Judge – Anna Mandeno
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- 01a_Infinity Interruptus – What a stunning photograph. It has a wonderful array of colours which stand out on the black background. I like the way the first circle just crosses over itself, and the second is smaller and there is a space between the two ends. Honours
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- 01b_Marigold Magic – This has an interesting view of the back of the marigold which is leaning away from the viewer. I love the inclusion of the tiny leaf on the stem. The photograph is so sharp that the tiny hairs show up as well as an insect on the petals. Having the stem come from near the corner, but not right in the corner makes this a pleasing well constructed photograph. Does it seem to you that the exposure could do with an increase because the background is grey and would look better white? It would also show more detail in the back of the marigold and punch up the colour. Highly commended
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- 01c_Rural Railscape – I love the rust colours that you have seen on the railway line, and I wonder if that is what attracted you to take this scene. The photograph feels divided between the railway line and the rural scene and becomes two pictures. Maybe it would have worked better if the background was in focus, as my eye is flicking from the lovely rail line colours to the landscape and not resting on one or other. Perhaps panning the photograph would have been interesting and then you would have solved the out of focus background Acceptance. As a set the third photograph is not working so well. Maybe if the railway line was in the middle and the flower reversed or put as the leading photograph then the three photographs would be contained-leaning in towards each other, (as you need in an LPSNZ or APSNZ set.)
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- 2a Feeding Time – This an interesting portrait of the monkey and her baby, and the focus on them is good. Did she look up at you at any stage as that would have connected her to the viewer? Although you have included them in the overall scene, I feel that the background and the leaves in the front distract you from the relationship of the mother and her baby. Would you consider zooming in so that the photograph was about their relationship-their two heads and her lovely silvery hair. Merit
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- 02b-Ruakaka Estuary – This is a restful silvery scene, almost high key. I like the inclusion of the wading birds. You could possibly crop a little off the top and bottom and the photograph would feel like bands of interest. The hills, the vegetation on the sandspit. Then the reflection and finally the birds. Highly commended
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- 02c-Flight Of A Gannet – What a wonderful photograph of a gannet. Full wingspan. Great detail in her feathers. Well exposed. Just enough space to fly into, though you could possibly have had a little more. Highly commended As a set, you have silvery tones in all three photographs. Perhaps swap the first and third ones, and then the gannet flies towards the coastal scene, and the monkey looks back towards the other photographs.
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- 03a_Twilight Zone – The twilight zone has beautiful colours. And a great feel. You could imagine animals being hidden out there. The bare tree works well being central and the inclusion of the tree on the left gives perspective. An increase in exposure would still give the twilight colours and allow you to see more in the photograph. In fact, lightening the photograph seems to increase the twilight colours. Merit
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- 03b_Danger Zone – The wave has been so well captured, and the spray detail is sharp. This is a well-balanced photograph. Spray, the sweep of the rocks with dribbling water, then sand with some unperturbed birds. The blue in the sky is also reflected in the sand. Honours
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- 03c_Snack Zone – I love the vibrant colours of the cheeky parrot. You have zoomed up into the detail of him eating a nut and excluded any unnecessary background. And what you do have as the background recedes because it is softly out of focus. The photograph is all about the food, his eye and the colour. Everything is sharp and it is a happy appealing photograph. You have achieved what we often miss when we include more than what is the story. Honours As a set you have placed your two vertical photographs either side of the middle shape which creates a good balance. You will see that the exposure of the tree doesn’t blend well tonally with the other 2 photographs.
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- 04a_Moira Gate Arch – This is a lovely photograph of an area that anyone would want to visit. You have kept the lower edges of the arch in the photo so that your eye keeps moving around and around the scene. The water also has a rhythm as it flows under the arch, and you have detail in some rocks in that water. A good depth of field. Love the red/brown water colours which go so well with the greens. Honours
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- 04b_Hawks Crag – Anything with a river makes you feel good and even better in a gorge where you see engineering of a road in a rock face. Is it the reflections that attracted you to this scene? On the right-hand side there is more foliage on the rock face, and this would have given more reflections in the river. Would you consider photographing that part and even waiting for a red vehicle to come through the scene because red gives a great addition of colour especially against greens. Merit
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- 04c_Kokako Feeding Young – There is a lovely relationship between these birds-one feeding the other. Vibrant greens framing them and an encircling feel with the branches. The photograph feels pixilated, and I wonder if you cropped in from the original photograph. Merit As a set you have done some very good framing. The two outside photographs are the same size and the middle one, though a different shape, is contained by the other two. A little less saturation in the third photograph and the green tones would have been similar.
