Natural History Results 2024
Many thanks to our judge, Tony Whitehead.
| Diomedea on overcast day | Wayne Allott | C | Who doesn’t love an albatross. This looks like a Northern Royal possibly soaring at Taiaroa Head. I love overcast days for these images as it allows you to push a grey sky to white and achieve a nice highkey image. This image is almost there. Using levels to blow the background to pure white lightens up the bird to give lovely airy image so reprocessing the raw file to achieve that result would achieve an even better image in my opinion. Pano crop works but more space above the bird would also be an option. Well done. | Honours | |
| Ngaro huruhuru | Hayden McCoy | C | Excellent image of a native bee. The lighting highlights the subject and the blue and gold work well together. I would dial back the sharpening as the image looks a bit “crunchy”. Well done | Honours | |
| Marram Grass | C | Photo showing Marram grass seed heads. Lacks a clear focal point as there are a mix of in focus and out of focus so I’m not clear on the author’s intent. The background is very good and the parallel arcing lines suggest some possibilities. Maybe isolating fewer of the seed heads to focus on would have been an option to simplify the composition and provide a clearer focal point to the image. What we leave out is often more important than what we include in an image. | No award | ||
| Rakirarki | Hayden McCoy | C | Well photographed image of what appears to be a MallardxMuscovy hybrid (mulard) duck. Nice low angle with sharp focus on the bird. Daisy dotted grass provides a nice environment. I would suggest dialing back the saturation on the greens a little. | Honours | |
| Omarama Clay Cliffs | Wendy Pope | C | Image captures the geological features well with side lighting highlighting some of the sharp edges. Image seems to be lacking critical sharpness – I’m not sure if this is a resolution, camera shake or post processing issue. Blues and yellows work well together and I like the way the bushes left and right foreground have been used to contain the corners symmetrically | Accepted | |
| pied shag and chicks | Kath Cosgrove | C | Good behavioural image of a Kawaupaka/Little shag with 3 begging chicks. The sticks reinforcing the angle of gaze of the chicks on the left is nice, as are the outstretched wings and reaching of the chick on the right. Plane of focus seems to be on the adult’s face which can be challenging to achieve in dynamic situations – well done | Accepted | |
| Great Crested Grebe | Linda Ritchie | C | A nicely posed image of beautiful bird on calm water. Head angle is perfect and reflection gives a nice symmetry. I like that you have not cropped in too tight. What disturbs me is that the water surface is at an angle – using the Photoshop measure tool to drop a line from the bill tip to the tip in the reflection can correct this easily. | Accepted | |
| South Island Robin, Petroica australis | C | Nicely expose image of a Kakaruai/South Island robin. A bit of a tight crop – I would consider adding space to the right and above to decentre the bird a little. Dark background with ferns gives a nice impression of habitat. Image looks a bit soft potentially from camera shake in the dark bush environment. | No award | ||
| pied shag | Kath Cosgrove | C | Good symmetrical pose and well exposed to maintain shadow and highlight detail with this beautiful KÄruhiruhi/Pied Shag. Nice clean background but the brown colour is not very appealing. Because of the good textures and details this could be considered for presentation as a B&W and this would take away the background colour issue | Accepted | |
| Ammophila Arenaria | C | Photo shows clumps of Marram grass on a dune illustrating the reason for its introduction as a dune stabilising plant. Adding a masked adjustment to the sky or shooting with a graduated ND filter to retain some more sky detail could make this image more appealing. | No award | ||
| Blue Bottle and Seaweed | Glenis Everts | C | Well spotted beach still life of a Blue Bottle and piece of Bladder kelp. Opening up the shadows and boosting contrast and texture would be worth exploring to make the most of this. I like that you have not been tempted to crop in too tightly. | Accepted | |
| monarch caterpillar | Diane McGregor | C | A very good image of a Monarch caterpillar feeding on Swan plant. The crucial head region in sharp focus. The background has no concerning distractions. The flowers add habitat context and balance the composition. The gentle S curve of the caterpillar adds a dynamism to the image | Honours | |
| Chatham Island Jelly Fish | C | This is an interesting find but the challenge here is that shooting into the water surface reflections are creating a very low contrast image. I would encourage the author to revisit this and use the dehaze, contrast, texture and clarity controls to mitigate the low contrast. A quick play with a screenshot creates a very different and more impressive image | No award | ||
| monarch butterfly | Diane McGregor | C | A good image of a slightly worn Monarch adult. Well done to shoot with the wings flat as it enables most of the butterfly to be in sharp focus. Saturation is maybe a little aggressive for my taste – at the least I would want to dial it back a little on the greens | Accepted | |
