grade. Lightening the exposure here will help as there really isn’t any white in the image. Cropping is good with the sculpture dominant. Ideally if what looks like a rose bush in the bottom centre was removed the space between the bottom and sculpture would work better. The fact that you have space between the head and the rock behind is good. | Accepted |
| Anna | Carolyn | Cosgrove | C | This is a pleasing portrait.
Exposure is good showing the lighting off well. The shadows at the chin and under the cap could do with being lightened. Also the light area in the background draws the viewer away from the subject. I would crop some of the left side off as that will balance the image up more. | Accepted |
| Tekapo Dam | Amy | Boyce | C | This is well executed. Well done
for using a long exposure to blur the water. I’m guessing that the meter has been fooled here by the water in the middle as the image is under exposed. The water in the middle is too dark and lightening it will also reveal more detail in the dark areas. If you can go back and play with the processing. Well Done! | Honours |
| Gate Not Required | Peter | O’Dea | C | Lovely composition. The shape of
the tree over the gate works well. The fence post at the far right breaks up
what could be empty space that otherwise would need cropping out. Ideally the
few branches at the right edge of the image could either be cropped out or
cloned out. While this is a low contrast image, it could benefit from more exposure and some increase in contrast. | Honours |
| Barbed Wire | Martin | Kircher | C | An excellent image here!
Exposure is well controlled with details in the light parts contained. I would crop some off the bottom as there is a bit much unnecessary space there. It will shift the horizon. Well Done! | Honours |
| Entx | Nathan | Green | C | I like the way you have looked
at the lines and shape here. This would not work in colour as it’s the shapes
and textures that make this. I feel it needs a little more contrast or a little dehaze. Composition is excellent with the viewer being led across from the left around the corner and down to the right. | Honours |
| Blurred Distortion Vol 1 | Martin | Kircher | C | Well done for thinking
laterally. The use of B&W works here as does the movement. The use of a black line around the image creates closure which is necessary. Well executed! | Honours |
| Godley Head MTB Rider | Cliff | Boddy | C | This is great!! The exposure is
good with the rider in silhouette and the sky well rendered. This wouldn’t
work as well if the sky was bland! All I would do here is crop a little off the bottom to just below the rocks. This will lower the horizon and give more impact! | Honours |
| Nervous Offering | Amy | Boyce | C | I like the expression here. The
face is nice and sharp and the expression is great. The one thing that lets this down it the fact that the hand is out of focus. Because of its placement the hand needs to be in focus. If you had focussed on the hand and increased the depth of field, the face would still be in acceptable focus. You could also darken this as I suspect the skin is darker. | Not Accepted |
| Power Grid | Peter | O’Dea | C | The subject really is the power
pylons and lines. I would crop some of the right off as there isn’t anything that adds to the image. I would also crop some off the bottom to further allow the pylons to dominate. The sky works but I’d like the hillside to have less detail. You could make this a silhouette which, even though it would lighten the sky would enhance the shapes. | Not Accepted |
| Crow Steps | C | I’m guessing that you saw the
stepped side of the building to the right. This has been shot in very bright light which has made the left building completely devoid of any detail. Because of this it draws the eye to it to the detriment of the right building. If you crop the left building out you will end up with a very narrow image. It would be better to move to the right to remove the building! | Not Accepted | ||
| Homeless | C | The framing is good here being
close . Less contrast would be good and it could be brightened as well. This looks as if it is slightly soft. Whether it’s because there is movement, or the camera hasn’t achieved focus, I’m not sure. This is a pity as the expression is good. | Not Accepted | ||
| Autumn Stroll | C | It’s a pity that this is out of
focus. It looks like you have focussed and by the time the shutter fired the
dog had moved. This is a situation where continuous focus would work. Seeing more of the tail with some space above it will help. Keep going out with the dog and practice! | Not Accepted | ||
| Duckling | Tabitha | Andrews | B | This is nice and sharp. You can
see the hair standing upon the ducklings back. There is good tonal range. Ideally, if the duckling was turned slightly towards the camera it would be better. I would ensure there is a bit more space between the rear end and the left edge. Space at the right is good. | Accepted |
| The quiet platform | Arthur | Linnell | B | I like the fact that you have
placed the front of the building on a diagonal. It would have been so easy to
have crossed the line to take it straight on. Exposure is good though you could get away with lightening the platform a little. This would give more separation between the trolley and the platform. There are some good shots to be had at this station and it would be worthwhile exploring it. | Accepted |
| a brisk morning | Lisa | Carter | B | The powerlines work well to lead
the viewer into this image. If you could enhance them it would help even
more. I find the short bit of fence at the right distracting and it doesn’t really add anything. Good exposure here in what can be a difficult situation. | Accepted |
| Moody Beach | Ross | Lawler | B | Finding compositions that work
here can be difficult. This works. I like the fact that you have used a longish exposure to show movement in the waves. This will benefit from more contrast which will give the boulders more punch. You can also crop off the top at the horizon as it really doesn’t add anything. Try reprocessing this. | Accepted |
| Country Girl | Ross | Lawler | B | The girl looks relaxed, but she
also looks bored! When working with people get them to show some expression.
