OPN_123_ALL EYES ON THEM.jpeg

Merit. Well spotted and a good photojournalism image. The two figures who are out of focus frame the three armed police who stand facing them. I like that you have included the sign saying police which adds a third element. A strong story.

SSN_123_SUNRISE GOODNESS.jpg

Merit. There is a subtle beauty in this image probably due to the softness of the early morning light. Well done for being an early riser and this is my favourite time of the day. I like the way the light is directed on the right of the peak and then reflected in the water.

OPN_123_EARLY MORNING SUN.jpg

Achieved. Looks like Aoraki/Mount Cook, as viewed across Lake Pukaki, and at a lovely time of day with that early morning sun just picking out the peaks and some of the vegetation on the lake shore. There’s a lot of sky which doesn’t contribute much to the image for me, and I wonder whether the author might like to try cropping down from the top so that the image is quite panoramic, and essentially a third sky, a third land and a third lake, as I think this would work better and make for a stronger image. It was disappointing to me that the image has been resized to just 810 pixels wide by 540 pixels high – when it could have been much larger with more sharpness and detail, which would show off this beautiful scene much better. I think the exposure has been well handled for a scene which does have a large range of brightness, and the peak is in a strong position on a third.

SSN_123_BOYS AND THEIR TOYS.jpeg

Achieved. That’s some toy, and I’m jealous of his ability to fly around the spectacular scenery of the Queenstown area. This qualifies as an environmental portrait, although it’s quite a static scene aside from him appearing to be ready to crank up the propellor! It looks late in the day, with long shadows. I find it hard to see the man’s face which is in shadow, and would suggest lightening up his face and body in post-processing. I find the use of a portrait orientation to the image a little puzzling, as there is an expanse of blue sky at the top and green grass at the bottom which don’t contribute much to the image for me, while the horizonal wings are cut off. I wouldn’t expect to see the whole plane, but a landscape orientation might have worked better for me. The image is nice and sharp and I do like the fact that the mountains are shown in the background, as well as the plane sitting in what looks like just a bare paddock, alluding to the environment it is flown in

SSN_123_Family of Raindrops.jpg

Merit. Well done in keeping this one blade of grass sharp throughout, yet using a larger aperture to throw the background out of focus. Even more would be great! A similar effect could also be gained by experimenting with a clear acetate sheet as a filter with Vaseline wiped over it but leaving the sharp blade untouched. I am sure an experienced club member could help you with this.

OPN_123_Road to GY.jpg

Acceptance. I like your positioning of the road leading into the image. Lovely calm early light.

SSN_123_NOSEY NEIGHBOUR.jpeg

Achieved. This is a different perspective on 'through the gap', it is quite striking and the eye staring back at you draws your attention. The eye is sharp and you can see the pores of the skin. I am not sure if the frame is a vignette or as a result of the camera lens being extremely close to it, but either way it has worked. Good initiative.

OPN_123_DINNER AND A SHOW.jpeg

Achieved. Here we have a photojournalism image of a man working in his environment. I like that the angle it has been taken from clearly shows the frying pan and gas flame. It looks like your camera may have focused a bit before the frying pan which is your subject in this image, try to get the sharpest focus on the area of interest. This is just a suggestion, but if you were to crop off some of the left side up to the edge of the gas cooker and up the bit from the base to remove some of the bright area you would tighten up your composition and the eye would be focused more on the frying pan rather than be distracted by those two bright areas.

OPN_123_Stories are Best Shared on Short Walks.jpg

Non Acceptance. Yet another image that is not sized correctly (5472 x 3648). I love this story that we see here. You can just image what they might be discussing. Nicely positioned within the frame and plenty of room to walk into. I enjoy the colours too. Yellows and blues always ,always ,always look well-being on the opposite end of the colour wheel. Nice job but unfortunately I can't score it. PLEASE resize and re-enter this image. You have got a good one here.

SSN_123_Thinking About Being a Farmer.jpg

Non Acceptance. Unfortunately this is incorrectly sized (5312 x 3472). This title made me smile and I think at the moment we all need a laugh. Great DOF and colour. Nothing distracting in the background and plenty of space to look into. Pity about the sizing sorry. Put it in again (resized) and I am sure you will have success.

OPN_123_Light at the End of the Tunnel.jpeg

Honours. This is great, works well in black and white, the dark edges which slowly get lighter makes your eyes stay within the image. The person slightly to the left is good and not right in the middle. Even though the end of the tunnel is very light my eyes do keep coming back to the person

SSN_123_Road going Nowhere.jpeg

Honours. I like the road lead in line as well as the power lines leading you into the image. The pylon helps break up the sky.

Eden Barker_123.jpeg

OPN_123_New Windows desktop screen.jpeg

Acceptance. Not so sure the title really tells me too much about the Image, The lines of the hills are creating interest for the viewer. I did however find the shadow bottom right distracting and caused my eye to jump to it, also be aware that bright areas on the edges of your image can drag the viewers eye to the edge and out of the frame . Try adding a third element to hold the viewers attention for a longer period. Well exposed , good strong sky, sharp. So your on the right path now you need to take another step and add a bit more with the addition of that third element ie a person, a sheep a poet pole a shed just something more . OR maybe some drama with lighting at a different time of day.

