Congratulations to all and a massive thanks to our judge, Tom Wilkinson.
| A GRADE | |||
| Hazy Kaikouras | Martin Kircher | I enjoy the receding layers of hills, with the haze and gentle sunlight helping to bring depth. To me the image appears a bit off-level and would benefit from straightening of the horizon. | Accepted |
| Pathway to the Scottish Highlands | I completely appreciate what you were going for with this image, but for me the pathway doesn’t quite work, as the first part leads my eye out of the right-hand side of the frame and doesn’t link up with the rest of the path. I think the lighting on the background hills is a bit plain. | No award | |
| The Storm Is Coming | What an amazing sky, with great interest. In contrast I find the bottom part of the image a bit messy and uninteresting, and lacking sharpness. I therefore don’t think there’s quite enough in the composition to give an award. | No award | |
| Autumn in Glendhu Bay | This is a beautiful scene at a beautiful time of day, however for me the composition lacks a bit of direction and the top of the mountain (with snow/clouds) loses detail in all the bright whites. | No award | |
| Lake Kaniere Eye | There is some lovely light in the sky here, however for me the composition isn’t particularly interesting. I think the reflection of the sky in the rippling water is gorgeous: for me the image would perhaps work better if the composition focused more on that particular element. | No award | |
| Bailed | There are some lovely colours in this photo, which are brought out by the dramatic lighting. Unfortunately as presented the image is mostly lacking in sharpness. | No award | |
| Mt Cook | Cheryl Muirson | I like the sense of monumental scale given by this composition. Aoraki is framed well and is completely sharp. I think the use of cooler colours helps communicate a cold and wintery feeling. | Accepted |
| Autumn in Clyde | David Bayley | I think this is a well-presented image featuring nice autumn colours. The river is a strong compositional element. I find the road distracting and the overall lighting perhaps a bit flat. | Accepted |
| Early Morning Mist | This scene, and the lighting, has a lot of potential. For me the road doesn’t quite work as a compositional element – the presented segment isn’t quite long enough to “lead” my eye. There is an unnatural halo on the closest hills, possibly due to over-sharpening. | No award | |
| White Sands | What an amazing location. There’s so much potential here for a great photo using the blocks of white and light blue colour, which I find attractive. Unfortunately there are a couple of prominent dust spots, which is a problem in an image reliant on large blocks of light colour. | No award | |
| Katoomba Cascades | Sue Titmuss | I really enjoy how well the water has been captured as it cascades down the rock – there is some lovely texture and detail. The lighting is flat, but this helps bring out the gentle detail in the water. | Accepted |
| Sunflower field | An attractive field of sunflowers, however I find the sky pretty distracting – it has a lot of detail that I don’t think is particularly attractive. The image looks as though it has been through an overly-aggressive sharpening filter. | No award | |
| Lake Brunner | This is a nice spot captured at an attractive time of day. For me, the lighting as presented doesn’t quite seem ‘œnatural’. For example, the top of the right-most tree appears very dark for something in sunlight, probably from application of a filter. Unfortunately I find this distracting. | No award | |
| St Bathans Dusk | Robyn Young | Nice light and composition. For me what really elevates this image is the person walking along the road, which I only noticed after following the path of that road up the hill. The person gives a sense of scale and story in this historic location. | Accepted |
| Valley of Fire | Pol Syrett | There is something about this image I find very engaging. I think it’s the red rocks, which are really interesting and framed very well in their environment. The sky has just enough detail to avoid being featureless, without distracting from the rocks. | Honours |
| Styx Storm | Colleen Linnell | The lighting here is stunning, and has been captured well. There is such a strong sense of foreboding, as we stand in what may be the last patch of sunlight before the onslaught of the storm ahead of us. | Honours |
| Calm waters | Sarah Perrins | This is absolutely beautiful. The patterns and colours in the water are gorgeous and framed well. The whole photo feels peaceful and visually engaging. | Honours |