This looks as though the camera is a little low. The left arm placement is ok and having the fingers bent is good. I would crop the image as the legs are where the eye tends to rest on. By placing the hand on the hip you could then crop around the shorts. | Accepted |
| Japanese maple | Alan | Dunscombe | B | Good use of lighting here. The
highlights on the leaf can be dialled down a bit. I would darken the out of focus bits at the top left and the out of focus leaf in the background. I would also try to darken part of the stem at the bottom as it leads the viewer straight through the image. | Accepted |
| Gone to Seed | Sue | Titmuss | B | Nicely photographed here. I like
the cropping. You could darken the out of focus highlights. This would be enhanced with more contrast and adjustments to give this more punch. | Accepted |
| Kea | Sue | Titmuss | B | This is well captured. The eye
and beak are sharp and the background is nicely out of focus. I’d like to see more separation between the Kea and the background! You can achieve this by lightening the bird and darkening the background a bit. Go back and try reprocessing this! | Accepted |
| Gemstone Beach | Russell | Falconer | B | This is a dramatic image with a
great sky! Everything leads into the sky with the angle of the
shoreline. The only thing I would change is lower the contrast on the bottom part as it is a bit much! There is too much blacked where there could be detail. If you make changes this would score higher. | Accepted |
| The Scale of the Temple | David | Bayley | B | While this is outside the mage
size guidelines, I will judge it. I like the juxtaposition of the motorbike and temple. Exposure is good with good detail and blacks where they need to be. The temple is straight which is good and there is good focus. | Accepted |
| Photographers at Akaroa Festival | Julie | McLean | B | This should be Photographer and
lackeys!! I like this image, with the woman looking like she is in period costume and the kids. The separation between the subjects and the background works well and the composition is good. You could add to this by making it look like a vintage image! | Accepted |
| Pebble Beach | Russell | Falconer | B | Another dramatic beach scene.
The sky is great! I would reduce the contrast on the beach and cliffs as it is too much. You can do this with local adjustments. The placement of the stone at the bottom breaks up what would otherwise be featureless. Again the angle of the shoreline works well to lead the viewer across the image. Well done! | Accepted |
| Just Cruising | Anna | Heasley | B | This is well captured and
cropped. Exposure is good. I’m not so sure about the toning, as it is a bit much for me. Waves usually convey a feeling of cold, but this is warm. I would have dialled the tone back a lot. To a certain extent that is a personal choice though. This would look good printed large on a wall. | Accepted |
| Aoraki Mount Cook | Nick | Hampson | B | This is very dramatic! The track leads the viewer into the image to the mountain and the sky. Exposure is great and the only thing I would do is reduce the intensity of the vignette. The idea of a vignette is for it to just be visible! For me if the vignette was less dominant then it would score higher. | Accepted |
| Distorted reflections | Arthur | Linnell | B | This is an interesting building
to capture. Placing the corner of the building almost on the right third works. I would darken the sky more to give it detail in the clouds. Also if you can straighten the building as it is on a lean. Apart from the sky there is good exposure of the building. | Honours |
| Art Gallery | Alan | Dunscombe | B | Well seen! This is very dramatic
and works well. It is an interesting building and what you have captured
works well with all the angles. Using black and white accentuates the lines
and shapes. I feel the image can be lightened by a stop. The angle you have used draws the viewer across the image from left to right. | Honours |
| Christchurch Art Centre | B | Well done for seeing this. Personally, I would tone down the contrast by lightening the shadows somewhat. You won’t lose the effect. In fact you could increase the exposure by a stop and still get the effect. The fact that you have used a diagonal viewpoint works well. The light area leads the viewer into the image from left to right well, but the end is too dark. Go back and reprocess it! | Not Accepted | ||
| Boat House. | B | The idea is good here and I like
the straight line of the shore and where its placed. I do think that the boat needs to be more prominent in the image as that’s the subject! Sometimes things look bigger in the viewfinder than they will appear in the final image. You could crop some off the right side her to make the boat more dominant. | Not Accepted | ||
| SOUL | B | This is an interesting
image! I’m not sure whether this is a montage or a straight shot. It certainly is attention grabbing! There looks to be some attempts at cloning out something at the bottom. This is something that takes time to learn and it is obvious here! Go and practice this!! Also the out of focus flower at the right is distracting! | Not Accepted | ||
