Winning Photos
Prize : $523.20 plus a Leica V-LUX 40 worth approximately $800
Photographers Comment
Thank you very much to the users of this site for the votes and faves given to this picture (at the time of writing this is the second most faved picture of the site since its establishment), which is very special to me. It is a macro of a beautiful flower called Paepalanthus, taken in the middle of the Cerrado biome in Brazil, just ahead of a big storm (Fuji XPro1, 60mm). Wave Faber
https://www.facebook.com/wave.faber
Prize : $1,218.00 plus a Leica V-LUX 40 worth $800
Judges Comment
After looking at so many of the submitted flower photographs, when this image came up - I immediately know, that this is going to be the winner! It brings it all down to the point. The simplicity of showing one seed is strong in appearance, as well as strong in its symbolism. How wonderful it starts all pointy at the bottom and opens up to its fullest on the top. Ready to fly off ...
Just amazing!
Photographers Comment
My name is Ivan Holmedal and a Norwegian based amateur photographer.
It was really cool to win this competition and with this shot. It is part of my "365 moments" project, a picture a day in 2013. You can follow my project on my website and my facebook page. This is was number 154 and shot 3. of June.
I used my Sony A99 and a good old Minolta 50mm macro lens.
It is post processed in Lightroom4, where I adjusted contrast and lower the dark areas, as I wanted the seed to be like a silhouette against the blue sky, with light tones.
I love the simplicity of the dandelion seeds :)
Cheers :)
Prize : $578.40 plus Leica Trinovid 8 x 20 BCA Binoculars
Judges Comment
A very well captured diving otter. This is a great action shot, no doubt the result of a long wait. The otter’s face and body are mostly sharp whereas its tail, its hind legs and the rest of this scene are slightly blurred by the panning movement of the camera and a relatively slow shutter speed; a very bold and technical approach considering the rarity of the moment. I love the water coming off the end of the otter’s tail and the natural cold tones. Well done, this is a great shot and the worthy winner of this round.
Photographers Comment
Fly like a eagle :-), that song was in my mind on the day i took this shot. The light was great, the moment was right and the animal was in the mood - what do you want more.
Shot taken with Canon EOS 5D Mark II and EF 70-200mm 2.8 - in PS the picture I did denoising, dodge and burn and selective sharpening.
Thank you very much for this sucess.
Greets
Stefan
Judges Comment
Photographers Comment