Field and Forest Nature Photo Contest

Full Text of Judge's Comments

First Place: I was drawn pretty quickly to the seagulls at sunset photo for several different reasons. First, I am always intrigued by caught moments, dynamic in nature, that presents interesting composition. This shot carries all of this quite well. Being at the right place at the right time, the photographer was able to capture some very active movements that created an interesting and exciting composition.

Secondly, I like the unexpected palette. Colors of such intensity can tend to turn the eye away, but I like the strength and veracity of the yellows. It reminds me how strong and tenacious nature is. Finally, I appreciate the unexpected. The gulls are doing what gulls do. Yet the environment in which this takes place is so extraordinary, that the whole photo, gulls and environment, take on a magical feel. This photo made me take a second look to see what was going on. To me, this photo stepped out because of it's dynamic composition, interesting color and a feel that was unexpected and not typical.

Second Place: I chose the moon through the trees photo for reasons of reaction. For me, there was definitely a sense of duality. This photo evoked feelings of mystery and illusion. At the same time, I was also afforded the feeling of quiet and solitude. To me, there is a lot going on in this photo. There seems to be communicated a sort of duality: a brooding darkness offered by a feeling of mystery on one hand and a calmness that comes from this place being so tranquil on the other.

Again, I respond to the unexpected: The soft light hitting the leaves in contrast to the bright moon light is intriguing. And in terms of the black and white quality, I really like the tonal ranges. This makes for a very lovely print. There is amazing range of tones that span from soft and elegant to light and bright. The blacks are really rich. I respond best to photos that seem to communicate through duality like this one does.

Third Place: At first I thought I chose the wolf photo simply for the subject matter. However upon closer examination I found that I responded to this photo for more complex reasons. I find the close range of black and white tones to be quite elegant and I almost found myself looking for where the wolf stopped and the background began. I really responded to the almost monochromatic nature of this photo. For some odd reason, I also really liked that the wolf was standing in water. I thought that to be very unique and, really, for no particular reason, it just struck me. There was also something very sweet and not so typical about the expression on the wolf's face. Maybe it's that being-aware-of-the-space-around-you look. I liked it. Overall, I think that this seemingly simple photo is quite complex and I really liked that very much.

Quentin Nardi
Photo Editor
Outside Magazine

First Place	Second Place	Third Place
Click on a place to read the judge's specific comments regarding our first, second and third place winners. The full text of the judge's comments can be found at the bottom of this page.