| Cornu aspersum | C | A well seen opportunity to capture a different perspective of a ubiquitous garden mollusc. Focus seems sharpest on the small tentacles but a smaller aperture may have kept more of the snail in focus and minimised the amount of blur in the image. A small move in shooting position may have achieved a more even background highlighting the shape of the snail more clearly. The image is quite noisy with obvious chromatic aberration which makes me wonder if this was a big crop. Both issues can be mitigated somewhat in processing. For me, the complex frame doesn’t add to the image. Definitely a subject with potential. | No award | ||
| Callipepla Californica | Wayne Allott | C | Lovely image of a male California Quail in an engaging pose. Congratulations on getting down low to get an intimate view of the bird and throw the background out of focus. I would be tempted to explore a version with a little more shadow recovery as this would make the most of the lovely plumage features. Targeted channel saturation changes could reduce some of the colour distractions in the background. Overall a very pleasing image of a bird that is often fast moving and challenging to catch in a good pose. | Honours | |
| Russula Betularam | Linda Ritchie | C | I really like the feel of this image with soft mosses and delicate fungus. I like to low perspective giving an excellent background with a colour palette that balances the foreground elements. The image is very dark and could be brightened at least a stop and colour balance adjusted to make the most of the warmer tones. This appears to be a focus stacked image with near and far parts of the brittlegill in focus but unfortunately an out of focus band through the middle of the cap. Part of that may be solvable by restacking with different settings but I suspect there are at least 2 sharp slices missing from the capture. All in all a well seen image with some small technical issues that are good learning points | Accepted | |
| Erinacinae+Anatolian Karabash | C | I’m struggling to know whether this engaging image of an interaction between two animals meets the Natural History brief of an untamed animal in its natural habitat with no evidence of “hand of man”. Leniently, I assume the hedgehog is wild and a mowed lawn is part of its habitat. The image appears very low resolution with no crisp detail. Again I don’t feel this complex border treatment adds to the image but the image as a whole did bring a smile to my face. | No award | ||
| Kingfisher | B | Good image of a young KÅtare/Sacred kingfisher perched on a pine cone. Good angle to show the plumage colours and facial profile. Nice clean background but cloning artifacts lower left detract. Focus seems good but softness suggests a big crop. | No award | ||
| Monarch butterfly | B | Image of a Monarch butterfly on it’s host Swan plant. The wings are nicely focussed to show the lovely colours and patterns. A smaller aperture may have extended the depth of field to keep the head and legs sharp. It seems to be in a domestic environment with straight lines and bright colours in the background which are distracting. Changing viewing position or placing a clean background behind the plant could have improved the image | No award | ||
| Black Swan | B | Dappled light is always hard to manage.Fortunately a spot of light catches the eye giving a focal point. Might be worth trying to bring a little more detail into the shadow areas. As with small children a lower viewpoint will usually achieve a more engaging image | No award | ||
| Cabbage White Butterfly (Pieris Rapae) | Cliff Boddy | B | Nicely detailed image of a Cabbage White on flowers. Well focussed and with a clean background. The only issue concerning me is some haloing along the edge of the out of focus flowers at top edge of the clusters ?related to masked adjustments | Accepted | |
| The power of Water | B | Photo definitely illustrates the title. The concrete structures seem to be “hand of man” so not sure that this meets the brief for Natural History. Image seems rotated with water appearing to have to flow uphill before dropping down the chasm. Using the Photoshop measure tool to level the concrete structure on the far bank would solve this. If available a slightly different vantage point to eliminate or reduce the bright foliage on the right foreground may have been helpful. | No award | ||
| Nursery Web Spider (Dolomedes Minor) Nest | B | This image shows an abandoned nursery web after spiderlings have departed. It shows gorse as a common location for these nest webs. A perched fly with complementary iridescent green thorax adds a focal point to the image. Exposure and focus is good and background free of major distractions. This is the type of image that a subtle vignette can enhance. | No award | ||
| Monarch caterpillar | B | This is one of those situations where we have an interesting and appealing subject in an uncooperative pose. With most animals the head/face is important to try and include to engage the viewer and in this case it is folded down and facing away. Focus has grabbed the contrasty segments down the body so the centrally placed mass of the caterpillar is blurred. The white flowers are overexposed and devoid of any detail. A challenging situation to try and extract a good photo from. | No award | ||
