Amateur Photographer monthly forum photo competition results for June 2010

Small Wonders

I knew this round would be a good one. Macro is a subject area that seems to have caught everyone’s imagination, and it really brings out the creative side of our readers. Considering it can be such a technically complex area, the degree of imaginative power allocated to it is surprising - often when a technical subject is in hand the maths takes over and the art takes a back seat. But macro competitions seem to inspire us to combine the best of both worlds, and the outcome is always breathtaking.

There are some really strong images here, and while I was mean when compiling my short list it still ran to 50 pictures. In fact there weren’t many that didn’t get in.



This year’s competition is being supported by Samsung, and this month’s first prize is the Samsung ST550 compact camera with dual LCD screens - one on the front as well as the back, and 12 million pixels. This is the Amateur Photographer Compact Camera of the Year 2010. The second and third placed winners will receive a wonderful Amateur Photographer Loves My Pictures mug.





Special mentions this month go to those who very nearly made the top three. And they are: nycmarcos, Monique, AntSmith, szichri, and Panda_

3rd Place

JamieC for a Globe of Fairies

Dandelion heads hardly make an original subject. I suppose that we have all had a go at one time or other. There is a reason they are well photographed, of course, and that is because they always look good. That is, they always look good from a distance, but more often than not when you pick one up they are less than perfect. But here JamieC has found an example that really is perfect – it’s round, complete and hole-less. And with that tiny depth of field he (I’m guessing) has very carefully laid his depth of field in just the right place. The important elements here are the over all shape of the head, as well as the details of the pappus and seeds, and both are produced very clearly. That narrow depth of field also serves to introduce an arty element to what could have been a record shot, and the defocused patches of green and purple make for an excellent background.

It’s a relatively simple shot of a relatively obvious subject, but when simple and obvious are done really well they can still produce first class images – and this is a prime example.

2nd Place

David_gu1 for Strawberry splash in a spoon

This is very clever shot, that successfully combines a fascinating subject with great style and design. I wonder how many attempts David made before he captured the perfect picture. It is the splashes that we are supposed to be looking at, and they are great against that bright red backdrop, but it is the feat of getting that strawberry at just the right height and with it’s central axis parallel to the spoon that caught my attention. That couldn’t have been easy, unless David has used some still-life trickery to produce a more predictable result.

The shot fits the theme of the competition from two points of view - firstly the subjects are physically small, but the wonder is that we can now see how cream splashes when a strawberry lands in it. David has frozen the moment for us, so we can see what we would not normally be able to. I like it a lot.

1st Place

f_o_d for Insect in purple

Now we are in classic macro territory. A hoverfly collects some of its favourite things from the outstretched arms of a bright purple benefactor. My garden is blessed with plenty of these wasp-hoax child-harassers and I have numerous pictures of them in my own collection of macro images. In flight they are a real challenge, but when landed they sit a pose for just enough time for the speedy or ready photographer to pap away. What makes this shot different though is the background, the spectacular colours, and f_o_d’s neat use of depth of field. We have just the right amount of information in that zone of sharpness and the softness that lies beyond to tell us what is happening, but not so much detail that is distracts from the design of the picture. The subject might be the fly, but it might also be the shapes, the lines and the colours.

It is a beautiful picture, which should remind us all that it isn’t enough just to get close to something small. Amazing pictures come from choosing all the right elements – the subject as well as the backdrop – and them presenting them in a way that makes the viewer stare in awe.

Thanks to everyone who entered this June round. It’s been fun to judge, though the choices weren’t easy. You’ve produced some really first rate pictures.

Damien

Just to remind you - we have an excellent Gallery section in the magazine every week and you should be sending in your pictures for publication in it. If the standard of many of the shortlisted this and most months is anything to go by you will be more than capable of getting a place. We pay, and you could win a prize!!

Have a look here to find out how to submit

I hope you can all find the time to enter the August 2010 round too.

Click the links to see all the Amateur Photographer forum photographic competition entries for June and here to read the June forum photographic competition discussion thread.

This is where you'll find all the rest of the year's Amateur Photographer forum photographic competitions and discussion threads.