Macro Photo Competition 2014 No 1 : Results

Judges Comment
<p>Congratulations for this wonderful picture of this jumping spider. Everything is beautiful in this picture, the sharpness is perfect, the colors are beautiful, the composition is superb, the rear plane is very well managed. A photo I wish to take!!</p> <p>Again congratulation for this very good work.</p>
Photographers Comment
My name is Raed Ammari and I live in Denver/Colorado. It is such an honor to be recognized in this photo competition! In my photos I tend to combine macro shots with artistic composition by adding elements to the background and some colors and textures to the field still maintaining the natural feel. In this photo I cut a Kiwi fruit and guided the spider to stand on it until I finished my stack of around 12 shots (was a little bit frustrating :)). The kiwi formed a nice contrast with the spider's metallic green Chelicerae. I used a reversed kit lens on a Nikon D5100 and a diffused flash. Post processing was done in Adobe Photoshop CS6 using manual stacking, color adjustment and some burning and dodging. Thank you again
www.flickr.com/photos/79968516@N05/

Judges Comment
Hi Ondrej. A beautiful picture of this ladybird. The colors are beautiful, the focus is perfect, and dew really brings a lot to the composition. I am very familiar with your work, I think you're one of the best macro photographers, your technique is excellent and I know you have photos very much better than this one ;) Regards, David.
Photographers Comment
Name of picture: Dreaming location: Myjava, Slowakia, lake Brestovec My favorite kind of photography is Macro. It`s another world, which can be seen only under our feet. We can discover a world of small monsters. Each fly, bee and spider is a perfect predator or a warring victim in this empire. It`s always a big surprise for me to find out how many species, forms and colors exist in this kingdom. I see the things around me a bit differently after each visit in this micro-world. I try to look at them in their own way. It`s very funny I wanted to make a natural photo of ant with contrast of dew drops on ladybug and dandelion Cyamera :Canon 7D+Canon mp-e 65+ flash Canon 480II Iso:100, F 9, 1/100s, Exp:0, 65mm Software Photoshop CS8. The final picture has been made from 2 shots, stacking in Photoshop and for final modification I have used the adaptation contrast and vibrate. The sharpeness at the end.

Judges Comment
A beautiful capture of this caterpillar, the colors are beautiful, the focus is where it is necessary, the composition is really good. Just a very beautiful picture!
Photographers Comment
I am so happy to receive the mark of excellence as well. My name is Raed Ammari and I live in Denver/CO. Colorado is too cold and dry to have a variety of insects you find in more humid areas, So I like to take my macro gear with me when I travel. This photo was taken in San francisco/ California. Background composed of shiny blue decorative stones I found in my parent's backyard to mimic the sky. Thank you again. By the way, Ondrej's photos have been an inspiration for me since I started macro photography and I'm honored to compete against him.
www.flickr.com/photos/79968516@N05/

Judges Comment
A beautiful picture, I love the fine detail, the reflection is really beautiful. The focus is perfect and the colors are very soft. Very good job.
Photographers Comment
Thanks for choosing my pic. I am Pritesh Chooramun from Mauritius and I am an amateur. I a Canon 60D and Canon 100mm f2.8 macro for this shot!
www.facebook.com/MacrophotographyMauritius

Judges Comment
A nice closeup of this Damselfly, sharpness is good, the background is a little sad and I think it lacks a little depth of field, but it is a beautiful picture.
Photographers Comment
Thanks for choosing my pic. I am Pritesh Chooramun from Mauritius and I am an amateur. I a Canon 60D and Canon 65mm f2.8 MPE for this shot!
www.facebook.com/MacrophotographyMauritius

Judges Comment
A beautiful closeup dragonfly, dew brings more to the composition. The development is well managed, the sharpness is very good. My only regret is that the background lacks a bit of color.
Photographers Comment
Thank you very much for selecting my photo for a mark of excellence! My name is Kai Rösler and I am a nature photographer from Berne / Switzerland. Macro photography is one of my favorite interests. This picture shows a Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum), very early in the morning, covered by hundreds or thousands of dewdroplets. While I installed my camera, I could observe the animal wiping away some of the droplets from the eye - luckily I was quick enough so there are still plenty of them left! I used a Sony Alpha 100 camera with a Minolta 4/200mm macro lens, without a flashlight.
www.roesler-digital.ch

Judges Comment
A beautiful close-up of the snowflake, the development is well managed, the sharpness is good, there are just a few white areas that are a little overexposed, but on a topic such as this, I know it is not easy!

Judges Comment
A beautiful close up, sharpness is really good, only the background is a bit sad! Great job.
Photographers Comment
Thanks.. My name is Aditya, my friends call me Adit, i live in Tangerang, Indonesia. This Photo is a Stack Image (38 Frame). Gear that i use is, Low entry Level camera (Nikon D3100) with 2 set of Extention Tube + 35mm Lens (Reverse) + Raynox DCR250. For the Light, I use 2 ext. Flash with DIY Defuser. Thank you so much for making my photo as Mark Of Excellence... Please check out some more of my photography my Facebook page.
www.facebook.com/deephotography1010

Judges Comment
A beautiful picture of this dragonfly, the focus is perfect, the background is really beautiful. The only weak point of this photo is that the subject is too centered, if you left a little space left it was perfect!