| YOU SAID IT | B | Really this is a record
shot. As such it works, but as a portrait it has a few problems. The curve of the man’s zip almost makes the image look like it was taken in a wavy mirror! I would remove the white objects at the bottom and the hand at the left. The hand draws the viewer. You could either crop tighter, or move backwards to give a bit more space. Portraits need practice! | Not Accepted | ||
| Cambodia Portrait | B | This is nice. It will be improved if it was brighter. It is too dark and there aren’t any whites. Brighten it by a stop and play with the contrast. The highlights on the man’s head should be almost white. Even the sun on the back of the other person is too dark. The person on the left should not be included. Cutting off the feet doesn’t doesn’t work! | Not Accepted | ||
| My little bubble buddy Merlot | B | This is a cute image. Merlot
doesn’t look too happy! I like the cropping and the background. If you can bring back some details in the fur that would help. Was this a scanned negative? There are a couple of white bits near the ears that need to be removed. | Not Accepted | ||
| West Coast Surf | B | For me the toning doesn’t
work! I would crop the top to the horizon as there is nothing that adds to the image. I would also change the toning or remove it altogether. I would like to see a bit more at the bottom. | Not Accepted | ||
| Akaroa Lighthouse | B | The angle you have used here is
good. I do feel that the lighthouse, being white needs to be brighter. It
looks like that the sky has been darkened which is good, but the lighthouse
needs to be lighter. If you could straighten the image so that the lighthouse isn’t falling over that would also help. | Not Accepted | ||
| Jedi Charlie | Cindy | Signal | A | This is a very expressive
portrait. Everything is sharp including the eyes. I like the tonal range here. Framing is good with the background being just an off white tone. Well done! | Accepted |
| In the Rotoiti Rain | Sandra | Fleet | A | I like what you have done with
this. It gives off a feeling of being cold and wet. Personally, I would crop a little off the left as I feel it’s a bit unbalanced. The tones are great with just a little white on the umbrella and lots of dark tones. | Accepted |
| Living in the Vertical | Wendy | Gibbs | A | I like the patterns here. The fact that you have not shot this straight on is good and works well. I would increase the contrast to separate the whites and blacks from each other more as I feel this would make the image stand out more. | Accepted |
| Autumn leaf | Sarah | Perrins | A | I like the detail in the leaf
here. More DoF would help as parts of the leaf are soft. I would crop tighter, especially at the bottom as the dark leaf at bottom centre dominates and doesn’t add anything to the image. It looks like there is a slight warm tone to the image which works well. | Accepted |
| Wharariki | Rosie | Coster | A | This is a well executed long
exposure. I like the movement of the clouds here. Exposure and tonal range is great. I would possibly crop a little off the left side to balance things up and take a little off the bottom so the horizon is lowered a little. Also, be aware of sloping horizons! | Accepted |
| Bus Lines | Colleen | Linnell | A | Well done for looking up and
seeing this. Not many people look in any direction except straight ahead or
down in front of them. This works well in black and white because of the shapes. I would crop the bottom at the horizontal cross member. This could also be submitted into an Architecture category as well. | Accepted |
| Skateboarding | Jill | Jackson | A | Good on you for processing this
differently. Without it, this would look just like thousands’ of other images
of skateboarding! I would add a black key line around the outside of the image to close it off. Otherwise the image blends into the background. The placement of the person above centre and the curve of the well works well. | Accepted |
| Soundwaves | Cathy | Price | A | I can see how you are thinking
of the similarity of the trees and a soundwave graph. Talk about thinking
outside the square! To make this even more obvious I would increase the contrast so the trees etc are lacking in detail and look more like the soundwave. Even if you weren’t associating the image with soundwaves, it needs more contrast. | Accepted |
| Alaskan Bald Eagle | Allan | McGregor | A | This is great. The face is
dominant and sharp. I like the slight halo behind the bird. It works well. The tones are excellent and composition is great | Accepted |
| George and Rebecca | Cathy | Price | A | This is a lovely image. I like
the pose and lighting. If you look at the pose the shape is vertical not horizontal. I would crop this into a portrait format. There is nothing really on the left and right that adds to the image and by making this vertical it will remove some of the highlights which can be distracting! By changing this to a vertical it would score higher! | Accepted |
| Gorge Road | Dominic | Stove | A | I like the textures in the sky.