| Owaka Snow | Cathy Price | I really enjoy the foreground. The snow is beautiful and creates a minimalist sense, allowing me to focus on the trees and fences. For me the sky doesn’t really add to the aesthetic and is a bit grainy – you may wish to try a tighter crop on the top. | Accepted |
| Cheviot Hills Reserve | Colleen Linnell | A very effective composition, with the pathway naturally leading the eye through the daffodils and trees. I like the fairly tight crop. You may wish to try returning at a different time when the lighting isn’t so flat. | Accepted |
| Lake Pukaki | Sarah Perrins | A classic photo, well-presented. I can’t really give points for originality and the lighting is a bit flat, but the composition, focus, and exposure are all good. | Accepted |
| Thunder Creek Falls | Marilyn Holgate | I think this photo communicates the raw power of this waterfall. The lighting draws the eye to the waterfall and to the grasses that seem to be just clinging on to the cliff in this harsh environment. | Honours |
| Rocks in the Sea | There is a lot of potential in this scene, captured at a great time of day. I’d like to get more of a sense of the power/movement of the sea – maybe capturing a breaking wave or using a long exposure, and a composition that “arranges” the rocks with more direction. | No award | |
| Gore Bay | I like how you’ve captured the waves in action. Unfortunately I think this image is a little over-exposed: the sky is a bit blown-out (which makes it dominant yet lacking interest) and the detail of the crashing water around the rock (which would be potentially quite interesting) is lost. | No award | |
| Fierce Light | I appreciate the intent behind the image, featuring a dramatic sky over an urban scene framed to look small and “over-shadowed”. For me there isn’t quite enough drama in the sky to hold my interest. | No award | |
| Kawhia Beach | When I see a scene like this I’m most struck by the sense of peace naturally felt at a beach on a summer evening. I find the lines in the sand very dominant due to their strong geometry, and distracting from the sense of peace. I think the colours are slightly over-saturated. | No award | |
| Hooker Valley | Hooker Lake is a great spot for stunning landscapes and the location of Aoraki makes for a good composition. It’s important in these places to not push post-production settings beyond what looks ‘œnatural’. There are some unnatural colours in this photo – ? saturation pushed too far. | No award | |
| Sun has Risen | A pretty scene but I don’t find anything in the composition to really elevate this above a ‘œrecord shot’. I find the rock a bit uninteresting. The horizon is crooked, which could be fixed in post-production. | No award | |
| brown hills | Lisa Carter | A beautiful range, presented in lovely light that really brings out the contours. I think the panoramic crop helps to enhance the feeling of being in a wide open space and helps to focus the composition on those hills. | Accepted |
| Tasman Lake | This beautiful location clearly has a lot of potential, particularly in such dramatic light. I think the composition is a bit cluttered. For me the ‘œstar’ is the light on the distant mountains. I find other elements, like the big triangle of rock on left, distracting. | No award | |
| Crowded for Some | This image appears to be a composite of two different photos – one for the foreground and another for the background. I believe this isn’t in keeping with the rules for this landscape competition, therefore I can’t award. | No award | |
| Misty Dawn | Allan McGregor | A nice composition. The foreground rock is sharp and interesting. The mist helps to add depth and presents the background elements in a nice soft light. | Accepted |
| Flinders Station | For me this image is about the strong geometry, both in the design of the station facade and in the patterns created by the wires. In this regard the image isn’t quite symmetrical, with the station off-centre, which for me is a significant problem. I think the background skyscraper is distracting. | No award | |
| Glyder Fawr | Shaun Denholm | Compositionally this image works for me, with my eyes drawn from the foreground rocks, down the valley and past the lakes, to the sky. The contrast/clarity of the clouds has been perhaps pushed too far – they’re starting to look unnatural to me in places. | Accepted |
| IR Reflections | Lake Ruataniwha is a very popular photography spot (for good reason!). I appreciate the use of an unusual technique to bring an original take, but for me the use of IR doesn’t enhance the sense of place or ‘œmessage’ of the photo – sorry. | No award | |
| Sunset Fire | An aptly named image – the star of the photo really is the nice red light on the background mountains. Unfortunately those mountains are lacking in sharpness. I find the foreground mountain a very prominent element that, for me, is less interesting & distracting | No award | |
