Results – Open Projected – 24.27 – Whangarei Camera Club

Judges – Noel, Jenny and Christine

: 01i -Frilly. Really nice soft pastel colours , filling the frame with brightness. The eye is drawn to the bright white on left. Crop off bright left and dark right. HIGHLY COMMENDED

: 02s – Wine. This has a strong story, portraying really well the reality of life for some. The photographer has been careful to be discreet and not cause embarrassment. A little flat and dull. Lifting the mid tones would help. HIGHLY COMMENDED

: 03s – Gargoyle Munch. Well spotted for seeing the potential here. Colours are a little flat. Lift the mid tones. If possible a different angle to see the eyes and less sky. MERIT

: 04s-Floral Demise. Lovely posterised effect, love the colours and shapes, but it was felt the composition was unbalanced with the bright colours at the top and darkness down the bottom right. Good job for trying something different. MERIT

: 05s-Sun Kissed. The sun light really makes the flower heads stand out. Love the bird on the wires and the contrejour effect of the sun creating a halo around the fluffy pampas heads. HIGHLY COMMENDED

: 06s- Orangutan. Great capture of this beautiful animal with the lighting well handled. There is loads of detail in the face and body and there is a feeling of action as it moves between the trees.. HONOURS

: 07s- Stork. Love the action captured as this large stork comes to land, with its wings extended. The feather detail is good considering the harsh sunlight. HIGHLY COMMENDED

: 08s – Sheep Dog Trials. Dog is nice and sharp looking in the direction of photographer. Love the blurred background allowing the dog to pop. The image really tells a story of this working dog in action. The blurred background and foreground is difficult to achieve and very effective. HONOURS

: 09s- Tui Feeding on Flax. Fabulous image of these colourful birds , eye is sharp, feathers have great detail and the bokeh background highlights both the bird and flax bush. The pollen covering the head tells a great story. HONOURS

: 10s – Hundertvasser. This image portrays our iconic land mark really well and being at night simply makes it more dramatic. Well done. HONOURS

: 11s-Contre Jour Girl. A beautiful sharp image of this girl with a happy look, making a lovely portrait. A bit of a shame her green necklace is cropped so tightly. HONOURS

: 12n-Angel. The black and white treatment suits this image beautifully and the whole spectrum is used. The white background graves are too bright and need to be toned down. A portrait format might work better to remove some of the background graves. MERIT

: 13s-Kakariki. Lovely shot of this colourful bird with a good sharp eye and good bokeh background. A wee bit of increase in saturation on the bird would make it stand out even more from the background. It is very centred in the composition. HIGHLY COMMENDED

: 14s-Kingfisher With Crab. Great shot of this colourful Kingfisher with breakfast in its beak. The eye is sharp and the bird is placed well in the frame. The stick near bottom and right of stump actually helps fill that large space. HONOURS

: 15i- Takahe. The bird is sharp throughout and fills the frame nicely. Feather detail is good with a good background. Some judges loved the frame but others felt it a bit over powering. HONOURS

: 16i-White Heron. A good attempt of capturing this bird on the move and it even has a twig in its beak for its nest. The image is a bit soft overall and also a little dark. The large border takes away from the main subject. Lift the mid tones to brighten. Good effort though. MERIT

: 17s-Insignificant. The grandeur of the mountains certainly makes the person appear small and insignificant but what a great place to be. The jetty makes a great leading line to the person and the mountains behind. The image is a little grainy although this may have been the effect you wanted. Try running through a denoise program and increase the saturation a wee bit. HIGHLY COMMENDED

: 18s-Neils Beach Sentinels. The panorama format of this image and its pastel colouring is lovely. Also the foreground subject really adds interest to the overall scene. The mist above the waves is lovely. Image is a bit soft and underexposed but I think you have got away with it for this particular time of day. Well done. HIGHLY COMMENDED

: 19n-Ocean Orb. Now there is something different , bright and bold. Great effort. Other than the out of focus background there is not much to change here. Maybe try a larger DOF. The spot where the deck looks like it might burst into flame soon could be toned down. HIGHLY COMMENDED

: 20n-Mid Winter Dip. I love the simplicity and the mono format of this image. The title leads to a good story line. Our toes were curling in sympathy. The footprints make a great leading line and are nice and sharp. Well done. HIGHLY COMMENDED

: 21n-Worker Bee. The subtle colours of the flowers at the left and bottom are pleasing. The right hand flower is the only part of image in focus which is not really the focus point. Try increasing DOF and toning down the whites. Good effort though, especially in such harsh sunlight. MERIT

: 22n-The Girl At The Beach. What a clever multi-exposure image and is enhanced by using a mono format. The foreground subjects are reasonably sharp. Love the contemplative expression and the creativity of this image. The subjects don’t have a lot of room to walk into and the bright spots on the left draw attention. HIGHLY COMMENDED

: 23s-Coming Up For Air. Captured just at the right moment as the fish poked its nose above water. The circles of water radiating out from the middle create a frame for the fish and it is good that the fish is not dead centre. Good title. A polarising filter or diffuser might help. HIGHLY COMMENDED

: 24s-A Delicate Clematis. The beautiful colours of this delicate flower make a lovely colour combination. The thin border works well in this pleasing image. The flowers stamens are not sharp, a narrower DOF is required. Some bright lime green patches in the top right could be toned down. HIGHLY COMMENDED

: 25s-Girl With Frangipani. A lovely portrait of this beautiful young girl. Eyes are sharp as is most of the rest of her. While some of the frangipani petals are out of focus and the whites blown out, they form an important place in the image. The girl’s skin has a yellow tone which could be altered slightly. MERIT

: 26s-Sea Cave Surprise. It is lovely to see a hidden world, with so many creatures to look at that it is difficult to find a focal point to settle on. The whites are a bit blown out and not everything is in focus. While that would be understandable if it is taken through water, a narrower DOF would have helped. Good effort. MERIT

: 27i-Robin Red Breast. This is a good shot of the very colourful little Robin. Love the angle of the head and the composition is pleasing. It is captured well in its natural habitat. The all green background and foreground makes the bird really stand out. The bird is not quite in focus and is almost dead centre. A slight crop from the left would help. Otherwise well done and well spotted. HIGHLY COMMENDED

: 28i-Natures Forager. Lovely action shot Good capture of these quick little creatuers . Title supports the story well in this image. Eye is sharp as well as the rest of squirrel and good to see them in their natural habitat. A crop from the right would make the squirrel less central. The green leaves in the bottom left are a bit distracting. Maybe some of the plant could be cropped out. Good image. HIGHLY COMMENDED

: 29s-Red Doors. The image is sharp throughout. This image would have been a good contender for the recent doorways competition. The lighting has been handled well but there is no real subject. Without a focal point, it is not a particularly interesting image. ACCEPTANCE

: 30s-Bare Trees. It is nice to see the contrast between spring growth and the bare trees of winter. This scene could almost be an English forest landscape but the cabbage trees and other evergreens place it is New Zealand. The image is sharp and the DOF is about right. It just lacks an obvious focal point. MERIT

: 31s-Scotch Mist. The image has impact with the title describing the image well. The image is composed well. It’s good that the view through the windscreen can still be clearly seen even though it has been taken through glass with rain drops over it. The focus remains on the rain drops and works well. HIGHLY COMMENDED