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- 05a_Macaw – The McCaw’s are a lovely bird to photograph. Wonderful colours and they are so curious that they remain still to keep an eye on you. The bird’s feathers are sharp. They have such a long tail, and it is easy to cut this out as you have done in this photo. The answer to this problem would have been to crop so that you just include his feet but also crop in from the sides and top. Then it is all about the bird. If you chose a shallower depth of field the background would have been less intrusive. Then perhaps try dropping the highlights. Merit
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- 05b_Fungi – I like the way that you have come in from a low perspective and have captured the lovely translucent undersides of the fungi. There are two good sets of three and a crop would take away the out of focus ones, along with the foreground which has little detail. You could possibly have taken only the right hand set of the 3 fungi, but you would likely need a tripod and the right lens to keep the focus sharp. There are some lovely bouquet in the background. Merit
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- 05c_My Elegance Basket – You have taken some very sharp strongly toned black and whites in this photograph of your fruit bowl and you have included some shadow to make it more interesting. The highlights could be toned down as they are quite dominant. Perhaps crop off the right-hand side which is less about the bowl. Experiment with the shapes. I wonder what colour the bowl is. Merit The set. – You may have chosen to show diversity by including a black and white photograph, but as you have two photographs with some warm tones the black and white makes the set less consistent. Was there the possibility of having the black in white in colour and in a portrait shape to match the first photograph? The bird being in a portrait shape could be in the middle and the fungi first leaning and leading towards the other 2 photographs.
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- 06a_Gannet Blue Eye – What an interesting and different photograph of a gannet. Very cleverly observed. Almost a high key feel with the pop of blue. Even more effective with its eye being on a third. You have made it all about the bird’s eye. Honours
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- 06b_Blue – This is an absolutely delicious photograph. Beautiful tones and the door detail taking centre stage, but slightly off centre. The door and the ground include browns which work so well with blues. There is even a smudge of brown to the right of the door. A lovely sweep at ground level from the steps past the door give a rhythm to the otherwise structural photograph. The light above the door could have had more space or even been removed from the photograph which has enough successful elements without it. Honours
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- 06c_Bluebells – This is a very pretty photograph, an increase of blues from the last one, but still a slightly high key feel with beautiful subtle shapes in the background. I like the loose uneven group of flowers all of different heights. 5 stems of sharp flowers. 3’s, 5’s, 7’s etc seem to work well as a general rule. Honours This set has blues and whites throughout all of the photos. To make the set even stronger the flowers could be in the middle as it is a different shaped photograph. The door to be last which could be flipped (if you wished so that the steps rise up to the outside of the set.) Try that and see if you like how it affects the set. It will take a bit of getting your head around the photograph being back to front but it can work when you are doing sets. Rearranging the order of the photographs could give the overall effect of coming from more whites to more blues and also achieve having a balanced set of shapes. Winner
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- 07a_The Land – You have taken an interesting panning photograph of the landscape. Darker at the bottom to lighter on the top which works well and that takes your eye from the base of the photograph up to lightness, something that elevates people’s mood. The photograph would benefit from some adjustment, perhaps a punch of colour as it feels a little flat. Merit
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- 07b_And the Sky – What beautiful fluffy clouds-a perfect sky. You have chosen a very low horizon to emphasis the sky. Maybe a little more land would stop the land feeling squashed down. You could achieve this within the existing photograph by taking some off the top of your photograph where the clouds have lost definition and some off the left-hand side. Then the proportion of land will seem greater, and you will still retain the dimensions of your photograph. As the camera has read the greater area of lightness in the sky, to balance the photograph it has made the land quite dark. If you lift the shadows that will allow you to see a bit more details in the land. Merit
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- 07c_The Sea – I like the sweep of the land from left down to the beach and up to right. There is detail in the foreground and on the shoreline a patch of rocks to add interest. The sea is very soft, and in fact there is a general lack of sharpness and some pixelation in the photograph. I wonder what camera you were using and what depth of field. It is a large seascape to achieve everything in sharp focus. Merit The set-You have a shape consistency when you chose a landscape format for your set, as well as a very good idea-the land the sky and the sea. Two of the techniques are similar with the panning photograph being the different one. One of the other two needs to show a different skill. Maybe you could choose multiple exposure, or another technique, and still keep your theme of the land the sky and the sea.
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- 08a_Five Little Ducks – This is a most entertaining photograph. Each duckling doing something different with the lead one marching onwards. Lovely reflections, and a great set of circular ripples in the water This adds another subtle element of interest. To give a little more space for the reflection, one way is to duck down a little and what is above the log will almost match what is below. Honours
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- 08b_Yurt Village – What a barren landscape! Though with lovely soft colours. The small scale of the horses leading you to the tiny Yurt village makes the mountain landscape look huge and gives a feeling of the remoteness to the photograph. There are some lovely angles and triangles in the lower landscape and mountains. Highly commended
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- 08c_Kebeb Cook – What a lovely portrait/street photograph. The smoke and the cook are both sharp and with all that whiteness not overexposed. The food that is being cooked and the subtle shapes of the diners makes for a great travel photograph. Honours As for the set, the brown tones are consistent throughout the photographs and the photography expertise good. Perhaps for a set of photographs have the chef first, with the ducklings second, marching towards the landscape. That way the cook is looking towards the second photograph and the two outside photographs are the same shape with the narrower duckling photo being in the middle. It will make for a more visually balanced set. Runner-up
