I hope that everyone had a great weekend! I know that some of you have been anxiously waiting to hear who the winner of the photo walk is and today is the big day. This year’s winning photo was taken by Erica Brower.
First, this is not a conspiracy. Yes, Erica did also win last year but on the photo walk website I could not see the names of the participants attached to each photo until after the winner was chosen and I purposely did not go look at the Flickr group pool so that I would not be biased. I guess that Erica and I just see the world in a very similar way.
What was it about this photo that made me decide to choose it as the winner? Here we go:
Perfect exposure. There are no blown out highlights and there is ample detail in the shadow areas.
Sharpness. The image is tack sharp without evidence of artificial sharpening in Photoshop.
Composition. As you can see on the diagram below, the image was composed using the rule of thirds which gives the image a balanced but dynamic appearance. Also, the shallow depth of field draws the eye into the image and focuses the viewers attention on the subject. This combined with the fact that the center of the flower is the darkest part of the image makes it very clear where the subject of the image lies. Our “subject” also has plenty of space to look into in the image as well.
Color. The image is lively and interesting.
Good subject choice. Granted, flowers are not exactly an original subject for photography, but the incest on this flower in particular is one that makes you stare at it and wonder what it is.
Texture. Between the center of the flower, the insect, and the smooth flower petals there are a lot of interesting textures in the image.
A big thanks to everyone who participated in the walk this year and I look forward to seeing you all again next year!
