URBAN ARCHITECTURE by ROWENA RICHARDS

GRADE - ACCEPTANCE Personally, I would crop the right side off right to the building as the light sky draws the viewer away from the subject. I would also crop the top off for the same reason. Then I would darken the triangle that is left.

MY SNOW WHITE by ROWENA RICHARDS

GRADE - MERIT Great framing here. A few adjustments will help this image achieve more impact I feel. I suggest you always click on the auto button in the develop module/Camera RAW to see what you get then work from there. (Contrast -25-30%, whites +35-40%, blacks -60-65%)

SAND DUNES BLOWING IN THE WIND by ROWENA RICHARDS

GRADE - HONOURS Lovely repetitive sand pattern image. Nicely exposed in what looks like difficult conditions. Excellent vignetting around the edges which keeps the eye within the picture. Very good contrast. This image is very strong, has impact, and to me, that “wow” factor.

PURAKAUNUI FALLS – CATLINS by ROWENA RICHARDS

GRADE - MERIT The intentional or unintentional vignettingin the corners has helped to concentrate interest on these beautiful falls. Consider a crop on the L/H side so that the falls have the appearance of more space to flow into on the R/H side. There is a slight bluish cast on the R/H side of the falls. The long exposure has enhanced the flowing water.

I'M GONNA GET YA by ROWENA RICHARDS

GRADE - NOT ACCEPTED I’m sorry, this image has the name of the author on it. Easy to do, but not good.

CHERRY DELIGHT by ROWENA RICHARDS

GRADE - HONOURS The photographer has made good use of negative space in this image. There is great contrast between the vivacious and bubbly cherries and the hollow black background. This gives this image its great impact. I love its simplicity and the need, for example, to imagine where the glass is. To my mind the image is little top heavy and would perhaps benefit with just a little less of the black space. But a great feel nevertheless.

CHOMPING AT THE BIT by ROWENA RICHARDS

GRADE - HONORS What a great image. There is no doubt what I am looking at here. The detail and lighting on the horse is lovely. The veins add a textural component to the horse and the light on the whiskers helps them stand out beautifully. Not much more to say … lovely

TUSSOCK DEW by ROWENA RICHARDS

GRADE - MERIT To me, this is a lovely closeup macro shot. While there is only the tussock grass to give you a sense of perspective, the size of the dewdrop indicates that you have gone in close to your subject. The leading lines from the diagonal corners of the frame work well to guide my eye towards the main subject matter of the image which is the dew. You have captured some lovely detail of the underneath grass through the dew, and the subject is well separated from the background. Good image.

RAM IN GOOD HANDS by ROWENA RICHARDS

GRADE - MERIT Don't you just love the tongue, but I'm not sure the ram thinks it's in good hands with eyes shut and tongue out. A good tight arrangement which might be improved by a crop closer to the elbow to improve the position of the tongue and remove some of the light area on the other forearm. Half close your eyes and you will see where the hotspots are. A bit soft, but good work.

MISSED THE BALL by ROWENA RICHARDS

GRADE - HONOURS Lovely lighting on the model's face and in many ways it would be nice to have that larger in the total picture area. Perhaps a little crop from the top and the right could be considered. A great story-telling setting and story although the frock with bare bed springs is a little out of context. Love the gloves over the case. Love the gloves over the case and technically the whole thing has been very well handled.

SELF REFLECTION by ROWENA RICHARDS

GRADE : MERIT At first view this is a very pleasing image. The hat and coat provide information about the model and the background is unobtrusive. The detail in the eyes has been well retain in spite of the brim of the hat. On a second inspection one gets the feeling that the out-door girl is in conflict with the indoor setting. There is evidence or a suggestion of post processing around the hat and behind the woman’s left ear. Also there appears to be an issue with the way the light is falling on the background in opposition to that on the model.