It shows a real storm. Watch to see that horizons are straight. You could have moved to the left to make sure the footpath was level. I would have tried to remove the white line on the road. Lightening the building under the verandah somewhat will help The front of a vehicle on the left can be cloned out and it’s a bit distracting. I would try and reprocess this. | Accepted |
| Wharariki | Graham | Dean | A | This is quite dramatic. I like
the tones in the clouds and the fact that the people are almost
silhouettes. However, I feel the rock needs to be lightened slightly as the blacks are almost too dark. This has the effect of making the trees looking like black blobs. I would lighten it slightly to reveal them better. Framing is good and apart from the rock it works well. | Accepted |
| Hey This is My Turf | Jean | Williams | A | I like the white background. By
being featureless it isn’t distracting at all. The tonal range works well here as does the use of space in the frame. The one thing that distracts me is the blurring of the wing at the right. Because it is dominant and where it is, it leads the eye to the end where it isn’t sharp. Otherwise it is well captured and processed. | Accepted |
| Bluff Boats | Dominic | Stove | A | This works well in black and
white, which enhances the textures of the paint and the wood well. Composition is ok, although you could lower the horizon somewhat as it is near the halfway point. I would crop some off the bottom. Personally, I would try to darken the sky to enhance the clouds somewhat. The horizon looks to be higher at the right end. Watch out for this as it can easily be corrected | Accepted |
| Leanne | Graham | Dean | A | The tones are lovely here. I
like the use of shallow depth of field here. The necklace is soft but the
face and ear is in focus. The only thing I would do here is crop some of the right off. There is too much black space here. While it is good to have some space for the subject to look into, there is too much here. | Accepted |
| Attitude | Cheryl | Muirson | A | This is well exposed and the
tones are great. I like the use of the arch that goes from the bottom left up
to the right. The position of the arm and hand looks a bit odd. Arms and hands can be very hard to arrange properly. Having said that the makeup allows for different posing. Having her fold her arms would work better, or getting her to point her left hand down to mimic the right one. | Accepted |
| Street Scene | Hilary | Lakeman | A | Well seen! Exposure is good. The shadow of the woman leads up from her shoes to the woman on the mural. I’m guessing you waited until the woman walked to that spot before taking the shot. | Accepted |
| The tyre swing | Catherine | Dalton | A | The viewpoint works here. While
there is plenty of interest in the background, the subject is large enough to
see the expressions. Placement of the subject, works. I would tone down the highlights where the sun is coming through the trees at the top. | Accepted |
| The Secret | Cheryl | Muirson | A | This is excellent! Composition
is great and the lighting is excellent. The expression fits the title well. She looks wistful! Placement of the hands at the bottom are good. You could also crop this so just the index finger and thumb of her left hand is showing. One point, I would clone out the line on the subjects upper left arm. | Accepted |
| We will remember them. | Karina | Templeton | A | Composition isn’t bad here.