| Pied Oystercatcher and chick | Brian Edmunds | B | Good image of an adult South Island Pied oystercatcher showing feeding behaviour to a chick. The image is well focused. Motion blur of the adults head conveys a sense of the movement as it pecks at the shell. The background bokeh is very busy but this is probably a quality of the lens more than something the photographer can control. Having said that a lower viewing point will always push the background further away and minimise these issues. A slightly tighter crop might work but I suspect this is already quite a large crop. | Accepted | |
| Rugged Pancake Rocks, Punakaiki | Peter Wright | B | This is an excellent image showing the unique limestone geology at Punakaiki. The choice of a slow shutter speed to smooth the sea avoids distracting from the rock textures. There is a bit of incongruous haloing around the horizon presumably from masked adjustments which could be tidied up but overall a very successful image. | Honours | |
| Harrier Hawk | B | I am a big fan of high key bird images but unfortunately this KÄhu/Swamp Harrier image is too much of a crop so suffers from poor detail. It is very contrasty with detail-less highlights on top of the wing and blocked shadows beneath. The wing pose and eye contact is very good | No award | ||
| Seal-ing the deal with a perfect sunset | Peter Wright | B | Beautiful conditions at Wharariki beach and a cooperative Kekeno/NZ fur seal too! The three elements work well together. Having said that, the right hand rock seems to be brighter and more contrasty with a warmer colour temperature than the left hand one. There is quite a noticeable halo suggesting a significant masked adjustment. This looks a little incongruous giving an HDR look to this part of the image and detracts from the otherwise good balance of the 3 components. I would have been tempted to step to the right a little to place the seal more centrally between the rocks and utilise the curve of it’s neck to run the eye up to the left edge of the right rock stack. Well done | Accepted | |
| Female Red Cardinal | A | A well focussed and well exposed image with direct eye contact. Good positioning to make use of the available light on the subject. The background is a little busy and bright so distracts from the subject. Moving slightly to the left may have brought a more shaded area as background and highlighted the subject better. | No award | ||
| Amphipsalta zelandica (cicada) exuviae | Karina Templeton | A | Well seen and executed image. A good low shooting angle to give an intimate view of the subject and focus is on the important eye area. Nice clean background without distraction. Adding some backlighting to these can really make them glow so is an option to consider. An ideal subject to practice focus stacking. | Accepted | |
| Panthera leo – Male Lion Yawning | A | A well caught moment of a yawning male lion. The mane provides a nice natural frame and a nice texture contrast to the rough tongue. | No award | ||
| Austrolestes colensonis – Blue Damselfly | Colleen Linnell | A | Well seen and well executed image of a damselfly. Focus on the important head/thorax area and well exposed. Background control good with no significant distractions. A smaller aperture may have kept the abdomen sharper but would have compromised the background. Altering position to get the subject parallel to the sensor plane would also have kept focus down the abdomen but may also have compromised the background. Something to consider in these bright direct light circumstances is using a diffuser between sun and subject to soften the light. Not always easy as you do not want to disturb the subject so an assistant is ideal! | Accepted | |
| Yellowhammer | A | This is a lovely image of a male Yellowhammer with prey on a good flax perch and clean background. All the important things are there but it appears to be a very large crop so suffers from low resolution and poor detail. I accept these opportunities occur at short notice and don’t give much time to adapt so hopefully next time a bird will land closer | No award | ||
| Fern Frond | A | I really like this image of an unfurling fern frond evoking a feeling of emerging potential – line and lighting lead the eye to the main point of focus. This is an image that could also work well in B&W as line and texture are strong components. One aspect I cannot understand or explain is the sharp tonal change just below the straight pinna on the right – this is an area of background so should be defocussed without sharp gradations. This detracts from a very good image which would have otherwise scored more highly. | No award | ||
| Heron | Sarah Perrins | A | A well focussed and well exposed image of a Matuku moana/White-faced heron fishing. The good expanse of gentle rippled water provides a good stage for the performer. These can be challenging opportunities to photograph well as there are so many elements outside of the photographer’s control. I get the impression that some clone work has been done in front of the birds forehead as there is a pale line that runs parallel to the forehead and not in keeping with the water lines in the background. I’m in 2 minds about the framing – I like the colours complementing the image content but the multiple framing elements and drop shadow add complexity that is distracting to my eye. | Accepted | |
