FLOWERING CACTI by JOHN HARRISON

GRADE - MERIT There is a good focal point which takes your eye straight into the image. The patterns and delicate colours of the flower provide much detail for the viewer to absorb. Overall, I found the composition to be a little harsh. If possible, it would have been better to include the tips of the buds on the left-hand side rather than cut them off as shown. I like the way the small hairs on the edges of the petals are highlighted against the backdrop.

SEEN BETTER DAYS by JOHN HARRISON

GRADE - MERIT The black and white suits the subject. I like the angle you have taken the image on but it could have done with more. The white cloud on the left fills in the gap there. Good detail and sharpness in the wood. Some close up of specific parts would also make good photos.

HIDDEN WATERFALL by JOHN HARRISON

GRADE - ACCEPTANCE We have some lovely waterfalls here in NZ. We are so lucky. Your composition here is nice as we get a good glimpse of the falls through the vegetation. Unfortunatley the sunny day was not in your favour. It is better to photograph these on cloudy days. The light on the vegetation is too bright. Using a polariser filter also is good for getting rid of the shine and making the colours look more saturated.

THREE VEILS BY JOHN HARRISON, GRADE ACCEPTED

Waterfalls are notoriously hard to photograph and do well with at camera clubs.. .. Partly because they are so popular. Firstly you need great lighting, late evening or side lighting, a very windy day perhaps. Then a slow shutter speed to add drama. Keep trying.

IRIS BY JOHN HARRISON, GRADE MERIT

Iris are one of the more difficult flowers to photograph. This is sharp and the muted background works well. Be careful of the composition or placement, this is sitting unevenly in the frame. i.e. there is a close crop on one side and only a slither cropped off onthe other side. if you are cropping keep it even on the sides. Good detail and texture - Be careful when cropping, you have taken more off the iris on one side than the other. Keep your cropping even or deliberately different. Good detail in the petals.

WREAK FOR SALE By JOHN HARRISON GRADE; MERIT

It is for sale! Well spotted. Now the words on this wreak serves as an attention grabber, rightfully, in this image because of the title used of this image.

SNOW DROP By JOHN HARRISON GRADE; MERIT

This image of a snow drop is sharp, well composed and beautiful. Just by darkening some of the background brighter areas (spots) and the little bit at the bottom of the image might help reduce the minor distractions from the background. A little crop on the left hand side might help too.

GLIDING ON By JOHN HARRISON, GRADE ACCEPTED

We love the very soft focus of this subject and the head on the angle adds to the sense of the girl being interested in what she is looking at. We thought that the title maybe a bit misleading - is the stick insect called Sally or is it the name of the girl? I am almost uncomfortable with the contrasting sharpness of her hand and the stick insect which almost seem to be intrusive. The extremely shallow depth of field almost has the effect of making her hand look as if it belongs to someone else. One suggestion to try is to darken the background more which may link the two parts of the image better.

YOUR NOT ONE OF US By JOHN HARRISON GRADE; NOT ACCEPTED

A good idea to put the orange in to provide a focal point. In this set subject we were looking for patterns and to achieve that you would have had to arrange the apples into a recognisable patterns such as in lines. At the moment the apples are just jumbled in so there are not any discernible patterns.

WATER DROPS by JOHN HARRISON; Grade: Honours

HARBOUR PATTERNS by JOHN HARRISON; Grade: Not Accepted

FAMILY by JOHN HARRISON; Grade: Honours

– brilliantly creative – it’s a shame the closest child has no catchlight in the eye – but I’m not going to let that influence me – this shows imagination, creativeness and thinking outside the square – not only that, you’ve succeeded in what you set out to do.

EARLY SPRING by JOHN HARRISON; Grade: highly Commended

now here’s that fuzzy background which makes the snow drop jump off the screen at you – the green cap is pin sharp and most of the flower is acceptably sharp – the two side petals are a tad washed out, but I’m sure someone in your club could show you how to fix that – I find the leaves at the base a smidgen distracting and would prefer them toned down somewhat.

FIRST OF SPRING by JOHN HARRISON; Grade: Honours

Well seen. Exposure is great. All I can suggest with this image is a little cropping. I would crop the left off a little and the right so that the bud intersects the right upright third. You have been able to retain detail in the white of the snow which can be hard to do. Well done! Honours

FROSTED by JOHN HARRISON; Grade: Accepted

I feel that this image needs to be rotated 180 deg. so the shadow is at the bottom. Exposure is good, but I would lift the shadows somewhat. Composition is good apart from rotating. Colour balance is good. Accepted

THE BEST by JOHN HARRISON; Grade: Acceptance

Some may argue about your title for this subject, but not about the image. You have captured it well to show the winged lady and the name plate on this vehicle. The detail is produced nicely and the lighting used has produced an almost monochromatic image.An interesting subject, well seen. You will have to do a bit better with your polishing to avoid the marks in the polished areas here.

MY FAMILY by JOHN HARRISON; Grade:

No, not a silhouette here, but a "low key" picture. Had the figures been black and the background whiter, yes, then it would have been a silhouette. Otherwise, a great family photograph and well taken in this respect for the family album.

TIDES COMING IN by JOHN HARRISON; Grade: Acceptance

TIDES COMING IN There are some very nice features of your image, the curves of the waves, the interesting clouds and the dark clouds along the top which hold us into the scene. To take it to the next level, it needs something of interest in the foreground, maybe a person or a large rock. We suggest going down on to the beach and making a foreground feature of some of those rocks we can see on the left.

