November’s Photo of the Day winners chosen!
posted Wednesday, January 23, 2013 at 1:07 AM EDT
It's sadly been many months since we last managed to post Judges' Comments for the monthly Photo of the Day winners, and we apologize to all the winners over that period of time whose photos haven't received the recognition they deserved. The reason has simply been the ongoing editorial overload here at Imaging Resource headquarters.
Reasoning that some recognition is better than none, though, we're going to try posting with briefer comments, rather than the deeper analysis we've done in the past. At least this way, the winners will have their well-deserved 15 minutes of fame, and other readers will get to see and be inspired by their work.
From 30 great photos, "Dog in Flight," "Goodbye Horses," and "Mesmerize" were chosen as our November winners. Congratulations to Glenn Nagel, Mark Seawell, and Shari Mattox!
Without further ado, here's the three monthly winners from November. We hope to vote for the December winners shortly, now that we're back and the dust is settling from the Consumer Electronics Show.
First Place
Dog in Flight, by Glenn Nagel
Glenn won a Canon PIXMA Pro 9000 Mark II Printer. (review, info, shop)
The judges just loved this photo; it had one of the largest margins of victory we've seen in months. It's just spot-on for composition, timing, and focus. It's hard enough to catch the dog perfectly in mid-leap (we suspect there were a lot of shots taken to produce just this one perfect one), but the composition and "expression" on the subject is great (love that one high ear and the excited, intense look on the dog's face), and the focus is just spot-on perfect: Notice just how shallow the depth of field is, when you look at the grass. Maybe done post-capture? Whatever the case, it's a wonderful shot, very deserving of this month's First Place prize. Congrats to Glenn for the patience it undoubtedly took to shoot until everything came together. (He'll have to figure out a way for the printer to dispense dog treats, though; It looks to us like the dog did the really hard work here. ;-)
Second Place
Goodbye Horses, by Mark Seawell
Mark won a Canon PIXMA MG8220 Printer. (review, info, shop)
Wonderful, magical lighting, and an interesting, contemplative composition. We'd have liked the horse a bit larger in the frame, but only slightly; the fact that it doesn't dominate the scene is part of the beauty of the composition, letting our eyes roam more freely around the scene to take it all in. Simply gorgeous, this would be beautiful printed large and displayed on a wall. Congratulations to Mark for a wonderful shot, and either his good fortune at being in the right place at the right time, or the vision and foresight to put himself there. (We suspect the latter.)
Third Place
Mesmerize, by Shari Mattox
Shari won a Canon PIXMA MG6220 Printer. (info, shop)
We can't count how many shots we get of decaying pilings standing in a body of water, but this one is unusual, for the extent and the alignment of them in the photo. Strong leading lines, and beautiful contrasts in texture between the pilings, the water, and the sky above. (A level horizon, too: You can't imagine how many photos fall out of the running simply because the photographer didn't take the time to correct a tilted horizon before submitting.) Kudos to Shari for a truly dramatic photo.
Runners Up
Are you lookin at me, by Julian Nell
Macro photos are always fun, and this one gives new meaning to the term "bug eyed," for a really arresting shot. Perfect focus, and great bokeh, to lose the background. Also undoubtedly a lot of patience to avoid chasing the bug away. (Or careful work with a dead bug to pose it properly.) Whatever the case, great work. Julian!
The Prospector, by Bob Jensen
As with the pilings Shari shot above, we get a lot of photos of old people with faces showing "character." We also see a lot of attempts to make pictures look old-timey, with a canvas look, sepia toning, etc. Usually the result is unfortunate, but in this case, Bob's careful work on the image really worked out well. Congratulations on the great image!
As always, 30 great daily winners made it hard to select the three very best, but that's a happy chore here at IR. Congratulations to all the daily winners, and thanks to everyone who submitted photos for November's contest. The consistently high quality of images submitted to the Photo of the Day contest are what makes it the success that it's been!
So - what are you waiting for? That could be your photo up there this time next month! Dig through your digital shoe boxes, pick your best and join the fun!