Landscape Photo Competition 3 2012 : Results

Competition Winner : First Prize
$1,537.50

Judges Comment
This is a beautiful, warm image, perfectly taken and processed. The photographer has mastered his landscape techniques, and artistic talent, to create this amazing photograph with very little subject matter. A worthy winner for this competition. It takes experience to visualise an image like this and great competence to make it come true. The composition is strong, the three horizontal thirds combine with the long exposure to bring an extra, abstract dimension to the sea and sky, and a powerful contrast with the foreground’s hard rocks. I have the impression I am being sucked into the horizon. Stunning. Exposure is perfect and the entire tonal range has been sensitively captured and respected, bringing beautiful saturation and soft contrast to this intriguing scene. Congratulations, fantastic work!
Photographers Comment
My name is Larry Marshall of LarryMarshallPhotography.Com. I took this photo just after sunset at the end of the north Ponto Jetty in Carlsbad California in north San Diego County. I used a Canon 1DS Mark III with a Conon 16 - 35mm lens set at 16mm and f/22. This exposure this was 317 seconds which calmed the raging waves and showed the movement of the clouds. I used Photoshop CS5 and NIK software for the post processing. You can see more of my work at www.LarryMarshallPhotography.Com

Mark Of Excellence

Judges Comment
Stormy weather and shifting light have made this work. This is a photograph that can’t be planned in advance, infact it could easily have been missed altogether. We have all witnessed fleeting scenes like this and the frustration of not having a camera ready at hand. Here the photographer was there and ready, with camera, when the critical moment came. The pressure was on! The exposure is spot on, the depth of field too, and the composition is strong, capturing one of nature’s amazing displays with not one, but two rainbows... before it all disappeared. I love the dark sky and bright sunny spell which give this image it’s power, but also the way the grass seems to lean forwards into the picture, inviting us to wander beneath the rainbows. A beautiful fairy tale photo which almost made the top spot. Well done!
Photographers Comment
The picture was taken in Abruzzo, Italy in late May 2010 preparing for a photo workshop in the area. After seeing the rainbows from inside the car, I had to race to a spot where I knew that a composition would work and get the equipment out of the car and even change lens. The rainbows faded shortly after, so I was lucky. The picture was taken with a Canon 1Ds mkIII and a Canon 16-35 f/2.8L II lens. Postprocessing was done in Lightroom. Hans Kruse, www.hanskrusephotography.com

Mark Of Excellence

Judges Comment
This is an unusual shot. A frozen and desperate looking shrub, the captive of this darkening and cold sea (or perhaps lake) . I like the wide composition which gives space to the clouds and sea, delivering us with this very real atmosphere and a spooky feeling of pending darkness. I also like the short depth of field which brings the eye back to the icy bush time and again. A near winner here too, let down only by a slight lack of ‘punch’ in the icy bush’s detail. The applied vignetting is effective but perhaps not quite strong enough to really bring that bush to life. Great effort, well done!
Photographers Comment
My name is Jim kavanagh and my photo was shot at a local lake during one of the few ice storms we have here in Texas. As I saw the sunset light up the ice crystals I new I only had a small window to capture this image. So I chose a angle to line up with the sunset. and used a small fill flash to balance the with the background. Shot with my Nikon D-300 and a wide angle nikkor lens to capture this image. My camera and I were both frozen in the process but a great image is never the easy one.

Mark Of Excellence

Judges Comment
I love the soft green, misty dawn atmosphere here, and the hopeful, stretching upwards of the bamboos into the light. Their converging vertical lines, framed by the leaves, bring so much force to this photograph. A well found and composed picture, i can feel my head tilting back to look up. I think the sky’s highlights have been somewhat over dampened, taking away that so important feel of reality, which could have made the difference. Great photo though, well done!

Mark Of Excellence

Judges Comment
Here is a definite favourite, a lovely, natural composition of wild, boggy wetland, oozing with water. There is a great combination of bad weather and low light which i love. I can hear my boots squelching as I wander into this photograph, the atmosphere is tremendous, what a great location! Honestly, I could sit and wait for a deer to come out of those woods! This one too came very close. Perhaps a softer contrast would have benefited here. Keep at it!
Photographers Comment
My name is Dixie Wilson and I live in Montana, the Big Sky Country. This picture was captured in Yellowstone Park during springtime when the rivers and creeks were alive and fog was lingering above the water. I use a Nikon D700 camera and this was taken with a 24-120mm lens. Thank you for awarding me this prestigous award and I look forward to the upcoming contests. You can see some of my work on my Facebook page under Free Spirit Images.

Mark Of Excellence

Judges Comment
A beautiful seascape where the photographer has made great use of the rapidly changing available light to bring us this powerful, dark and very mysterious composition. There is a suggestion of great force here, just waiting to be unleashed, leaving us no doubt as to who is in charge. Love it… Well done!
Photographers Comment
Jonathan Sherrill. This was a minus 20 degree day on the perimeter of Lake Champlain. The wind was blowing at 30 mph. I have Parkinson's and the cold had exaggerated my tremor so I took this shot and several more like it from the "hip." I used a Nikon Digital camera. I did very little "work" on the image. I forgot to note that this is a color image!

Mark Of Excellence

Judges Comment
This photo is crisp and sharp, and as clear as the winter’s day it portrays. A lovely composition with strong graphical appeal, the 4x5 format working well. I like how the reflection of the pampas grass leads us up the waterway and into the distance. Great photograph, well done!
Photographers Comment
East Bay of Utah Lake, Provo Utah. Photographer: Dodd Greer, Linnhe Dhu Images. 2/16/12. Nikon D7000 w/Nikkor 18mm f/9 1/250 ISO-200 NEF. Fine-tuned: Lightroom-3. Images: http://linnhe-dhu-images.smugmug.com

Mark Of Excellence

Judges Comment
The longer I look at this photograph the more the details appear through the mist. A beautiful and softly toned dawn in the countryside. I like the tree’s silhouette nicely framed just off center, the cows just far enough away to be visible. There is a lovely calm here, and the promise of a new day. Nice, well done!
Photographers Comment
A lone tree popping out of the early morning mist at the Lightsey Cattle Company, Lake Wales, FL. Photo capture by Mae Davis of MDavis Photography using Canon 450D.

Mark Of Excellence

Judges Comment
Sheer power! The cloud details are amazing, they are practically moving. A well taken and well processed image, I like the purplish hue and the force of the cloud bursting rain. What a storm!
Photographers Comment
July-August '09, in SW UT, USA, when our monsoon season peaks. I check the radar regularly for approaching storms. This one was a beauty. Nikon D90 w/18-105 at 50mm, 20sec at f/5, cropped and processed w/CS4. I am launching a website soon to exhibit a variety of mostly-nature photos, under the Geoff Horner PhotoArt name. Thank you for recognizing my photo, It's an honor among such a great collection of images!

Mark Of Excellence

Judges Comment
Another atmospheric gem! The backlit clouds and silhouette of the island make this a true contender. The colour is rich and the tones are all well exposed. We have a real dream scene here, a beautiful capture. I find that the horizon slopes off somewhat to the left though, preventing this lovely shot from getting further. Good try!
Photographers Comment
Sunrise at Upper Dam. This photo was taken by Peter Brown at dawn on a july morning on Maine's Rangeley Lakes. Shot with a canon 40d, 53mm focal length, f5 at 1/8000th.

Mark Of Excellence

Judges Comment
I love the emptiness here and the clever use the photographer has made of the different colours of sand, water and sky, giving this photograph its appealing very graphical composition. I have been gazing at this one for ages, it is so peaceful and thought inspiring. Lovely image, well done!