Container Contest
1st Place - Terri Clark-Kveton
Container Contest
2nd Place - Linda Turnbull
Container Contest
3rd Place Tie - Linda Turnbull
Container Contest
3rd Place Tie - Terri Clarke-Kveton
View of a Garden
1st Place - Terri Clarke-Kveton
This curving path through lush and varied foliage invites the viewer nicely
into the frame.The photographer took the image at a good height, creating just the right
perspective to add interest to the foreground and midground. A fence in the background will tend to create a full stop for the eye, but this is lessened significantly by the line of bamboo. In any composition bright areas tend to attract attention, so the bright sky does tend to pull the viewer’s eye away from the intended subject area.
Altogether a very pleasing view of a garden.
View of a Garden
2nd Place - Paul Larose
I’m almost surprised by how much I like this image, I think for a number of
reasons all involving contrast between the subject and its surroundings: the delicate curved petals against the linear geometry of the pavers; the prettiness of the subject’s flowers against the utilitarian blocks; the “nature finds a way” sense of the plant’s unusual location.
Good exposure control, and a highly effective composition.
View of a Garden
3rd Place - Terri Clarke-Kveton
The photographer has made good use of the path to lead the viewer into
the frame, and the eye is free to flow all the way to that impressive tree in the
background. The house on the right feels appropriate and adds to the context of the garden, but I find the small snippet of house on the left is a bit distracting. It’s possible that shifting the camera’s position a little bit to the left would allow reframing that excluded that intrusion.
Overall, however, this is a very nice garden scene.
Macro Photography
1st Place - Audrey Barnes
This fiery image is packed with exciting colours and textures. The strong
shadows add even more drama to this wonderful stage. Excellent, emotive composition, sharp details, and rich vibrant colours!
Macro Photography
2nd Place - Linda Turnbull
An absolute celebration of colour and form. The light is perfect to bring out
the best of the colours and textures, and the composition is exactly right to keep the viewer’s attention where you want it. A most dynamic macro!
Macro Photography
3rd Place - Linda Turnbull
Fantastic colours and enticing shapes and forms throughout the frame.
The strong vertical structure coming towards us and out of the focal plane gives the scene a great sense of depth. The blown white area in the top right is a little distracting to the scene, but overall a fascinating and beautiful macro.
Macro Photography
Honorable Mention: Linda Turnbull
This image immediately grabs the viewer’s attention. The photographer A beautiful study in flower form, on a rich sea of yellow. The shadows add a
sense of location to the image, and the light overall is well controlled. Nicely done!
Visitors in the Garden
1st Place - Audrey Barnes
This is a very well composed scene. The Chickadee has its own space with
a darker background and a nice diagonal perch, and then the decaying flower heads provide a rich tapestry of textures and earth tones. Sharp focus where it should be, and blurred features to create depth elsewhere.
An extremely pleasing image!
Visitors in the Garden
2nd Place - Paul Larose
“Delicate” is absolutely the right word to describe this image. It’s often quite
difficult to simplify a composition and include only what is wanted, but the photographer succeeded nicely here. A single flowering branch and lots of gentle blue sky make this feel like fine art. It would have been nice if the blossom on the left wasn’t cut off from the frame, but I expect there isn’t a lot of time when these moments present themselves.
A highly refined image!
Visitors in the Garden
3rd Place - Paul Larose
Bright yellow contrasting pleasingly with the darker tones of the
background, sharp focus where it needs to be, plus a dynamic diagonal perch. A very effective composition
Visitors in the Garden
Honorable Mention - Paul Larose
I found this snowy scene to be very eye-catching. The angle of the perch,
echoed by another branch lower down, feels very balanced, and there is lots of room in the frame in the direction the bird is looking. The softly blurred snow makes a wonderful background for this rather elegant image.
Garden Colour - Red
1st Place - Audrey Barnes
This image shows off the elegant arch and flamboyant blossoms very well
indeed. The dark background makes the colours pop nicely, and there is a warm glow to the petals from some back light, which is always an effective technique. The lightish band at the bottom of the frame is a little distracting, and could possibly have been avoided by changing the camera’s position, but the photo is nonetheless a beautiful capture.
Garden Colour - Red
2nd Place - Trudy Findlay
This is a very nicely composed image. The flower’s center and the bonus
bee are basically following the rule of thirds, which makes the image feel balanced and
more dynamic. The details of the curled petals provide ample interest, and I think the viewer sees that first and then the surprise bee a few moments later. The little band of green on the right side provides some context without being distracting.
A very fine image!
Garden Colour - Red
3rd Place - Paul Larose
These lovely red maple leaves stand out very nicely from the dark
background, and the grouping has a cohesive feel to it. The varied light on the leaves really brings out the range of textures within. There are a couple of small details that are a bit too bright, and they are a little distracting, but the image has a nice summery feel to it.
Garden Colour - Blue
1st Place - Paul Larose
This is a lovely pair of blue blossoms set against a nice dark background.
The blooms make a diagonal “line” across the frame which tends to make it feel more dynamic. Focus is tack sharp on the petals, letting the viewer enjoy the intricate patterns. There is a tiny sliver of another flower just at the left edge of the frame, and this pulls the eye away from the main subjects. A tiny shift of the camera, or a slightly tighter crop, would take care of this. A very refined composition.
Garden Colour - Blue
2nd Place - Paul Larose
A wonderful trio of richly coloured crocuses. Photographing things in 3’s is
often a good idea, and it works well here. They form a bit of an arch as well, so they don’t feel too linear or static. I like the desaturated feel to the background here; the colours have a stronger impact this way. Very well taken!
Garden Colour - Blue
3rd Place - Linda Turnbull
The low perspective that the photographer used is most effective here,
providing a lot of interest in the frame. The light is soft and gives the petals a very good glow. Focus is perfect on the flower and stems, giving way to a nicely blurred background. A very effective composition.
Garden Colour - Brown
1st Place - Paul Larose
This jumble of naturally sepia-toned decaying petals is very pleasing to the
eye. The central area is just different enough to act as a kind of subject, and the variation in light and colour keep the frame interesting. In particular the darker area at the top and left corner make the adjacent lighter coloured petals feel more 3-dimensional.
Garden Colour - Brown
2nd Place - Audrey Barnes
This single large leaf is positioned very well in the frame, with the darker
bottom left and the brighter top right making the whole scene more dynamic.I also like how the tip of the leaf connects with the bottom right corner.
There is a line of white, possibly irrigation, that is acting as a distraction in the bottom right corner. If the photographer was able to cover it with perhaps other leaves, or do some cloning in post-processing, it would improve the scene, but nonetheless this is a very satisfying image.
Garden Colour - Brown
3rd Place - Paul Larose
This is a very attractive cluster of fiddleheads with some good side-light
that brings out the interesting textures. The focus is spot-on, with excellent details adding to the interest. The dark/light band at the top of the frame tends to pull the viewer’s eye away from the subject, as do the 3 blue areas at the bottom. It’s possible that a slight change in camera height and angle could have kept these out of the frame.
Overall, a beautiful capture that promises more lush days ahead.