Cat Photo Competition 2 2014 : Results

Judges Comment
perhaps an unusual choice for 'winner' of this Cat Photo competition -- where the paw print, and not its 'maker' is the main feature -- but the flawless composition, wonderful conversion, and sense of mystery that this image evokes, make it an instant fave. congratulations! nicely done! ~ illona
Photographers Comment
Thank you so much for the First Prize. This frame is captured at Hou-Tong , a cat village in Taiwan. This frame is taked with my Leica M Monochrom and is edited by Silver. It was a rainy day, this pure black cat walked around me and his paw print attracted me. I tried to combine them in this frame. It's my honor to be mentioned here !!! Wen-Po Wu.
www.flickr.com/photos/thiobacillus2009

Judges Comment
this low key image was an instant and early fave. the brave embracing of the shadows and the beautiful details and color. expertly seen and captured. nicely done. ~ illona
Photographers Comment
Thank you very much for the kind words and the mark of excellence! This was taken with my Canon 1000D one evening in my living room. I was stalking our cat and caught him just as he was emerging from under a coffee table. The table stopped the flash from illuminating him more and only a little of post-editing was done.
fineartamerica.com/profiles/matthew-kearney.html

Judges Comment
i love this intimate, quite moment captured with this image ... the reach and look that every cat owner knows so well. beautifully framed and managed in post. nicely done. ~ illona
Photographers Comment
I made this photograph at my parents in law's house. They recently adopted a cat and said she was very social and playful. In other words, a perfect model. Lighting wise I used a large window on a cloudy day. I love the soft light it produces. I used a Nikon D7000 paired with a 50mm 1.8 prime lens, which gave me a gorgeous depth of field and bokeh. Post processing wise I only did the bare minimum in Lightroom, tweaking a couple of the basic sliders.
www.berndvandecruys.com

Judges Comment
this absolutely beautiful shot is as much about the cat, as it is about the light ... from the glow in the distance to the shimmer through the leaves and the lens flare in the top corner. nicely done. ~ illona
Photographers Comment
Wow, thank you for the Mark Of Excellence! My name is Philipp Andre and i live in Austria. I took this photo of Jimmy, my girlfriends cat, in the late afternoon, which created this wonderful light. The most time consuming part was that Jimmy sat in the right spot AND looked in the right direction. (That took a couple of shots.) I used my Canon 500D and the 100mm IS Macro-Lens. Although it is a macro-lens i totally love it to use it for portraits and shots like this. You can visit my site if you want, now there are mostly macro-shots, and it is in german, but the photos are the important thing, or?
photophil.at

Judges Comment
the dramatic light and shadow of this image make it an immediate standout. in addition to that, the play of different textures and surfaces -- from the old frame, to the screen, the metal clip and the cat, of course -- keep the viewer moving through the image. nicely done. ~ illona
Photographers Comment
Thank you for this great critic and Mark of Excellence. My name is Catherin Arsenault and I'm a pet photographer based in Quebec, Canada. This was taken in the morning light while my cat was looking at birds. I love those old original windows from 1915. Taken with a Canon 7D and a Sigma 35mm. Basic adjustments and B&W made in Lightroom.
www.facebook.com/catherinarsenaultphotographe

Judges Comment
this image has a real story-telling quality to it. the tones and white balance are spot on, and the framing is lovely. nicely captured. ~ illona

Judges Comment
the wonderful tones and simplicity of its composition make this image stand out. nicely seen and captured. ~ illona

Judges Comment
the simple framing of this image and the choice to convert it to black-and-white keep the presentation clean, allowing the detail of the eye to truly stand out. beautifully captured and presented. ~ illona

Judges Comment
wonderful capture of a cat in action. the contrast of textures, soft tones and shallow depth of field allow the subject to truly stand out, highlighting this cat's intensity. nicely done. ~ illona
Photographers Comment
My name is Lysanne This photo was took in Grande-Vallée, Québec, Canada This is my cat Somy. We rescue her last october just in time before winter! We can see her wild side on that picture! Canon 6D with 70-200mm was used for the shot.

Judges Comment
beautiful choice to convert to black-and-white, making this image an even stronger statement about contrast and shadow. nicely captured and rendered. ~ illona
Photographers Comment
About this photo...well, it was very spontaneous. We were having a BBQ with friends in a nice sunny day in Netherlands and our cat, Nova, walked in from our garden and took the path towards her food. However half way, she stopped right where the shade from the window frame was intersecting her body, blending her into the shadows. A warning message went on in my head "BLACK & WHITE. Luckily I had my camera on my hand, so I set the aperture to f8, quickly exposed to the light from the window, pointed at her, focused and PAM. Right at that exact moment she stretched here tail up. A fraction of a second later she moved and the moment was gone. It is what they say, it is all about timing. Many thanks for the kind comments and happy to have received my first photo recognition from such a well known photo competition. Photo taken with: Leica M240, 50MM Lux. As a student of photography I am still building my portfolio but I do have some work done displaying at my website.
www.caiomarsili.com