Flower Photo Competition 3 2013 : Results

  • Judges Comment
  • A tight crop, beautiful post production and a wonderful subject create an atmosphere, which draws the observer right into this frame. Romantic and nostalgic, that are impressions which we get, after looking into this photo for some time. 'Aged Beauty' could be a possible title for this image. Despite that I'm considering this image being even stronger if positioned sideways (landscape format), this photo is clearly the winner of this competition! Thank you for sharing this superb capture!
  • Photographers Comment
  • My name is Cassandra Pfaff, and I'm from the suburbs of Pittsburgh, PA. I am a graphic designer, product photographer and yoga instructor. The flowers were from my mother's funeral in January - the arrangement was beautiful and kept becoming more compelling as the flowers dried, this was taken about 6 months after I received them. The flowers never became fragile as they dried, instead becoming soft and fabric-like, which was my goal here to capture.

    This image was taken on my Canon 40D w/ the 50mm f/2.5 Compact Macro outside on my deck mid-afternoon. Minimal post production went into this shot - mostly taking down the saturation a bit to soften the feel. I never thought about turning the shot sideways, but I will definitely give it another look in that format. Thanks so much for choosing my image, I am very excited to be chosen among all the fantastic images that were submitted. I thought the image was strong enough to be in contention, but was very surprised to be first!

  • www.graphittidesign.com
  • Mark Of Excellence
  • Judges Comment
  • Lovely and delicate, with many shades of white. The translucent white petals give a definition to this flower which is wonderful and rich. White on white leaves lots of room for our imagination.
  • Photographers Comment
  • Bob Perks is a retired film director/cameraman in Ontario Canada I shot this in the raw format with my Nikon 300 on the window in my office . I shoot a lot of flowers these days as we have a lovely garden to work from.
  • perksfilm.com
  • Mark Of Excellence
  • Judges Comment
  • Another one of our favourites! A rich appearing flower, pictured in black and white. A good example, of how a black and white photo can say so much more, than if the same would be pictured in color. Very well executed and perfectly cropped.
  • Photographers Comment
  • My name is Alex Nichol, and I'm from the North of England. This was actually a test shot using my grandfather's old Helios 44-2 58mm lens on my Canon EOS 450D. I'd always been captivated by the images it made, and wanted to recreate some of the atmosphere I remembered from old pictures - something I've found almost impossible to recreate with any other lens. I barely post-process any of my images (aside from cropping and B&W conversion), and I'm not a pro photographer by any stretch of the imagination!
  • www.alexnichol.me
  • Mark Of Excellence
  • Judges Comment
  • Without actually smelling them, the observer is diving into these lovely bunch of flowers and smells their beauty in one way or another. This light blue seems more uncommon in the world of flowers, than warm reds and yellows.
  • Photographers Comment
  • My name is Denise Candee Millane. I live in Ellington, CT. I am a homemaker and an aspiring photographer!!!! I shot this photo with my Rebel t4i in late June. The flower is a hydrangea from my garden. I am truly honored to have my photograph selected with your Mark of Excellence. You can view this photo and my gallery of photos at
  • [email protected]
  • Mark Of Excellence
  • Judges Comment
  • A yellow bird on top of a sun flower, which appears more dead than alive. Something raw and real about this image, and definitely not not posed nor pretentious. Nice composition and showing how one needs the other. The bird eats the seeds and the seeds will grow new sun flowers.
  • Photographers Comment
  • Thank you I Shot It judge for this unbelievable honor! This is a male Gold Finch, state bird of New Jersey. I shot this photo using a DMC-FZ200 Lumix Focal Length108mm Shutter Speed1/500 secs Aperturef/3.5 ISO/Film400 I live in a very urban area and these birds are VERY small and most New Jerseyans have never even seen one. However, I did see him eating a top of one of my sunflowers. I cropped and muted the saturation to give it a more raw, dying flower feel. As the judge said, it's really a mutualistic relationship. The bird eats from the flower, some seeds drop, those seeds will grow into a flower the following year, the bird again eats the seeds. (I have not planted a sunflower in over 6 years) the birds seem to take care of that for me. Thanks so much for the 'Mark of Excellence' I am so honored! Congratulations to the winner and to all the other photo's that received a "Mark Of Excellence" Patrice O'Rourke
  • www.facebook.com/pages/Patrices-photos/324890724311991
  • Mark Of Excellence
  • Judges Comment
  • Here we have a quite special example of a superb flower, being converted and executed to black and white. Straight lines combined with curves define this simple flower so wonderfully. Great composition and contrast.
  • Mark Of Excellence
  • Judges Comment
  • Once there were roses, now all there is are its thorns. Still recognisable as such - showing an audience how time moves. The warm evening light underlines the mood. If we look closely, we can see little green leaves - new life to come!
  • Photographers Comment
  • My name is Gina Vasquez, and I am a nineteen year old photographer from New York City. I shoot mostly fine art photography, but there is something I'll always love about photographing nature! I took this last summer while on a walk in one of my favorite parks. This photo was taken with my old Nikon D3000 and a 50mm f/1.8, and edited with Adobe Photoshop CS5. Thank you so much for the award!
  • www.ginavasquez.com
  • Mark Of Excellence
  • Judges Comment
  • It works well in this photograph, how the the background almost fades away. Two flowers shown in their natural habitat. Lovely capture and execution.
  • Photographers Comment
  • My name is Kathy Newman. I took this with my old Rebel XTi, but I love the result and this has been one of my favorite sunflower pictures! I was in a grove of sunflowers (you can see other stalks in the background) and shot into the sun to highlight the stems. I live in the Antelope Valley in Southern California and love wandering around the desert taking pictures of the scenery. Thanks so much for honoring me with this Mark of Excellence!
  • kcnewmanphotography.zenfolio.com
  • Mark Of Excellence
  • Judges Comment
  • All flowers are different, and this one looks exotic and unusual. Crisp and sharp standing out from its dark background. Wonderfully captured and presented.
  • Photographers Comment
  • Thank you so much for the Mark of Excellence, my name is Paul Garcia my location is Castroville Texas just outside San Antonio. This photo was taken in my backyard. I first noticed the blooms one night when I got home from work, the moon light gave these large hand sized flowers a soft glow. Thought I could just photograph them in the morning but the flowers only last one night, by morning the flowers have died. This plant is called "Lady of the Night". So at midnight I had tripod, Canon 7D 180mm macro lens and flash at the ready for the capture.
  • www.paulgarciaphotography.com