Flower Photo Competition 5 2016 : Results

Judges Comment
Congratulations to this Flower Photo Competition winner! Having this monarch butterfly centred and out of focus is wonderful. There is just enough clarity, so that the observer can make out that this is a butterfly. The colours and in-focus flower are beautiful.
Photographers Comment
Nina Bradica, Thank you judges so so much, I'm so honored to have won first place among all these beautiful photos. I took this photo in October of this year at the Long Island City Riverside in NY. I was walking along the path and this beautiful Monarch Butterfly caught my eye. I captured this beauty with a Canon EOS Rebel T4i with a EFS 55-250mm Lens.

Judges Comment
Not far behind this time I-S-I winner, we would like to congratulate the photographer of this superb image. It could be from a fairy tale. The perfect photo of a lovely story. Composition, colours, depth of field among all these elements pictured in the image are close to being magic. We love this photo!
Photographers Comment
Thank you so much for this beautiful words you've chosen to describe my picture . And of course for the Mark of Excellence - you gave me a big smile. I am very proud and happy!
www.Tobien-Images.de

Judges Comment
A labyrinth of grass with a flower? Light and shadow goes hand in hand, and this great photo illustrates it very well. Beautifully executed and seen. Thank you for this submission.
Photographers Comment
My name is Miguel. This photo is from my backyard in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. I used a Nikon D5300 with the 18-55mm lens, at 55mm. As post processing, I used the Nikon's Capture NX-D. I am very happy to achieve the mark of excellence. Thank you very much. Sincerely Miguel Bartilotti

Judges Comment
Deep, dark and rich tones, where shadows and reflection have their own life. This is another of our favourites of this I-S-I Flower competition. Superbly seen and executed. It draws the observer right there, to this still and magical water.

Judges Comment
This image might be heavily post processed, but how it is done we really enjoy looking at it. It has a three dimensionality to it.
Photographers Comment
First of all, thank you to the judge. I am Karen Curran and I live in Durham, North Carolina. The camera that I used was an Olympus OMD EM1. With this camera you can overlay up to 3 Raw images and then adjust the density of each one to get the effect that you desire. Once this is done, you then save the image. In addition the color is achieved by making a low res image strictly Botanical and using Acrylic Paint function on my Sony Tablet. The result is used as one of two or three RAW images then overlaid in camera.

Judges Comment
This reminds the judge being transported to a fairy tale. The narrow depth of field creates a lovely story, having the focus on the flowers which are located towards the back. We love the colours and composition in the image.
Photographers Comment
It is a great honor to have received a Mark of Excellence for my photograph, for which I thank you. This photograph was taken in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in my neighbor's backyard. It was an overcast day in October and every so often the sun would peep out. The flowers on the fence caught my eye as the contrast of colors was very appealing. I used a Nikon D7000 to capture this image. Thanking you once again Michelle Nyss

Judges Comment
This is placative with its bold colours and strong composition elements. The dark shadow of the flowers are an important element in this photo.
Photographers Comment
My name is Mike Wu and I am a photographer from Taiwan. I would like to thank the organization and the judges for selecting my photo as a Mark Of Excellence. This photo was shot by Sony A7R with a Leica R lens 35mm. Setting in Tseng Ming-Hsiung studio to practice shooting the work of flowers.
kuomingwutaiwan.wixsite.com/photoshoot

Judges Comment
In a jungle of many submissions which are close-ups of flowers, our eyes enjoy seeing this photo. We like this flower shop across the street, and that the photographer has chosen to take this photo at darkness only adds more momentum to this striking photo.
Photographers Comment
Thank you for the recognition of a picture that wasn't exactly a flower shot, more of a flower-shop photo. The photo was taken in Soho NYC well after midnight, sometime this November. I like this time of day in cities because the illuminated places, framed by darkness, have a rather cinematic feel to them, also frequently compared to Hopper, the painter. Technical info:Leica M (Typ 240), 35mm Summicron ASPH, f4, ISO500 1sec on tripod.

Judges Comment
Fresh, crisp and full of life - this is a new beginning! The tight crop in this image works well and was chosen wisely.
Photographers Comment
Thank you very much fo the award. And thank you for your comment as well. My name is Guido Colombini and I'm based in Bergamo (50km east of Milan, Italy); I'm not a professional photographer but just an amateur. Who is interested to have a look to my pictures can visit my site on Smugmug. This image is a sort of metaphore of the spring, with new life popping out from the darkness of the winter. I took the photo last spring, in the morning, on my balcony. There was a very nice radent light. The photo was taken using a Nikon D700 on a tripod with a macro lens 105mm f:2.8 using natural direct sunlight and a white reflector disk. Minor post processing adjustments of the raw flile were done using Lightroom.
guidocolombini.smugmug.com

Judges Comment
The composition in this photo works very well. And making the raindrops visible adds an extra layer to this rich photo. Lovely seen and executed.
Photographers Comment
Thank you so much for awarding my photo with the Mark of excellence..very exciting for me..an amateur photographer. My name is Kathryn and I took this photo this summer one early morning in my garden. I used my Canon 6d with my canon 70-200mm 2.8 lens. There was no post processing...the light was beautiful.