ON TOP OF THE WORLD by ROWENA RICHARDS

GRADE : MERIT At first view I get the feeling of at least three dedicated photographers climbing to some high peak in search of unique images. The two men on the distant peak with their tripods, cameras and accessories make an effective stance. The backdrop is impressive. It indicates scale and suggests the photographers are high above an impending storm. For me, the background looks at if it may have been exchanged. There is something unreal about the intersection between the rock and the skyline. This is particularly so in the lower righthand edge of the rock. The light and shadow detail here seem inconstant in someway. Forgive me if this is not the case but edge became such a distraction for me that I had to reflect it in the mark.

FLY BOARDER EXTRAVAGANZA by ROWENA RICHARDS

GRADE : HONOURS An extremely effective image - well done. The action really stands against the darker background The fly boarder is coming towards us which adds to the impact. Everything in the image contributes to the telling of a great story.

NOSEY SEAL PUP by ROWENA RICHARDS

GRADE : MERIT There is lovely rim lighting on this portrait of the young seal pup. The look is very direct so the viewer makes immediate contact with it. Try lifting the light a little by shifting both the highlights and mid tones sliders to the left as this gives more life to your subject. The composition has put the head a little off centre and you have captured the detail of the coat well.

MISTY WINTER by ROWENA RICHARDS

GRADE : MERIT This is a nicely seen autumnal landscape. Nice composition but the colour lacks a bit of punch and is crying out for a bit more post processing…..just over do it.

LOST by ROWENA RICHARDS

GRADE : NOT ACCEPTED This is a nice enough image of this “caught” dog but the story is not really either of a dog being lost or of winter so I struggle a bit with the context. It really belongs in open or a different set subject so my best call is to not accept it so that you can resubmit in a different competition.

NIGHT LIGHTS by ROWENA RICHARDS

GRADE : ACCEPTANCE A well composed image with the lead in on the left. A good Acceptance.

RODEO TUMBLE by ROWENA RICHARDS

GRADE : HONOURS An excellent action shot. The slightly blurred hand adds movement and the unobtrusive background adds to the overall impact. My only niggle would be to watch your cropping, it is a little tight at the top. Well done.

ACROBATIC FLY BOARDER by ROWENA RICHARDS

GRADE : MERIT

AUTUMN GOLDEN LIGHT by ROWENA RICHARDS

GRADE : HONOURS

MY MONET by ROWENA RICHARDS

GRADE: HONOURS Indeed, you have managed to achieve a Monet’d” dreamy background with a contemporary and realistic foreground. The background is a moving living body and gives the image life. The more I look at this image the more I see and like it.

AUNTY by ROWENA RICHARDS

GRADE: HONOURS An image filled with joy. Her character shines through as a strong personality, full of fun and laughter. This image gives me the incentive to want to meet with her and find out her life story. She's a hard worker, but has clearly had a hard life and still maintained her good sense of humour. I've given this an Honours simply because it's so strong in the message of who Aunty is and what she's about.

HIGH COUNTRY by ROWENA RICHARDS

GRADE - MERIT A lovely photo with rich colours. The fence moves off and still stays in the frame as it disappears . It is sharp throughout. I like the rhythm in the blue hills My comment would be that the picture feels divided in half. You do have a very good sky, so it would be a pity to crop that. Was there any more of the beautiful coloured foreground? Almost half of the fence shows no grass below the posts, so the fence seems to leap out of the middle of the picture rather than the left side. If you have more foreground consider looking at including it, and entering the photo in other competitions. Alternatively take a little sky off. It is possibly a little dark. Look at making it lighter to get more of the golds in the grasses.

DANDELION IN THE DARKNESS by ROWENA RICHARDS

GRADE - HONOURS This is a striking black and white photograph. The edges and the centre are very sharp. It is balanced on all four sides.

RAM ON WATCH BY ROWENA RICHARDS GRADE; HONOURS

Strong diagonal composition leading the eye from the Rams nose up and around to the horn Good use of monotone to keep the Image graphic in quality, good vignette to hold the viewer in the frame.