If the image had more contrast and the horses eye was separated from the rest of its head there would be more impact and would pop. Also darken the medals so they don’t draw the eye away from the rest of the image. The angle of the boys head is good and fits with what I assume is an ANZAC parade. Well seen though. | Accepted |
| church of the good shepherd bell tower | Peter | Bradshaw | A | I like the fact that you have
used a different viewpoint here. The black and white works here as it accentuates the shapes. I would increase the contrast to accentuate the stone even more. Also you could crop some off the left and I would give more space at the top. | Accepted |
| Saint Bathans Footy | Alan | McDougall | A | A nice simple image. I like the
way the posts stand out from the sky. Also the fact that the posts are on a
lean adds to the attraction of the image. The light and contrast work here with the image. | Accepted |
| Tititea | Sandra | Fleet | A | The light is great here! The way
you have processed this and the framing is great. This looks to have a slight
blue tone which helps give a cold feeling! I wouldn’t change a thing. Excellent! | Accepted |
| Russ | Wendy | Gibbs | A | Good exposure here. The expression shows a relaxed guy. Personally, I would get Russ to turn his right shoulder more to the camera as his body looks too thin to support the head! Also the dark left side doesn’t add to the image. You could also try angling the image so the head is angled more to the left. Have a look at some older studio portraits to get an idea what I mean. | Accepted |
| Dandelion Clock | Sarah | Perrins | A | The exposure is great with the
contrast between the dandelion and the background working well. I would crop the right off as the stem is too dim to really add anything to the image and if you cropped it just here the pot edge is it will still be balanced. You could also have stopped down another stop to give a bit more DoF on the dandelion. | Accepted |
| Found | Rosie | Coster | A | The camera angle works here,
whereas it usually helps to be at the subjects level. I feel that you could darken the background a bit more to give this more punch. Also the slightly lighter bit at the left draws the eye away from the subject. All this can be dealt with in processing so all isn’t lost. | Accepted |
| Taranaki Stream | Victor | Paul | A | Lovely textures here. You can
feel the grit and the lichen on the wood. While the road is not quite centred, it works with the lean of the power pole . Processing is excellent with a great tonal range. | Accepted |
| Feather Duvet | Cindy | Signal | A | This is a lovely high key image.
The soft textures work well. The eye adds a little contrast to the
image. I would like to see more depth of field here to sharpen the closest feathers. Also I would darken the bottom right corner so it doesn’t blow out. Also a black keyline would close off the image nicely. | Honours |
| Scream | Colleen | Linnell | A | I like what you have done here
with the large shadow of the face. It works well. All I would do here is tone down the bright area of the face a little so it isn’t as bright as it draws the viewer away from the shadow | Honours |
| Into the Valley | Marilyn | Holgate | A | This is a lovely well executed
image! The tonal range is excellent and the road leads the viewer into and
around the image. Composition is great, and about the only thing I would do is slightly lighten the tops of the hills. Well done! | Honours |
| High Country Snow | Allan | McGregor | A | This is a lovely image and would
be worth hanging! The tones are lovely. All I would do here is lighten the ground at the right side to show a bit more detail! | Honours |
| In the Shadows of the Night | Marilyn | Holgate | A | This image requires some looking
at. There is detail in it, but it needs really looking at. The fact that you haven’t tried to make the scene bright is good as most night shots try to use colour to work. This recreates a dark almost sinister look which works. The light on the building at the left end helps draw the viewer into the image and around it. | Honours |
| Aging Giant Port Levy Saddle | Trevor | White (LPSNZ) | A | A beautifully executed image
here. Tones are excellent and the sky works well with the tree. Placement of the tree is great and the fact that everything is on an angle actually helps direct the viewer to the tree. Well done! | Honours |
| End of a hard day | Jan | Driscoll | A | This is lovely! The placement
and framing is good. The placement works well especially the diagonal placement of the top one. This image would not suit colour as B&W enhances the textures in the gloves. The black background works well to make the gloves stand out! Well done! | Honours |
| Interwoven | Jean | Williams | A | While I can’t work out what this
is, as an abstract it works well. The patterns work well as they all lead the viewer to the centre. Tones are great and the highlights are held well. Well done! | Honours |
| Along the lines of Escher | A | Personally, I would like to see
more contrast here.There really aren’t any whites or deep blacks! Also it s very busy. As an abstract image I feel it would work better if there was more contrast | Not Accepted | ||
| Facing | A | The idea is good here. For me there is too much space that could be removed as it adds nothing to the image. Also, large areas of white and black tend to draw the eye away from the subject. I would crop the left and right off to near the glass which would allow the subject to dominate! Also the bottom could be cropped to just below the foot of the vase. I suggest you go back and play with the c | Not Accepted | ||
| Flow | A | This is a nice abstract! I like
the movement in the image, though personally I would like to see something
sharp somewhere to focus on! Also, I feel a little more contrast would add impact. There doesn’t appear to be any max black in this image! | Not Accepted | ||
| So new. So perfect. | A | This is nicely exposed. If you look at the shape of the baby in the image, it is vertical and I think that cropping this so it is a vertical image would help this image. There is lots of unnecessary space to the left and right of the subject and being light in tone means that the subject doesn’t stand out as much as it should! I like the way the baby is positioned and the way it is sleeping | Not Accepted | ||
| Janie Seddon in the Moonlight | A | The idea of this image is good.
