Landscape Photo Competition 2016 No 3 : Results

Competition Winner : First Prize
$822.00

Judges Comment
Just plain beautiful, simple and natural. Those rays of light coming in bring so much depth. There is though something very unusual about this photograph, it is so soft, not just in its composition or subject matter, but in its actual quality and definition. We judge based on screen sized images, it is difficult to say whether this was taken through the plastic of a telephone casing or whether you have soft filtered the lens of an SLR, but that is fun, a showcase for all, and that is what this competition is all about… Whatever the case, the effect is truly flattering to the mood of this picture, the photo i have before me is beautiful, i love the effect, i love the photo, i love your style. Well done you are this round’s winner!
Photographers Comment
Thank you very much for this special award. This photo was taken at Yosemite National Park on a foggy spring morning. I was eyeing on the layer of fog hanging low on the forest floor before sunrise. I decided to stop and wait around as the day was going to break any minute. I started snapping away when the sun rays started showing up through the fog. The entire phenomenon lasted less than 20 minutes. What drew me to the scene were the underlying tones of purple and green. I was aiming for a painterly quality and I hope viewers find it calming to look at. Camera used: Pentax 645Z Cheers, Gigi Chung

Mark Of Excellence

Judges Comment
Well, more trees i can hear you all say, but this is another stunning photograph. The tones are beautiful and soft, the colours standing out against the foggy background, reds and yellows and greens. I love how the fog fades the forest into the distance and really makes the foreground trees stand out strongly against its light. All that beautiful wild foliage and branches, this really is nature at its best. Beautiful shot, it was a close call, well done.
Photographers Comment
I appreciate your kind words and consideration. I took this photo along the side of the road while driving through the Blue Ridge Mountains in Western North Carolina. I can remember pulling off the road many times in that area because the fog, the morning light, and the constantly changing elevation created dramatic and different scenes around every turn. Here, in the shadow of a steep hill, I was drawn to the range of light and the way the trees towered above, disappearing as they rose up into the fog. I used my Canon EOS 5D and a Zeiss 50mm lens.
www.tylerklifman.com

Mark Of Excellence

Judges Comment
Well, let's talk about dramatic atmosphere! I love the movement in the waves, the almost 1 second exposure… You have amazing contrast in this image, you have developed it pretty well…So why did this not win? There certainly is plenty winning matter in this shot, you are so close. I feel the foreground rocks are unfortunately cropped off, they become a little chaotic, breaking the peace of the rest of this photograph, and the highlights in the surf are a little out of balance with those in the sky. Great effort and lovely atmosphere all the same, well done.
Photographers Comment
Thank you very much for this mark of excellence. Appreciated. My name is Sami Kohonen, landscape photo enthusiast from Finland. i agree with Judges comments with the foreground stones. This shot was taken in Iceland on the beach of Vik on a very harsh conditions. Running in and out with the waves crashing in, i didn't always gave me the time that i wanted for the perfect composition. Force of nature was definitely present and one feels himself very small when that force is rushing in. Yet for the very small gliding moment sun peaked between the clouds and gave some softness to this image. Taken with Nikon D750.
www.photoxscape.com

Mark Of Excellence

Judges Comment
Wow, the black and white works magic here. I love the tones in the forest, but I find the whites a little too white here and there, too bright should I say. What a wonderful day, morning, all that mist in the forest, you have captured the moment really well. Your 1:2 ratio works nicely, I like the fog in the bottom right corner which lines up with the waterfall and the lighter top left corner. Having said that I think a damper top left corner would help hold my eye within the picture… Lovely work, well done.
Photographers Comment
Again, thank you for the Mark! This was a magical morning in Yosemite National Park - one of my favorite places to photograph. A hard rain had fallen the night before and an inversion developed overnight, trapping cooler air at the surface and forming a whisper thin layer of fog. Bridalveil Falls pouring into the valley made an interesting composition. I appreciate the critique and it is spot on. I struggled with the bright area in the upper left of the frame. I didn't think cropping was the best choice since I liked the shape of the frame as it was. Maybe a little "burn" or adjustment brush would have worked. Thanks again for the recognition.
500px.com/darbyrob