MCLEAN FALLS BY ROWENA RICHARDS, GRADE MERIT

Good use of a slow shutter speed creating a romantic look to the falls. As a judge I still want more… Id like to see a ranbow, or late evening or morning light… something to lif this to a WOW photo. Perhaps less of the brown barren foreground too.

FRAMED By ROWENA RICHARDS GRADE; HONOURS

Is it a picture, or is it a view? A lovely enigma, well seen, and well handled.

MISTY SUNSET By ROWENA RICHARDS GRADE; ACCEPTED

This picture has great impact, with its very moody lighting. But as one looks at it, there are some tings that detract from the overall effect. Although the composition is good, with the leading line of the in-focus shore taking the viewer to the bright mist patch, this patch is very cental, and somewhat disturbingly soft (true, it is mist, and should not be sharp) compared to the foreground. The picture is helped by masking off the right hand trees to eliminate to orange leaves - the remaining trees are more in keeping with the distant row of poplars, so that the path to the mist patch is more certain.

SUNSET OVER OTEMATATA BY ROWENA RICHARDS, GRADE HONOURS

I love the way the tussocks glow in the late light. The layers of colour and light are very well seen.You have handled the light well.

PEEKABOO By ROWENS RICHARDS SECOND PLACE

MILFORD PURE By ROWENA RICHARDS GRADE; MERIT

Another example of blurred water with not bits of the flow disappearing out of the frame in the wrong places. This time there is a line of rocks leading in from the bottom left that works well. Excellent deatil and textures in the rocks as well. I also liked that there is detail in the background as well. The patches of warm brown on the rocks add colour contrast to the cool greens and blues.

PERFECT END TO MILFORD TRIP ON WAY HOME By ROWENA RICHARDS GRADE; ACCEPTED

The way the rays disappear behind the foreground hill give this dark moody landscape some depth. I find the foreground fence a slight distraction. If you canget there the squares in a deer fence a big enough to poke your lens through. 'Perfect end' or 'On the way home' would be enogh of a title.

LONG DAY By ROWENA RICHARDS; GRADE MERIT

You have done well technically with the image and I like the look on the guy's face. He is in the moment but the girl looks more interested in something else.

WILDHORSE By ROWENA RICHARDS; GRADE HONOURS

This image has a lot of feeling. You can see the spirit of the horse in its eye and its stance. I like the well out of focus background and there is plenty of detail in the horses coat.

ONCE PROUD By ROWENA RICHARDS GRADE ACCEPTED

I am sure they were, they look the worse for wear now. I think that often they would get butchered for spare parts , till eventually all that would be left would be the chassis. I like the sepia tones you have used, with an interEsting boarder, not too sure in my opinion if it adds a whole lot. Exposure ,composition and DOF have all been well handled in my opinion. Well done for seeing finding these.

CHEEKY WAXEYE By ROWENA RICHARDS, GRADE; ACCEPTED

you have captured great detail in the waxeye, I like your use of a tight dof as it make for an intersting mottled background., exposure has been handled well ,I might look at cropping a little tighter into the waxeye but that is only my opinion.

MY RELIC By ROWENA RICHARDS GRADE; ACCEPTED

Well composed and love the fact one of its lights is missing.

LUCKY HORSE SHOE By ROWENA RICHARDS GRADE; ACCEPTED

What an interesting place. The colour used and the border selected for this image suits the look and feel of the image. While this image does not show a very distinct subject, it is still a strong image of this place and serves as a good record especially if it is a historic old working shed.

AUTUMN GLORY By ROWENA RICHARDS, GRADE ACCEPTED

Glorious autumn colours captured when they are their very best. There are two post processing issues which spoil the image. Firstly the idea of darkening the edges to hold our attention is worthwhile but the vignette needs to be more subtle than it is on this image. Secondly watch out for halos along the edges of strong contrast like along the skyline in this image. This may have come from pushing the sharpening just a bit to far.