| Dolomedes minor – Nurseryweb spider | Karina Templeton | A | Dolomedes are great spiders to work with and this is a lovely image, well focussed with a nice low shooting angle to give an intimate eye contact view of the subject and smooth background. Opening up the shadows a little more to reveal detail of the chelicerae could improve the image. Another example of an excellent subject to practice focus stacking. | Accepted | |
| Kereru in Flight | Robyn Young | A | Well done to capture this Kereru launch. Good exposure to retain detail in the highlights and record some motion blur in the wing tips. I would be tempted to try and open up a bit more shadow detail in the shaded areas of the neck and breast. Crucial to have the eye contact with the red eye and bill being a great focal point. | Honours | |
| Panthera tigris | Kristal Merry | A | I love the intensity of the stare with half open mouth. If directed straight at me I would be feeling nervous about becoming a meal! Excellent focus on the eyes with focus dropping off nicely down the body. I like how the colours and textures of the background complement the subject | Accepted | |
| Southern Bell Frog | Sue Titmuss | A | Very good image of a bell frog behaviour in habitat. I like the bulging throat with concentric interfering ripples that show it was croaking. I would be tempted to try and open the shadows a little to reveal more detail in the frog. The greens and gold in both subject and background work perfectly. | Honours | |
| Eudyptes_pachyrhynchus | A | Great Tawaki encounter. Really captures the essence of these feisty birds with attitude. I would be interested to know if this is a crop and whether there are other framing possibilities for this image. Decentering the bird to the left and looking into frame would work better for me. As presented with the bird on the right of frame and looking out of it makes the image feel a little unbalanced. The background is a little distracting especially the rock behind the penguin. This looks as though it would be hard to mitigate as it is too wide to conceal behind the bird. Exposure for black and white birds in bright sun is always a challenge and you’ve done well to show some shadow detail while maintaining detail in most of the highlights | No award | ||
| Pukeko chick | A | Very engaging image of a young PÅ«keko. Central placing of the subject works well and there are no distractions in the habitat or background. Leaving more space to include the feet (even if concealed in vegetation) would improve the image. I’m not a fan of the complex borders with drop shadows but accept it is personal preference. | No award | ||
| Welcome swallow -Hirundo neoxena | Amy Boyce | A | Lovely gentle image of a Warou/Welcome swallow who looks to have been bathing. I like the lighting and background complementing colours. This is one of the occasions where breaking the rule of having the subject look into the frame works. The lines in the right of the background reinforce the sense of motion in the blurred wingtip. My only suggestion would be to try and tone down the bright areas of the perch a little. Well done | Honours | |
| KÄruhiruhi and chick | Alan McDougall | A | Great behaviour image of an adult KÄruhiruhi/Pied shag feeding a chick. Makes me glad I didn’t have to feed my children this way! Well exposed to maintain highlight and shadow detail in bright light. The diagonal composition works well. Looking more closely you see a second (and possibly third) chick which looks trampled or even deceased highlighting the harshness of the struggle to survive. Beyond that you could even see it as a representation of the nutrient cascade that highlights the crucial role that waterbirds/seabirds play in recycling aquatic nutrients to land margins. | Accepted | |
| White-faced Heron | A | Matuku moana/White-faced herons are great subjects and this image shows the intensity of their concentration as they hunt. Nice clean surrounding to highlight the bird and reflection. Experimenting with a much lower (water level) shooting angle can dramatically improve an image from an opportunity like this | No award | ||
| Spotted Shag family | Eunice Belk | A | Kawau tikitiki/Spotted shags are my favourites shags and make stunning subjects in their breeding plumage. This image definitely doesn’t show them at their best. Take that as an observation rather than a criticism. The image is well framed by the surrounding rock without distractions and you’ve done well to get clear eye contact with all 3 birds. The adult shows the lovely breeding colours and is preening apparently disinterested in its offspring and seemingly has defaecated on one. This highlights the harsh conditions in which the chicks have to survive. | Accepted | |
| Kotuku | A | Good image of a wading KÅtuku/White heron. Colours, ripples and reflections work well. Unfortunately I find the rock peeping through the water really distracts my eye. An exposure taken if the bird waded to obstruct the rock would be the only way to mitigate this. Always hard when working with uncontrollable subjects but an angle with the bird not facing away could also be nicer. May seem picky but unless we know what we would like we may not recognise it when the opportunity arises. I continually talk quietly to birds asking for what I would like them to do – very exciting when they listen and co-operate! | No award | ||