| evening light | Lisa Carter | The light here is gorgeous and gives great mood to this vista. To me the composition is a bit unbalanced – I feel like the strong light on the right, and powerline heading to the right, draws my eye out of the image on that side. | Accepted |
| Mt. Kirkjufell | Shaun Denholm | An absolute classic location. I can’t really give credit for originality, but you’ve presented this scene very well, with great light and great handling of the water. | Accepted |
| Sunrise over Wanaka | Steve Lloyd | An absolute classic NZ landscape. I’m impressed that you got up early enough to get to the lookout by sunrise and that you found it at a time with no one standing there! I think you’ve handled the high contrast well. The image itself isn’t hugely original but a great one to ‘œcollect’. | Accepted |
| Ladybower Reservoir in the fog | Rosie Coster | I think the mist adds beauty and emotion to this photo. Good composition. I think it would be even better if there was just a little bit of sunlight on the bridge as currently the lighting is just a bit too uniform to have interest. | Accepted |
| Into the dell | Rosie Coster | A great image. The strong composition draws the eye along the path to the distant trees, where the lighting is excellent. It’s a pity that there’s some distracting purple chromatic abberation at top. | Accepted |
| Styx Storm | Colleen Linnell | The lighting here is stunning, and has been captured well. There is such a strong sense of foreboding, as we stand in what may be the last patch of sunlight before the onslaught of the storm ahead of us. | Honours |
| B GRADE | |||
| Green | Anna Heasley | A really nice idea, contrasting the green on the rocks with that in the water. The light on the rock at the left is a bit harsh, which I think distracts a bit from the greens. | Accepted |
| Kaikoura | Joanna Clegg | There are some really attractive elements here. I really like the textures in the flowing foreground water, which both mirror and contrast the shapes seen in the clouds. The gentle light on the receding mountain range works well. | Honours |
| Milford Sound | Joanna Clegg | A regularly photographed area, but I think you’ve presented it well. I certainly appreciate the majesty of this spectacular location. The sky is a little blown-out in places but I like the mist and more subtle light in the background. | Honours |
| landscape | For me the clear compositional focal point of this photo is the hut. However, I don’t think the lighting particularly suits the hut, which is largely in shadow while there is harsh light on some of the less interesting surrounding fields. | No award | |
| landscape 2 | For me this is really another ‘œrecord shot’. Most people standing at this spot would take a similar photo – I don’t get a sense of what you, as an artist, have added to the scene | No award | |
| Changing Seasons | An attractive spot but I find the composition a bit cluttered – there’s a lot going on with nothing to really guide the viewer where to look. The snow on the mountain is blown-out and therefore carries a lot of visual weight, but I find it a bit unattractive. The tight crop at top creates tension. | No award | |
| Clay cliffs | Arthur Linnell | I like how you’ve presented the cliff face simply and clearly, without distracting elements. I enjoy letting my eye take in the interesting features of the cliff. You may find the lighting more favourable at another time of day. As it is, the cliff is in shadow and surrounding bushes in direct sun | Accepted |
| Island time | A classic subject. The high contrast and strong lines of the trees give this photo an almost graphic quality. Unfortunately for me the composition doesn’t quite work. I think it would be stronger if the central palm didn’t ‘œtouch’ the island and the black triangle in top right wasn’t there | No award | |
| setting sun Nevis valley | Brian Edmunds | A great scene. The road leads the eye nicely to the attractive low clouds and mountain range. This image was taken at a great time of day. To further improve I suggest reducing the exposure as there is some blown-out sky, and remove the dust spots in the sky. | Accepted |
| Mist Approaching | I like the the receding hills and focal point of the red building. Unfortunately almost the entire image is out of focus. I think the amount of mist is very subtle, such that I’m struggling to appreciate this as being the key feature of the image (as the title would suggest) | No award | |
| Gore Bay | A nice spot, but for me the composition doesn’t really have much interest and the lighting is a bit flat, so I can’t really consider this photo as more than a ‘œrecord shot’. | No award | |
