Judged in-house.
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- MIST CRESTED WAVE – Good colours and focus at the centre. Nice action in the wave, your eye takes you through the image and up to the shore line and rock at the end, but there’s really not enough contrast – and highlights in the wave are blown out a bit. You need to try to decrease the highlights in the wave and add some contrast. You could also try and change the format to 16 x 9, taking our the bottom quarter. MERIT
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- REOTAHI – Nicely seen – a peaceful nook at the coast. A good place for a picnic or just fun out of the sun. However, there really is no focal point, so your eye wanders around trying to find somewhere to settle and the only place seems to be the bottom right hand corner in the pattern on the log. This log does add interest to the image with a good leading line going from left to right. there are some white spots in your image which really needed to be toned down a bit. MERIT
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- 3.The Stables -Salon Love the colours it’s a really restful image. Lots to study and look at in this image a nice hedge line going across. However if you had taken this image at a slightly lower level the foreground tree would have been less distracting over the stables. Unfortunately your image seems to be on a slope the chimney is on a bit of a lean. You need to straighten your chimney using the ruler tool this then means you have to crop. Or you can use the transform tool and stretch it up from the top. Acceptance
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- 4.Bleak Mid Winter – Salon Black & White is great for this image, but does the image portray a bleak mid winter, the birds flying make your image. There is concern about the pole being on an angel as it takes all your attention is it right or is it wrong? You could either change the Title Of The Image or use the transform tool to stretch it straight. Highly Commended
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- 5.White Heron Family – Salon Great Depth of Field and good composition. All 3 eyes showing of birds are clearly seen. Maybe a bit too much camouflage covering the birds but that would be beyond your control. A Well Deserved Honours.
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- 6. Action In The Desert – Salon Love the folds and ridges of the desert. What a lovely light at this time of the day. However the cars at the top take your attention away from the camels the cars just don’t fit in to this amazing image. Suggest you take out the cars and turn your image into a panel shot then it is a very strong image. Highly Commended
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- 7. Solitude – Novice Close up of a single match. It is nicely placed in the frame. There is a sharp focus point to this match, but the focus is dropping off as you look down the match. Just off centre in the frame works well. A portraiture format could also be a consideration for your image. Acceptance
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- 8.A Kukupa in a Kowhai Tree – Salon Nicely captured and placed in the photo. Eye is sharp focus, but the whites in the breast of the bird are blown out. You needed to reduce highlights and or increase blacks. Your border is a bit distracting you would have been better to have chosen a colour that suits the nature side of the image. Merit
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- 9.Dewy – Salon This image is cropped nicely. Good spotting to see this. The centre is nice and sharp with the focusing dropping off on the outer edges. The colour of the stem is at odds with the rest of the image it is quite difficult to look at as there is very little in focus. Also your Depth of Field needed to be adjusted. Merit
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- 10.Autum Tranquility – Salon There is so much to like about this image. The autumn colours, the grand building and the reflections The colours and reflections on the water make this image a treat to look at. Try increasing the yellow tones and textures in the forest – that would be a great contrast with the lovely blue of the water – complimentary colours. Highly Commended
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- 11.Bicycle Icicle – Salon Love the title it certainly indicates a winter scene. I wonder what the story is behind these icicles. It leaves you wondering. Three is a good number to have in the image it’s almost monochrome. A good story line. Not totally sharp but for this winter scene don’t think it matters. Increase your contrast a bit. Try it in Monochrome you may get more contrast and really make it “Pop” Merit
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- 12. A Stroll In The Bush – Salon – Monochrome The mono choice and strong vignette helps with the light to keep you looking at the couple. The fern is in focus but the couple aren’t particularly sharp but this adds to the mystery/story. You needed to increase your depth of field a bit. Merit
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- 13.Bay of Fires – Salon A nice landscape of this image. There is image has lovely soft colours and the exposure is good. The gap between the boulders is a nice leading line out to sea and the interesting rock in the distance. Maybe a crop on the left to take out the dark rock that keeps drawing you away from the rest of the image, it doesn’t add anything and is dark compared to the rest of the picture. The slow shutter speed has introduced too much light especially on the sand and water. Faster shutter speed needed. Post processing, decrease highlights and or increase blacks. Merit
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- 14.Whangarei Harbour Sunset – Intermediate Sunset colours are so awesome. A tricky time of day to get an image that doesn’t blow out the sun. There’s no detail in the top and bottom of the image – maybe recovered if you have taken it in raw, the highlights are blown out – difficult at this time of day. With no detail in the highlights there is no focal point. A Crop off the top as there is quite a lot of negative space there. Just to the left of the sun reflection there is lens reflect from the sun it is a distraction. Watch out for this when taking the image. Merit
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- 15. Nature Beauty – Intermediate Lilies are great to photograph, but this image seems a bit cluttered. There’s interesting leaves – but not the brightest. The left leaves are not needed in this photo; remember less is quite often more to make an image stronger. There are lovely colours against a dark background with the light coming from the left side. Focus on the brightest part or part of the image you want looked at. You could have shown more of the vase in your image as it seems a bit cut off. Merit
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- 16.White Heron – Intermediate A great capture of this majestic bird. Natures image of a proud white heron it’s beautifully silhouetted against a blue sky and you have a nice sharp eye. Unfortunately the time of day has made it hard to avoid the feather blow out on the neck area, otherwise nicely handled. That’s a shame about cutting off birds’ tail. Highly Commended
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- 17.Pied Shag – Intermediate Composition is good in this image, with nice natural colours. Natures’ image of a Shag on a rock with a lovely blurred and complimentary background nicely placed in the frame. The back ground has been handled well. The eye is sharp but there is burn out on the head and its back. What a shame that the whites are blown out and have no detail. It’s a difficult time of day in harsh light. You would need to reduce highlights and or increase your blacks. Merit
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- 18.Buttercup Reflection – Salon This is a interesting image great work to try something different. The dark colouring keeps you drawn to the subject. The beautiful colour yellow works well as a reflection. Mysterious quality especially with the spots of context in the bottom of your image, however a crop from the top would remove the empty space and keep your eye more on the daisy and its reflection. Highly Commended
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- 19.Night View From Inside – Salon You have an abstract image of the inside of a building looking toward the twilight sky. You looked up and saw something that caught your eye. Great idea your image is really sharp throughout. Recurring patterns add to the image with all the curving lines. It has been nicely framed to suit the curves. There is no detail in the blacks – but may be that was your intention. Try lightening the shadows – to see if you can get a little detail. However you have a bit of tidying up to do as there are some small white spots and a white line that needed attention. Merit
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- 20.Come On Dad – Salon A family having fun in the sun – lovely interaction between the father and child maybe on a ship. Good Family shot recording memories for the future. Just what kids and Dads love? Nice angle it’s cropped to show the main story and the interaction, shame you didn’t get Dads face showing. Dad’s face being obscured lets this image down. The top corner rope keeps your eye going to it. You could try a clone out here. If you do more images try to include the feet. Try a burst mode on these types of shots. Merit
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- 21.Coromandel Cliffs – Salon You where lucky being out at sea and able to see this cliff face. It’s a landscape taken from the water onto an interesting cliff, cave, and lovely summer trees. The weathered patterns are giving lots to study here, the surrounding trees adding to it. The greens and reds are a bit week in colour. You need to increase your contrast and saturation. Merit
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- Open Print – 1. Willow and Taz a Girls Best Friend – Great connection between the girl and the cat. Tree frames it nicely. Highly Commended