| Matuku Moana(White Faced Heron) | Marilyn Holgate | A | A well focused image of a Matuku moana/White-faced heron in flight. Well positioned in the frame and nice to have a view down on the bird showing upper wing detail. A looser crop would be nice if there are no distractions in the background. | Accepted | |
| Litoria ewingii (Dumeril and Bibron, 1841) | Cheryl Muirson | A | Excellent image of this Southern brown tree frog. Focus and lighting highlight the subject beautifully. I would be interested to know if this is a crop from the original frame. If so a looser crop may be worth exploring as I am seeing potential for a line around the edge of the leaf going from bottom left around the edge of the leaf and then down the leaf vein at the top of frame to point to the frog. | Honours | |
| Brown Thrasher | A | Good clean image of this North American bird. No background distractions and soft light. I’m wondering how much of a crop this is as there is a softness to the image with the eye seeming not critically sharp. This would make a good identification image for a bird guide. | No award | ||
| PÄ«wakawaka – Black morph | A | Cute image of a dark morph Piwakawaka/Fantail. I like the square crop for this image but would be tempted to place the bird’s face dead centre or a little to the right of centre rather just to the left as it is. I think this small shift would improve the balance and also reduce the distraction of the yellow area in the background. | No award | ||
| Australian Crested Grebe | A | These elegant birds make superb subjects. This image evokes a feeling of calmness with the bird floating on still water with gentle concentric ripples. The extended leg looks a bit awkward and detracts from the feeling in the image. Boosting contrast a little and correcting the yellowish/green colour cast would make this image pop a little more. | No award | ||
| Kaki (Black Stilt) | Marilyn Holgate | A | Excellent image of the rare Kakī/Black Stilt. Lovely lighting on the bird showing some lovely texture and seldom appreciated mild irridescence on the wing feathers. Golden water and blue ripples leave nothing to distract from the subject and the reflection adds a nice symmetry. Well done. | Honours | |
| Entoloma hochstetteri | A | Always a thrill to find one of these blue beauties. Well exposed to show the colour and textures. I would have been tempted to try and find a shooting position that excluded the pale brown ?rimu foliage in the background as it pulls my eye from the fungus. Toning it down a little would keep it as a nice habitat element and lessens the distraction. I would be tempted to try a composition with the mushroom more vertical and balanced. There is a strange sharp line in the out of focus background just to the right of the stalk and above the dark log. I suspect this was from using the clone stamp and sampling which included the edge of the image – without this the image would have scored more highly as it is a lovely photo of an excellent specimen | No award | ||
| New Zealand Fur Seal | Steven Webb | A | Lovely tight portrait of a stretching kekeno/NZ fur seal. Critical focus is on the eye and whiskers and the use of out of focus foreground conceals while not completely hiding the ear which could have been a distraction. This is another image that could work well in B&W as line and texture are a major component of its appeal. Well done | Accepted | |
| Mt Cook Lily | A | This is an interesting image of Mount Cook lily in context. The thing I’m struggling with is the differential focus which is disturbing me. It is presumably a focus stacked image as the distant mountains are sharp beyond the blurred middle distance. The main stand of flowers is sharp as is the right foreground. The left foreground and flowers are soft. I’m unsure if this is a focus stacking issue or an edge quality characteristic of the lens. The flowers look a little overexposed and I get the impression flash was used as there are bright reflections back off the leaves and light beneath leaves that would shaded in the ambient – dialling this back a little may have been better. I like how the line of the flowers echos the edge of the middle ground and mountains but find the incongruous out of focus middle ground disturbing as it creates a feeling of background replacement. | No award | ||
| New Zealand Mantis Molting | Rosie Coster | A | A well seen and well photographed image of a subadult mantis emerging from its cuticle. The out of focus elements frame the subject well and the colour palette of subject and surrounds works well as nature intended. Focus on the subject is perfect and interesting to see the developing wing buds. It’s a pity that the highest leg touches and is clipped by the edge of the image. My only suggestion would be to tone down the brightest areas of the leaves and shed cuticle as they tend to pull the eye up in the image. Viewing images at thumbnail size is a useful trick to reveal distracting bright areas. | Honours | |
| Black swan Cygnus atratus | Trevor White (LPSNZ) | A | B&W was a good choice for this image. I really like the balance and tension of the 3 swans. I’m sure the image was timed to ensure no overlap by the duck but can’t help feel the image would have been better without it as it pulls my eye away from the swans – a case of less would be more. A square crop focussing on the left 2 swans would be another option as they have a good symmetry. Interestingly, for some reason, this image made me think of Henri Cartier Bresson’s “Sunday on the banks of the river Marne” | Accepted | |
