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Contest #2, 2000

First Place - Ellen Hoverkamp Second Place - Leon Budde Third Place - Chris Adams Honorable Mention - Paul Gray Honorable Mention - Stanley Kendall Honorable Mention - Joe Murray

First Place "Yellow Fern" Ellen Hoverkamp

Second Place "Ferns" Leon Budde

Third Place "Multnomah Falls" Chris Adams

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.

Honorable Mention "Untitled" Paul Gray

Honorable Mention "Flight Pattern" Stanley Kendall

Honorable Mention "Green in a Sea of Blue" Joe Murray

About the judge Our judge for this contest was Kurt Mutchler, National Geographic magazine illustrations editor. Kurt was also a staff photographer and editor at The Times-Picayune/The States-Item newspaper in New Orleans, Louisiana. We are very appreciative of Kurt's willingness to take time away from his numerous duties at National Geographic to judge the Field and Forest Nature Photo Contest and provide us with some insightful thoughts about shooting better nature photos. Kurt Mutchler e-mail Note: The full text of the judge's comments are located at the bottom of the page.

Photographer's Comments First Place - Ellen Hoverkamp Photograph: Yellow Fern Location: Cape Cod Date taken: 2000 Equipment used: Using my scanner as a camera, I preserve floral collections as souvenirs of nature's beauty. My 300 dpi ink jet images are frontpieces for blank greeting cards. Web site: From My Neighbor's Garden Comments: I have been teaching art to children for 22 years. My own artwork has always had a strong connection to nature over the years in various forms. In 1991, I was using a color laser copier to document my mostly floral collages as limited edition laser copies. The affordability and convenience of working at home using my scanner has really made image making more of a daily routine for me. I have amassed this collection of work over the past year. My plan is to offer archival prints of these images someday soon in addition to the cards. Second Place - Leon Budde Photograph: Ferns Date taken: Summer 1999 Location: Forest near Ermelo, the Netherlands Equipment used: Nikon F50 with a 70-120mm lens. I normally use 200 ASA Fuji film Web site: Cam's Photography Page Comments: I live in Groningen, The Netherlands. I started getting intersted in photography when I was 16. I? 21 now. My topics are mainly nature and city-scapes. I don? digitally alter my pictures (except for brightness/contrast adjustments to make up for my bad scanner). As for this photo, I just like the shape of the ferns and how the light from behind makes them appear transparent. Third Place - Chris Adams Photograph: Multnomah Falls Date taken: 2000 Location: From the lower section of Multnomah Falls about 40 minutes East of Portland, Oregon USA in the Columbia Gorge. Equipment used: Nikon N60, 24 mm Nikkor AF and tripod with a one second exposure ( I used the camera's self timer feature to prevent movement of the camera when taking the picture.) Comments: My intention was to give my new lens a try. I wasn't sure of how they would turn out. The day was very overcast (well ... it is Oregon so it's a normal thing). When I had the pictures developed this was an eye catcher. I've only started photography in the last year and learn more after every roll of film. Honorable Mention - Paul Gray Photograph: Untitled Date taken: 1999 Location: Lake Caddo, Texas USA Equipment used: Nikon N70 Comments: No comments provided with entry Honorable Mention - Stanley Kendall Photograph: Flight Pattern Date taken: 1999 Location: Horicon National Wildlife Refuge in southern Wisconsin Equipment used: 500mm lens (mounted on a homemade camera gun mount) at f8 without a motor winder or drive . (Body not listed) Comments: I love almost all birds for their beauty and I especially love to see Canada Geese like these fly in V formation. They are more beautiful in the air. Honorable Mention - Joe Murray Photograph: Green in a Sea of Blue Date taken: 1999 Location: Small pond along Interstate Highway 5 in Oregon, USA Equipment used: Canon Rebel G 2000, 28-80mm lens, tripod, cable release, polarizing filter, Fuji Velvia ISO 50. Web site: Joe Murray Gallery - Field and Forest Comments: I like this photo because when I took it everything seemed perfect and I liked the juxtaposition of the grass randomly in the water.

Full Text of Judge's Comments I am working the analog world as an illustrations editor on the staff of National Geographic magazine. We're still shooting film and printing on slick stock at 308 dots per inch. Prior to that I was a photographer and editor at The Times-Picayune newspaper in New Orleans. They (The Times-Picayune) are now using more and more digital cameras which I find annoying because of the poor reproduction. It's like painting only with crayons. Before I commment on my selection of images I thought I would give you my thoughts on this process. I have never judged a contest online. I'm viewing the images on my Powerbook. The screen is not calibrated for any particular purpose. In fact, by simply moving my head I can change the density of the images by a factor of at least a stop or two - making your pictures lighter or darker on whim. What other medium can one do that? For me a key component to landcape photography, which is a large share of what I am asked to judge here, is the quality of the print. That quality is missing when looking at images in their pixel form at 72 dpi. For some of you who take great care in the selection of film and the exposure and processing for the detail in shadows and highlights, it's like scanning a Rembrandt. In some cases I actually had to scroll down to view the rest of a vertical picture. But in any case, I am judging the photography on the same screen so all images are viewed alike. 1. I liked this picture because of the care in its composition. The fern serves as a backbone that adds depth to the image. The white and blue flowers take my eye around the frame in an exploration of nature's beauty. I spent the most time looking at this image. 2. The geometry of nature is fascinating and that is reflected well in this image. I like the way the photographer carefully framed the tips of the fern so that they interlocked preserving the form of the plant. The shallow depth of field again added a sense of depth to the picture. 3. Ahhh the art of the time exposure. A nice job here. What saved this picture was its asymmetry. If the photographer would have split the falls in the center of the frame he would have entered the dull zone. Some thoughts: Sunsets are tough. Stay away from them unless you really push the envelope. Shoot early or late - not enough of you are using light in creative ways. How about some black and white? Everyone keep shooting and it's wonderful to see people's work from the field. Thanks for having me. Kurt Mutchler Illustrations Editor National Geographic magazine (Field and Forest Editor's Note: We are not completely sure of this ... but, we suspect we may be the only contest judged entirely via the internet. At the very least we are one of very few. Of course, there are numerous contests on the internet. But we speak only of the way in which they are judged. Field and Forest Nature Photo Contest entries are not transmitted individually or on a disk to the judge. Each contest is judged using a "secret" web page known only to the judge. Photos are presented as thumbnail images [160 pixels wide for horizontal images] sort of like a contact sheet and are linked to larger versions of each photo [640 pixels wide] for more detailed viewing. Each photo contains a drop down box allowing the judge to choose the place for each photo [ie: first, second, third or honorable mention]. The selection is then submitted to us with a single click of a button via a CGI script form which arrives as e-mail.)