Mark Of Excellence

Judges Comment
Well I can only think this is the same author as the last round’s similar image. The processing of this image is very similar, the view too, the foreground is nicer here, you have used the bottom corners to effect. Once again your composition is stunning, i stand by my comment from the last round.
Photographers Comment
Hello my name is Markus van Hauten from Germany. This is the great area of stoksness in east Iceland. In the back is Vestrahorn mountains. I took this image short after sunrise on a beautiful winter morning. Camera was a Canon 5DS R with a Canon 16-35mm, F4.0 L IS. Sure there was a post processing on the image! But not so hard as the judge means. The sand was frozen through the sea fog from the night and so the ripples came out extremly. Not the same as on other days.
van-hauten.eu

Mark Of Excellence

Judges Comment
This is an amazing mountain view and reflection with a lovely atmosphere. The foreground bog cotton is so close and so sharp, the distance too. I wonder how you managed this… Masterful control of the depth of field? Or is this focus stacking? Well done!
Photographers Comment
Hi! It's a focus stack of 15 or so shots. The light cotton was blowing around, so the closer the focus, the higher the iso required to freeze motion. In other words a real pain to sew together in post. :-)

Mark Of Excellence

Judges Comment
You pushed all the right buttons here. The long exposure giving the clouds their movement, an effect which can make a photograph seem 3 dimensional. And what a wonderful composition, the rock, the dead tree in front of the Dali-esque formation, even the footprints add depth. You have gone to all this trouble and obviously have talent and a sensitive eye, everything was technically correct. But then you have stuck your name right on the doorstep of this work, sadly spoiling the beautiful balance and composition you so carefully created. When I put my finger in front of the writing it all becomes so much more peaceful to look at. Don’t forget that this is a competition, not an advert, photos miss out for the slightest flaw (or goof). Composition is paramount, so is balance and tonal harmony which you have - your signature is too distracting.
Photographers Comment
Hi. Thank you very much for the Mark. I really appreciate it so much. My name is Faye based in Qatar. This photo was taken in Zekreet, Doha, Qatar. This rock formation is located before the Film City and used this as one of the Transformers film location. Initially, this was a night photography shot but decided to do otherwise. Blended 2 images, foreground and the sky. Taken with Canon 600D with wide angle lens Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 AT-X116 Pro DX. I still love this line -But then you have stuck your name right on the doorstep of this work-. Once again, thank you for the Mark of Excellence and the wonderful critiques.

Mark Of Excellence

Judges Comment
This is an amazing place, I guess Norway or another northern wonderland… A beautiful, natural, immense setting for this little turf roofed house. One can really feel the stillness here, the reflection just perfect. The scale and emptiness of this setting put things back into their real place, a truly humbling abode, and photograph.

Mark Of Excellence

Judges Comment
Well the cloud alone is enough to get you through to the last selection of 10 images… It is an amazing job to have captured such a phenomenon. Beautiful field up front too, the green contrasts so well with the grey, very clever… But don’t you think your contrast is blown out a bit too far? The natural light must have been amazing…
Photographers Comment
Thank you for the mark! Yes, this was a "right place/right time" image for sure. I have been photographing storms for 10 years, and this was one of the most impressive structures I have seen. I appreciate the comment about the "blown" highlights, and it is a fair critique, but to be honest this would have been better processed using exposure blending of a couple of images. The dynamic range was wide given the setting sun and the darkness created by the cloud so it was hard to achieve the right balance.
500px.com/darbyrob

Mark Of Excellence

Judges Comment
Beautiful atmosphere and tones and of course an amazing wild mountain scene. I wonder how you might have improved the foreground… those rocks are just too close to the edge, particularly when a little of the sky might have been sacrificed to give more space to the more interesting ground and path. Nice shot though all the same.