STANDING TALL by JOHN HARRISON; Grade: Acceptance

A fascinating structure - how did they build them? There is not enough information in the image to really show that it is a bridge. It could also have been part of other Roman ruins. It would have been better if you were able to show more of the scene to show the bridge in its context. Alistair and I don’t always agree. I liked the slightly offset angle you have taken the structure from while Alistair would have preferred you to have taken it either straight on or from a much greater angle. We did agree that you have exposed the stone work well and set it off nicely against the blue sky.

I'M OUT bY JOHN HARRISON; Grade: Merit

Good study of this butterfly with the cocoon below. Let down a tad by being not quite perfectly sharp but a good effort. Merit.

"BUNKERED" by JOHN HARRISON; Grade: M Golfer is strongly positioned and is balanced by the grasses to the right - you've caught the action at its most dramatic - exposure is excellent with plenty of detail throughout.

"END OF DAYS FISHING" by JOHN HARRISON; Grade: A This is a pleasant marine study, with good cross lighting - however, I think you've included too much water at the base - a crop, up to the black object on the right, would strengthen it.

"TRANQUILLITY" by JOHN HARRISON; Grade: Acceptance

"NO ENTRY" by JOHN HARRISON; Grade: Acceptance

"REFLECTIONS" by JOHN HARRISON;

"YELLOW CAR" by JOHN HARRISON;

"WHERE DO I START" by JOHN HARRISON Field Trip Competition February 2014 - Wanaka

"MOUTH WATERING" by JOHN HARRISON; I battled with this image. Good food photography indeed makes your mouth water but not in this case. I'm guessing here but I think the overall loss of detail is because the food is wrapped in gladwrap. I may be wrong but that's the impression. Good food photography needs to be sharp and with good colour.

"WAITING FOR THE TIDE" by JOHN HARRISON; Grade: Acceptance This is a busy image that could do some work on the composition as its very busy. Overall, however, the technical elements such as depth of field, and exposure have been handled well.

"FUNGUS SCULPTURE" by JOHN HARRISON; The square crop has balanced the light and dark areas. The main problem is lack of sharpness. Very little appears to be in focus. The bottom part, sweeping in from the left, is particularly problematical.

"OLD WILBUR" by JOHN HARRISON; Grade: Highly Commended. The photographer has moved more towards the front so the vehicle is not too flat on. The driver’s door doesn’t have so much prominence. We see more of the hills behind the truck, and less bald sky. I sense you have also applied a vignette to darken the sky and surrounds.

"STOURHEAD' S PANTHEON" by JOHN HARRISON; Grade: Acceptance.

"HAMLET" by JOHN HARRISON; Grade: Merit.

"PAINTED MENU" by JOHN HARRISON Field Trip Competition July 2013 - Waitiri Creek

"ME! AN ALL BLACK" by JOHN HARRISON; Grade: Accepted. – a good title and lovely skin tones – in this case I find the writing somewhat distracting and a crop off the right would eliminate that – I realise you’d then need to find another title, but that suggested crop really makes the eyes dominate the picture – maybe the All Blacks button would be enough to make the title work.

"FIRST OF THE SNOW" by JOHN HARRISON; Grade: Highly Commended – this is a lovely high key picture – there’s a nice lead in through the valley floor, to the small mound in the left middle distance – the sky is just a tad burnt out at the left, but not to any great degree – my real problem with it is that there is no really outstanding point of interest, nothing to catch your eye and hold it – but still, it’s a very competent image in Novice Grade.

"EARLY MORNING" by JOHN HARRISON; Grade: Accepted The subject matter appeals although the image is a bit over exposed. I really like the subtle colours in the water and the pastel reflections, but I’d suggest that a tweak of the exposure tools in your photo editor would improve the image. I’m also a bit troubled by the bollard and rope in the foreground as these elements don’t add anything to the image. I’d suggest a tighter crop to remove the bollard and the rather bland bits on the far right, making the image more panoramic and then tweak the exposure. I’ve shown you the result below...note that I’ve added the rule of thirds grid as well to give you an idea of how the rule can be applied.

"NATURES PALLETE" by JOHN HARRISON; Grade: Accepted. A nice bright and colourful autumn scene. I would like to have seen a slight crop as per the attached version below which would put the dominate red tree on the thirds and eliminate the bare hillside on the top right that adds little to the scene. Even so well scene and a good merit.

"VAULTED CEILINGS" by JOHN HARRISON, Grade: Merit.

"SKIPPERS MOUNTAINS" by JOHN HARRISON Field Trip Competition April 2013 - Skippers

"CAREENED" by JOHN HARRISON; GRADE: Highly Commended

"WEATHERED DOOR" by JOHN HARRISON; Grade: Acceptance This image has some interesting patterns and colour and has been captured quite well. However, I don't see anything in the image to really attract the viewer. Yes, it is a weathered door and then only a part of it. I think that there may well have been another view of this door that may have attracted more interest from most viewers. To me, this view is not complete and really needs something else to give it a real push.

"FURRY TONGUE" by JOHN HARRISON; Grade: Acceptance Furry tongue, yes, but your focus has missed a lot of the furry tongue. Remember that if you pick a focus point, the sharpness extends from about 1/3 the total depth of field in front of the point and for 2/3 behind the focus point. The lack of focus and the over bright image in this area has spoilt this interesting image to some extent. The rest of the image has been handled quite well.