| Black swan KakÄ«Änau | Amy Boyce | A | Lovely image of a swan wing flap, presumably after preening. The warm light on the bird and misty background work well in contrast with the cool tones of the foreground water. This is another situation where a lower shooting angle may have made a difference by making more of the low mist over the water to smooth out the background. Plenty of detail in the dark plumage but possibly a little aggressive in shadow recovery as the overall feeling is of grey plumage rather than black. A well taken opportunity in lovely light. | Accepted | |
| Crowned Woodnymph Hummingbird | Robyn Carter | A | What a stunning little bird. “bird on a stick” images can get bad press but I don’t usually go along with that view. This is a lovely portrait of a delicate bird on a delicate perch. The bird looks sharp but seems to be suffering from a lack of detail and resolution giving the impression of a big crop or some motion blur. The background is smooth and clean with no distractions and a warm colour that offsets the cool plumage tones. | Accepted | |
| Pied Shag | Steven Webb | A | Good portrait of a swimming KÄruhiruhi/Pied shag. Well exposed to maintain detail in the whites and blacks. Eye contact, low shooting angle and approaching bird make for an engaging image highlighting the colourful parts of this black and white bird. Background is good with lines reinforcing the movement and no distractions. I would explore a slightly looser crop and consider slightly reducing luminance in the blue channel which could darken the blue eye-ring and background subtly | Accepted | |
| Dotteril with Eggs in vulnerable River Bed nest | A | Looking at this image purely photographically it is a nice record of tiny bird on it’s nest in a vulnerable environment. The light direction places the bird’s face in shade which is not ideal in the harsh lighting conditions. The sticks frame the nest and bird nicely but the pale clump of detritus on the left drags the eye. At a larger perspective this image makes me anxious. The bird is standing over the eggs and looking away as if about to depart the scene. The view point is significantly higher than the bird raising the possibility that the bird was seeing the looming photographer as a threat and being disturbed. Low and slow is the best approach to birds in this vulnerable situation and if you can get close enough without disturbing them the low vantage point gives a much cleaner background. | No award | ||
| Roadrunner | A | Well timed image of a Roadrunner with a food item. This shows the lovely plumage patterns and colours against a complementary background. A lower vantage point could have given a smoother background. I would be interested to know if this was naturally foraged prey or an image made at a set-up using mealworms to attract birds. | No award | ||
| Kotuku – Ardea alba modesta | A | A well exposed image to retain the details in the white plumage against the dark background. Nice symmetry with the reflection. Exciting encounter with an iconic bird | No award | ||
| Pied Shag Phalacrocorax varius | A | Tightly cropped portrait of a KÄruhiruhi/Pied shag highlighting the colourful facial skin. A looser crop would give a less claustrophobic feel to the image. Perfect head angle to show the features. | No award | ||
| White Necked Jacobin Hummingbird | Robyn Carter | A | This is a super image of a hummingbird in flight. Well exposed against a clean background the focus is perfectly on the eye and bill. I especially like the captured wing blur. Frozen images using multiple flashes are commonly seen but I prefer these images showing some motion. Being picky, I would prefer a little more space above and to the left but this is a lovely image as it stands. Well done. | Honours | |
| Cygnus atratus | A | A nice contemplative image of a swan on calm water. The reflection adds a nice symmetry especially to the gracefully curved neck. This makes me wonder about a portrait crop focussing on this part of the image. Possibly a little underexposed as the dark plumage could show more detail and the bright background is not a pure white. I would also correct the slight angle in the water level – using the measure tool in Photoshop and dropping a line from the bill tip to the tip in the reflection gives quick way to level the image. A great image with many options to explore in processing. | No award | ||
| Bison calf | A | An engaging and well lit image of a bison calf. This is a case of where I feel less would be more. As titled the subject is the calf but my eye keeps getting dragged to the adult’s face and eyes. Cropping to focus in on the calf, even if keeping part of the adult as context would make this image stronger. | No award | ||
| Blue Triangle Butterflies Mating | A | Nice symmetry with these mating butterflies. Well focussed on the insects . I find the bright background distracting but it looks as though that may have been hard to mitigate when making the image. I think this image could be more engaging if presented with a 90 degree clockwise rotation as my instinct is to rotate my head anticlockwise when looking at it. | No award | ||
| Ngaro huruhuru | Hayden McCoy | C | Best in Grade | ||
| Rugged Pancake Rocks, Punakaiki | Peter Wright | B | Best in Grade | ||
| White Necked Jacobin Hummingbird | Robyn Carter | A | Best in Grade / Champion |