SSN_123_It's all in the wrist.jpeg

MERIT. Good sense of movement in the frisbee and the wrist and yet you have managed to keep your subject sharp. I felt a tighter crop would have helped strengthen this Image as the inclusion of the tattoo on the mans leg and the pale log to the right hand edge of the Image both attracted more attention to draw my eye away from the main subject.

SSN_123_More tiers than a wedding cake.jpeg

ACHIEVED Here we have soft velvety flowing water that has been created by a slow shutter speed. I like the title as for me it reflects the whole wedding theme from tiered wedding cake to soft frosted icing to bride's veil. For me It seems a bit tightly cropped on the sides. I would like to see a bit of the bank on the right side that contains the pool of water. I also find the sky a bit distracting. This might seem a bit strange but seeing the sky and horizon at the top gives me a feeling of vulnerability compared to a feeling of being closeted in this this special little place. This is just my opinion. You can try cropping the sky off and if there's enough on your original image to add a bit onto the right bank you could try that also and see what you think.

OPN_123_Lost in the large world.jpeg

ACHIEVED I like that you have photographed these trees from a different angle it shows good perspective with distance. You have some strong leading lines with the tree trunks. The front two trunks show a triangle as they reach towards infinity. Good saturation and the light is nice. For me, I would like a little of the left side cropped off this area. It's not adding a lot to the image and to crop up to the edge of the left side of the trunk would tighten and balance the image up more. Give it a go and see what you think.

SSN_123_TIME TRAVEL.jpg

MERIT This is a nice holiday shot. Exposure isn’t bad but increasing the exposure by half a stop would give it a bit more punch. If you are using Lightroom, or similar processing software to process it is worth using the auto button to see what the software does to the image as in a majority of cases it will do a reasonable job from which you can then adjust. The verticals are receding in this image and this can easily be fixed in the transform module in Lightroom. A good attempt.

OPN_123_NATURES TEARS.jpg

HONOURS I like this image. Exposure etc is good with only about a slight increase in exposure needed I feel. There is good density in the sky which gives a feel of a cold dreary day, so typical of Milford Sound. Personally, I would like to see a little more space at the top of the image especially at the top right. Also watch out for vignetting from filters, lens hoods etc. I would maybe crop some of the left off as my eye tends to be drawn to that area. All in all, a good image

OPN_123_Autumns Creation.JPG

ACHIEVED -- A stunning scene. As a photographer try and put your own stance on a scene; did you consider cropping out the top and bottom third, this creates a very powerful shot of the reflections and I think creates a much stronger image. Incidentally the dust spot on the sky is easy to remove

SSN_123_Mermaids hideaway.jpg

HONOURS -- I’d definitely live here if I were a mermaid. You have captured the falls beautifully . Good selection of speed to blur the water. Do experiment with different speeds for different effects. You have nearly lost the water detail but in novice this is very good work. H

TOO BUSY FOR ME

ACCEPTED - Even though this is a night scene, there is plenty of details in this image from the foreground to the signboards. Ome thing to watch out for are elements/objects on the edge of an image as they tend to also draw the eye to them. In this image, I keep looking at the light on the top right hand side instead of the street scene. Have a play and see if it works better cropping that off.

NOT IN THE MOOD

ACCEPTED - Well seen and captured for this weather system. However, I am not sure what the streaky lines are just above the mountain tops and going onto the mountain.

THINK LIKE A CHRISTMAS TREE by EDEN BARKER

GRADE - MERIT Beautiful triangular shaped tree taken at a different perspective. The tree is very central in the image commanding attention. There are new leaves on the tree, which depicts spring. Good detail in the sky showing movement in the clouds. . To create a greater awareness of the subject the author could have included more of the tree and this would have made the image even stronger.

JUMP by EDEN BARKER

GRADE - MERIT The author has captured a good winter scene from a high perspective. Good leading line through the snow and over the hill, which leaves me to wonder what is further around the bend. The author has chosen to portray this image in a portrait format and I think to make a stronger image it would have been better in a landscape format. The sky has good detail above the hills but the rest of the sky is a lot of negative space and could be cropped at least a third. There is detail in the snow and this could have been further enhanced with the use of a polarizer.

MORNING FOG by EDEN BARKER

GRADE - ACCEPTANCE You have spotted this fog in the valley and may have taken this photo from a plane. This was a good idea to have photographed this scene, however it is always difficult to get a focused scene through a window when the plane is flying. Another suggestion is to crop about 3cmms off the top where there is no interest at all.

WINDOWSEAT by EDEN BARKER

GRADE - ACCEPTANCE This was a good idea to see the view from 2 windows instead of just one .I like seeing the windows being different sizes and seeing the plane’s wing from the right window gives more to the story, I would like to see this scene sharply focused.