I like the fact that the wreck is devoid of detail and just a shape. I would tone down the moon and reflection in the water as, being blown out the eye is naturally drawn to them. I would crop the bottom so that the horizon is not at the middle of the picture. I would also crop the left and right sides tighter so that the wreck is more dominant. | Not Accepted | ||
| Same yet separate | A | The idea is good, but I am drawn
to the guy in the background as he is light toned and out of focus. I want to
find out what he is doing! This works as black and white as I suspect that the puffer jackets will be bright colours which will dominate. I would crop the right closer to the woman’s hand as I feel that everything right of it is unnecessary! Toning down the background would help! | Not Accepted | ||
| Lake Heron Reflections | A | For me personally this is a bit
flat. I would like to see more contrast as there are no whites where the sky
reflection should show as brighter. I feel the fence cuts the image in half with the dominant reflections behind it. If you had moved back so the fence wasn’t so dominant then this may have worked. | Not Accepted | ||
| Friends | A | Use of black and white works
here, as without it the girls shirt and the giraffes pattern as well as the
fence colours would compete for dominance. Exposure is good. For me there are competing subjects here. The giraffes head at the left and the girls face at the right are too far apart. Ideally, the girls face should be close to the giraffes! Also the vertical lines in the background are dominant | Not Accepted | ||
| Budding mechanic | A | A lovely portrait here. Well
exposed with great tonal range. I feel the large tyre a the left makes the composition unbalanced. While the spanner needs to be there, I would crop most of the tyre out, but keep the end of the spanner. Ideally the left should be cropped out enough to balance this, but it will remove most of spanner! | Not Accepted | ||
| Mt Cook | A | The whites of the clouds here
dominate with the rest of the image being in shadow. For me this doesn’t work. I would brighten it somewhat so that the snow on the mountain is much brighter. Ideally the white clouds should be almost blown out, whereas here they are much darker. | Not Accepted | ||
| Early Morning Mist | A | For me there isn’t actually any
focal point for the eye to grab on to. This may work in colour, but it needs more contrast to possibly work in black and white. | Not Accepted | ||
| Winter Falls | A | I like the shape of the
cascading water here. The movement of the water is captured well. I would lighten the rocks somewhat to show more detail, but not so much as to reduce impact. Composition and framing is good. I would go back and reprocess the image. | Not Accepted | ||
| Cloudscape | A | For me personally, this needs a
more dramatic sky. There is not a lot in the middle which is where the eye naturally rests. You could try to make some contrast adjustments to see if that would work, but I’m not sure. If there is colour in the clouds such as at sunset, then it would work in colour, but as it is for me it doesn’t work! | Not Accepted | ||
| Reflections | A | The idea is good here, but being
very close up it is let down by the limited depth of field! The actual leaves is where this is a problem. The light leaf just to right of centre is out of focus, but being the lightest, it draws the eye to it. If you had focussed on that you might have had enough DoF. To be safe always stop down two stops more than you think is needed. | Not Accepted | ||
| Godley Head MTB Rider | Cliff | Boddy | C | Best in Grade | |
| Art Gallery | Alan | Dunscombe | B | Best in Grade | |
| End of a hard day | Jan | Driscoll | A | Best in Grade | |
| End of a hard day | Jan | Driscoll | A | Champion |