Cat Photo Competition 4 2016 : Results

Judges Comment
This image is just so beautiful. Magical light and almost ethereal tones, strong framing and expert management in post ... all come together to make this a standout photo. Well done! ~ illona
Photographers Comment
Thank you very much for the award, I feel very honoured! My name is Valentina Goeck and I'm a photographer, graphic designer and illustrator from Germany. My favourite subject are animals. The picture shows our own cat sitting at the window in the warm morning light a few weeks after we moved into our old little house in the countryside this summer. For me, it symbolises the quietness and peace I feel since I'm living here. I used the Canon 60D and the 24-70mm f2.8 and edited the picture in Lightroom and Photoshop.
www.valentina-goeck.de

Judges Comment
This is a fabulous image. The stark yet strong composition, simple lines, black-and-white composition, and powerful framing, all make this image an immediate favorite and a strong contender. Absolutely wonderful job. ~ illona
Photographers Comment
This is a photograph of my cat, Clio, taken on the staircase of my parents' house. I was metering for her fur, hoping the bright sun behind would silhouette her without washing out the image. I love that the photo captured the fluffy quality of her fur, and the sense of peace I feel in that house. I am a student and amateur photographer, and this image was taken while I was enrolled in a black-and-white photography class. It was shot on a Ricoh 35mm film camera with Kodak Tri-X film.

Judges Comment
What an utterly adorable image ... and at the same time, it's a strong composition. I only wish the image hadn't been cropped vertically. With the leading tail, I feel strongly that this image is just begging to have some breathing room at the top. I also think that a little editing to lighten the kitten's face and eyes would go a long way to enhance this image, bringing out her sweet expression and captivating stare. Nicely done. ~ illona

Judges Comment
The rich and varied textures and the grain in this image are so reminiscent of film (or perhaps it is a film image). A great capture of this patient cat waiting atop an old, possibly abandoned, birdhouse. Nicely done. ~ illona
Photographers Comment
My name is Annette O. and I live with my family on our beautiful land in the Finger Lakes region of NY state. I captured our beloved house cat, Sasha, sitting on one of her favorite places which is an old bird house mounted on our barn. This was taken with my Canon Rebel 4 with a 100-400mm 3.5-5L lens, F 5.6, 1/125 sec. iso 1000 converted to Black and White in Lightroom. I had wanted to capture the rich textures in this shot; Sasha's fur, the old weathered wood of the birdhouse, and the saw marks of the barn, which is so much more striking without the distraction of color. Thanks very much. I am honored with this award.

Judges Comment
What a wonderful concept and capture. Great use of the dryer's light and very skilled editing. Nicely done. ~ illona

Judges Comment
This is a great image, made stronger by the choice to convert to black-and-white, with deep blacks and clean whites ... a very powerful b&w image. The leading lines of this back street, drawing the eye into further shadow add to the mystery and almost loneliness, and the motion blur on the cat's paw is wonderful. Nicely done. ~ illona
Photographers Comment
Thank you very much for the award it really is appreciated and a great motivator for the future. Taken on holiday this year in Lanzarote with the Sony RX100M3 and basic processing via Lightroom and Silver Efex Pro. My congratulations to the winner for an excellent photograph. Alexander Graham Edinburgh Scotland

Judges Comment
This is a simple but fabulous image ... with the rich and varied textures, the muted tones, and the leading lines drawing us to the sleeping cat. Nicely done! ~ illona

Judges Comment
What a fabulous capture of this pouncing feline at the absolute peak of his jump. Nicely captured. I believe the framing could be stronger if it weren't so center-weighted, with a little more room for the cat to jump into to the right, and not so much heavy shadow there. But otherwise a fun image. ~ illona

Judges Comment
This moody, black-and-white image is captivating because of its subject's inquisitive gaze. I do find that the flare from the window behind the cat draws a little more attention to the viewer's eye than one might prefer, distracting somewhat from the subject, but otherwise a lovely image. Clean whites and deep blacks make this a strong image. Nicely done. ~ illona

Judges Comment
What a fabulous capture and great angle. The shallow depth of field adds to the dizzying effect of looking up at this curious tabby, and the conversion to black-and-white allows the viewer to focus on the simple forms, lines and the subject. Nicely done. ~ illona
Photographers Comment
It is my pleasure that my work was accredited by the distinguished judges of I-Shot-It. My name is Jonas Chan. I am a cat lover from Hong Kong. Cats in the City is my recent photography project. In the urban areas, there are a lot of cats living with human and playing different roles. They may be pets at home, shop cats, or even street cats living in dirty back alleys. In my cat photos, I want to demonstrate to people that the existence of cats in the human communities, whatever cats with human owners or stray cats who's fighting hard for their life on the streets, is a kind of harmony and thus the community cats should be respected and loved. In this photo, it is one of the shop cats living in a fruit market in Hong Kong. Her owner told me that she did a good job in protecting the fruits from the threaten of rats. I used Leica MP246 and APO-Summicron 50mm f/2 for this shot. Thanks again for I-Shot-It and the judges!
www.instagram.com/jonaschanch