| Road to Snowhere | Lyonne Van Robinson | Great subject and I enjoy the high-contrast treatment. The composition may be stronger if you stood in the middle of the road (although that may be an issue for road safety!). Unfortunately there is some prominent ‘œbanding’ in the sky, which I find distracting. | Accepted |
| long and winding road | Brian Edmunds | A really photogenic subject in great light. The road is such a great compositional element. It draws my eye along its winding length to the mountains in the background, but unfortunately those mountains then have a pretty unnatural blue ‘œglow’ and the horizon is crooked. | Accepted |
| Motunau Island | As the title suggests, this photo is all about the island. For me the island isn’t particularly interesting for such a prominent compositional element. Perhaps if the foreground and beach were not included the photo could be about the isolation of the island, which may be more interesting? | No award | |
| Pegasus Beach at Night | Cliff Boddy | A classic sunset scene. I enjoy the light on the background hills. For me the foreground tree is a bit uninteresting for such a prominent compositional element and I find the green of the grasses somewhat unnatural – possibly from pushing contrast/saturation too far in post-production? | Accepted |
| Pink | Anna Heasley | I really like this subject and the strong composition. The silhouetting of the wires adds real character and the colour in the sky is lovely. Unfortunately the grass has an unnatural pink hue. | Accepted |
| West Coast Landscape | Peter O’Dea | A spectacular sky, captured well. I think images like these benefit from also having an interesting foreground, and I find the sand-spit (although forming a compositionally strong central triangle) a bit plain. | Accepted |
| Hakatere Station | For me this image is all about the shed, which I find attractive. Often in composition ‘œless is more’. I find other aspects of the photo (such as the foreground fence) distracting and I think unnecessary to convey the ‘œmessage’ of the shed and its surroundings. A tighter crop may work. | No award | |
| Kaikoura | Joanna Clegg | There are some really attractive elements here. I really like the textures in the flowing foreground water, which both mirror and contrast the shapes seen in the clouds. The gentle light on the receding mountain range works well. | Honours |
| C GRADE | |||
| The Boat Shed | Pat Roberts | A lovely subject and a really nice composition. Handling the light is a challenge in a scene like this with contrast between the bright background and dark shed. As presented the lighting is ‘œblown-out’ in the wooden deck outside the shed. You could have perhaps chosen a shorter exposure. | Accepted |
| Low Tide | Pat Roberts | A classic NZ landscape presented in good light and framed well. Unfortunately the horizon is very crooked. This can be easily fixed in Lightroom. In my experience the vast majority of landscape photos benefit from a straight horizon. I incorporate horizon-straightening into my routine workflow. | Accepted |
| Kumeu | For me the stars of this image are the two animals in bottom-right – their presence really enhances the composition, which would otherwise be a fairly plain scene. I think the animals could be better featured – as presented I can barely make out any details of them (? out of focus/small image size) | No award | |
| Heading to the Lewis | Danielle Armstrong | I enjoy the moody sky and how the composition leads the eye from the bush in bottom-left to the more distant bush and then to the ranges. The horizon is slightly crooked and I’d suggest fixing this – this can be easily done in Lightroom. | Honours |
| Lost | This scene has great potential – I like the centrally placed tree and the light on the background hills. Unfortunately it appears largely out of focus so I can’t give an award. | No award | |
| Looking out to sea -Motunau | Danielle Armstrong | A scene with great potential, captured at a great time of day – I really like the lighting in the clouds. If returning to this spot I’d suggest trying out different timings with the waves (e.g. trying to capture a big wave breaking on the rocks) to add more drama. | Accepted |
| Peace | A nice scene. Looking at this photo I find my eye wandering a lot – this may have been your intent in creating a ‘peaceful’ feeling, however for me I think the photo would be more attention-grabbing if the composition highlighted one or two focal points. | No award | |
| Heading to the Lewis | Danielle Armstrong | Best C Grade | |
| Kaikoura | Joanna Clegg | Best B Grade | |
| Styx Storm | Colleen Linnell | Best A Grade and Champion |