Little Jumper
Maker: Mike Hanson -- 42 points 1st Place Judge's comments: Very sharp; great bokeh; catch light in all the eyes; could crop from the bottom Maker's comments:
Tree Frog Peeking
Maker: Mike Hanson -- 40 points 2nd Place Judge's comments: Perfect depth of field; great detail in the frog; nice background Maker's comments:
Oriole
Maker: Kristi Olson -- 38 points 3rd Place Judge's comments: Nice detail in the feathers; great angles; lovely bokeh Maker's comments:
Moody Colorado
Maker: Brian Narveson -- 38 points Hon. Mention Judge's comments: Looks very 3-dimensional; nice sky; might crop on left to get rid of branches in upper left Maker's comments: Image was taken in Colorado. Sky was gray, but sun came in under the clouds just before sunset. Tree and fore ground are in the sun. Wanted good depth of field so used aperture priority set to f/16. At ISO 800 that gave me a exposure time of 1/60 sec. Lens set at 30mm, photo is slightly cropped. Camera was hand held.
Now and Then Falls
Maker: Paul Abraham -- 37 points Hon. Mention Judge's comments: Beautiful water; like the two levels; sharp; very nice composition Maker's comments:
Defensive Caterpillar
Maker: Al Sheldon -- 36 points Hon. Mention Judge's comments: Good detail; nice color and background; very interesting pose Maker's comments:
Milkweed
Maker: Brandon Wanke -- 36 points Hon. Mention Judge's comments: Very lovely whites; love the angle of the pod; lots of color noise on the right side in the dark area Maker's comments:
King of the Rockies
Maker: Brian Narveson -- 35 points Voted Acc. Judge's comments: Very sharp; beautiful whites; great capture Maker's comments: Photo was taken outside of Colorado Springs, Colorado. The sun was bright and I was afraid of washing out the whites. I used Aperture Priority set at f/16 to give me sufficient depth of field with a 270mm telephoto lens. He was moving his head to I upped the ISO to 800 which gave me a 1/400 sec. exposure time to stop the motion. Used spot metering to meter only on the goat.
Jet Stream
Maker: Shirley Gates -- 34 points Judge's comments: Beautiful blue in the sky; unusual clouds Maker's comments:
Four in One
Maker: Doyle Gates -- 34 points Judge's comments: Very nice reflections; good colors Maker's comments:
Dew and Seed
Maker: John Zoerb -- 34 points Judge's comments: The dew is lovely; nice angle; lots of detail in the seed Maker's comments:
Dew on leaf
Maker: Eileen Roesler -- 33 points Judge's comments: All the separate drops are very interesting; the large one provides a good center of interest; the highlights are very bright Maker's comments:
Green bug
Maker: Eileen Roesler -- 33 points Judge's comments: The bug is very sharp; nice colors in the background Maker's comments:
Life Is Full Of Sparkle
Maker: Katie Weisbecker -- 32 points Judge's comments: Image has nice impact; branches point to the sun; sunburst is a nice effect Maker's comments:
Snake in the Grass
Maker: Brian Barney -- 32 points Judge's comments: The snake is nicely in focus; consider cropping in more Maker's comments: This photo was taken on the marsh trails near Myrick Park. The Snake slithered right in front of me and I was able to snap the image just before it was out of sight. I left the image at the original size and did not chose to crop in tighter, I like the way the taller grass frames the snake. I did add a vignette to draw the eye more into the center of the photo. Taken with Nikon D7200 with 55-200 kit lens.
Turkey Vultures
Maker: Al Sheldon -- 32 points Judge's comments: Good composition and nice detail in the feathers; like the way they are angled and framed by the branches Maker's comments:
Mushroom
Maker: Shirley Gates -- 30 points Judge's comments: Very good focus top to bottom; nicely placed in the image; vertical format displays the habitat Maker's comments:
Add Cassowary to your life list
Maker: John Schilling -- 30 points Judge's comments: Beautiful colors and detail Maker's comments:
Really, how did they get up there?
Maker: John Schilling -- 28 points Judge's comments: Good long-distance shot; nice composition and natural color Maker's comments:
Rocky Top
Maker: Doyle Gates -- 24 points Judge's comments: Pretty fall color; image is just a little soft Maker's comments: