Finnish Photo Awards 2026 – kuvat ja tuomaripalautteet

00:00 Next one up, image number 21, The Muse. I give this an 82. I could have gone so, so, so, so much higher. This is excellent, excellent work as a portrait of a beautiful woman owning her curls, people. She’s owning it, and she’s proud, and she’s beautiful, and she’s happy.

00:20 And the photographer has made a fantastic job at posing those hands. And you know, people, I’m a hand person. That is beautifully done. done. Now, how come I’m not up in the 90s on this one? First of all, we have, I’m going to have to do this again, the paper choice. I’m not sure the paper choice is so bad, but being a full bleed like this, it would have really benefited from maybe having, being mounted in a paper mount, have it come down a little bit with a nice color mount that that would have been complimentary to the tonality in the shot.

00:59 With that said, the skin tone here, when you do nudes and you do body and everything, you need to be really, really careful about skin tones because the skin tones here are all over the place. You have a greenish tone on the bottom, then you have it comes up slightly red on the back, and then you have that cheek is very, very red.

01:18 So have this been balanced and neutral skin tone coming over? It would have been lifted this image very, very much. And unfortunately, it’s over-processed. So the hair is going totally black and the shadows are crushed in those curls.

01:36 So there are just technical things that needs to be improved here. But this would have been gone so, so, so much higher for me. Well done to the author and keep doing this kind of work. It is beautiful to see. Thank you.

00:00 so the next one is number 16 little red riding hood i think as chairman i’d like to challenge that i mean each one you to say why you scored you i think the score is a low so i agree it’s low and it hurt me to score it low um and what frustrates me is i’m looking at the digital image in order to score it and thinking that’s beautiful and i’m looking at that and thinking I’m sure it’s beautiful, but I can’t see it So with the light falling on that paper the paper choice has meant that we physically cannot see what’s behind the ink effectively There’s also banding that you can now see in that print based on the the paper choice again with the light falling on it as a portrait If I were to look at this It’s beautiful. It’s stunning like please like this more this this is lovely really really enjoy that image but we’re judging based on what’s put in front of us here as a presentation and it’s come out darker it’s come out flatter the shadows are crushed I can see print banding horizontal across the the lines of it the texture on the paper is so distracting we got to the point of having to create shadow to be able to see it and unfortunately because it’s also printed quite dark seeing it in shadow you don’t see any detail so it’s a beautiful image just the execution for me unfortunately hurts it too much yeah sadly I was at 79 and I’ve I’ve overscored this I’m sadly going to be coming down there were decisions made here which this image could easily be sitting up in the mid 80s. We can’t, we are, this is a print competition and I looked at the digital and my mark reflected on that but Paul has absolutely nailed it and sadly I’m going to have to come down.

02:04 I was at 79 with you too and I’m sad and upset right now. I almost feel like my voice is broken. This is such an impact, those eyes, the red against the green, well done with with all these thoughts and the styling. And I really appreciate the upper hand posing. The lower hand posing could need some adjustment to be improved, but that would not have distracted me at all if the quality of the print and the paper choice had been there.

02:32 And I will just one more time say a little bit about skin tone. Please go over skin tones. We have a lot of yellow, green going up in the upper hand. we have a green red magenta in the lower hand skin tones are very important but overall I do think this is a it’s it’s a little bit sad because this has such such a potential image but keep keep working on it because you are amazing as an author photographer they’re just the technical stuff that needs to be more worked on I was really looking forward to seeing this in print I thought this is an exceptional classical portrait.

03:11 So well directed. Even the thought process of bringing the hair across the neck is just stunning. And I agree with everybody else. The print, we cannot see it. I actually scored this 80 because I thought we are…

03:32 The only thing that really brings it down is the quality of the print. it is exceptionally work exceptional work is beautifully executed well directed well composed lovely edit there are elements to be analyzed and and thought about for future um but it’s just so unfortunate we can’t see the print but well done just real quick is that if you look at the image image and you take your, it’s like the upper half is a whole different image than the lower half so if you would have cut it, yeah, if you would have cropped it right here, we don’t have all those issues, if you go down below here, it’s just false. So that’s the main problem.

04:18 What obviously is improved, that picture flashed up on my screen and I went wow, because because of the visual impact. When you listen to the judges, you now see, please, when you enter pictures, make sure the print is quality. This is a print competition. They’re absolutely correct. Such a shame, but it’s a beautiful picture.

04:38 So what has hurt everyone here talking, as a photograph, that’s worth 20 points more. Agreed. As a print, that’s where it is. So when you enter, make sure you get your best prints. Get people to look at it. don’t just send it in once it’s done even the last one to get printed so i’ve got time to redo it and get it in big mistake as this classically proved such a great picture just showing on the computer beautiful tone range the eyes it’s all there yes all right you’ve got the cropping as martin pointed out but the colleagues absolutely the banding it’s just such a shame it’s just let it down badly great photographer

00:00 so moving on to image number seven Kira yeah I was just outside I was 78 really she’s got such gorgeous eyes I want to take her for dinner she’s she’s such a pretty and I’m drawn into those eyes they’re looking at me her expression the intensity and it’s tough to do to shoot through perspex with the water so bravo to the author the light is really contrasting which I’m actually enjoying it. I prefer a soft light. A stiff light doesn’t really do it for me when it comes to normal portraiture, but it really, really works here. What I would have loved to have seen was a more polite light on the hand just up here, just to take it down ever so slightly, because I’m drawn up to the fist. And I think if we just kept that in to the face here, and more refinement on there, and I would have been really high up in the 80s. Well done.

00:00 Give me number 18, a bit of an old soul. I scored this 84 in the Merritt High Standard. It’s a beautiful capture, very well lit, nice control of the background. The colours are lovely.

00:19 The field, the shadows are a little bit red, a little bit red coming through. Just be careful of that. but the balance of the colors and tones are nice. The shadows in the hair, maybe the print, the paper, the choice.

00:39 I understand why, I appreciate why the photographer may have chosen that paper, but I don’t think it is the best paper for this portrait. It may have scored five points higher with a different paper. so but it’s a lovely portrait very well captured nicely lit so well done

00:00 Next up, Amy is number 19. What’s up? I actually put this in the same category, not for the same reasons, but the same category as the first rabbit, which is this just screams fun. I love this. I think this must have been fun to shoot as well, which I always quite enjoyed thinking of the process. I think the paper choice on this is spot on.

00:19 I think they’ve done a great job in the print for this. The separation background to her is actually right on the line of being almost perfect. It’s done exceptionally well. I think for me though because this is about almost shape and form I’d love to have seen a couple of things cleaned up things like the flyaway hairs On the top if that if that hair had just been styled completely clean It just adds more to it. So this isn’t about the fact that there’s anything particularly wrong with it It’s just I can see a couple of things in there that had they been improved They would have just elevated a little bit more but to me those eyes, I mean, I’m not going to take her for a drink like Scott, but But the eyes are stunning.

00:59 Actually, the interaction between presumably her pet and her is spot on. I think as a portrait on its own of her, it’s done exceptionally well. Adding in a pet to the mix obviously creates some challenges, which the photographer has done a great job of delivering to. And this is one where the paper choice is good, the print is good, the setting is good, the lighting is good, the posing is good.

01:22 A few things could have elevated a little bit more, but other than that, spot on. I think Scott would take the lizard for a drink.

00:00 Give me number 20, timeless. So I enjoyed this more than others, I think, from numbers. I was at 82, I think, from memory. In part, I have to say, in part because I can’t forget having seen the digital as well, which I remember at the time being quite striking.

00:20 There are some issues in here. I think some of it may be paper choice and print. I find the toning has gone quite green, which that may have been an artistic choice, in which case, fine. But to me, it would do well being a little more neutral. The shadows in there have some challenges.

00:39 But what wins for me is it gives me a feel of a classic, almost Victorian look to it. The styling is great. Lighting-wise, I don’t see any highlight burns necessarily other than sort of specular highlights in there. It’s just maybe the paper’s a little flat, which is leading to some flat shadows, because I can see detail in there, but it’s just not printed enough to be able to see properly.

01:02 Thank you.

00:00 And the next one is actually the last one in this category, number 21, Unbroken. So I gave this a zero. No, I gave this a 78. It is a very strong portrait. It has impact definitely as soon as it comes up and a good title.

00:19 So many of us are affected, but I’m not going to guess whatever he’s unbroken of, but I can, for me, I’m not gonna guess publicly, but for me I can guess, and it come close to so many of us. And the strength in his eyes and the powerful impact this portrait is, it’s definitely emotional.

00:43 That’s how I’m losing a little bit of my words right now. There are, however, some things in the technical aspects that kept me from going a bit higher for this and I am a stickler for skin tones and controlling the the lights and shadows and if you look at this that his head his forehead is very dark and gray and then you come down and it’s it’s extremely light underneath his eyes so more control and balance in the exposure on the face I don’t mind it being a dramatically lit portrait because it is drama that’s part of the story here I just would have appreciated the control so we don’t have because that little speckle of highlights underneath his eye is actually burnt out a little bit and also on his chin and with that top of his head being almost completely gray it sort of pulls me away from the image but overall good job to the author to doing this and it definitely has a story and impact I am completely agree with you except for one point I scored this 84 I like that the head is separated from the face because it adds to my storytelling that I project on this I lost someone last month to a disease so I have a lot of emotional impact with this. But technically I do appreciate how the photographer has separated that because it adds to storytelling for me.

00:00 Image number 22, Summer Night. I quite like this. I was at 83. I think this has got a really good feel. It makes you want to be there. A good landscape makes you want to be there and experience this. I think the title, Summer Night, right?

00:21 Yeah. Yeah, I think the toning down and the coolness of the print hasn’t really helped with that title. I think a bit more warmth added to it it could have really lifted it a couple of points for me. And I think the composition, as in the camera position, if that had shifted down slightly to remove the tall tree trunks at the top and give us more of the scene at the bottom, I think that would have kept me in the scene a little bit longer, but I just kept lifting my eyes up to that top of the frame.

00:47 But I think overall, I think that the depth and the tone there has been really, really well captured, so well done. Thank you. Just want to add one thing on presentation. presentation um to me this is a lovely image and i i actually i’m going to give the opposite to scott which is the top trees i either want i either want to see more of them or none of them um i think it’s a bit of an awkward sort of halfway and with this sort of image where it relies on layering and it relies on expanse you’ve also got to be very careful of what’s on the edges and if i look in the bottom right there’s a little distraction there with the branch it’s just little things and bottom left the same so that when you’re doing this stuff You’ve just got to be really careful and clean at the edges to keep that focus on what you’re trying to push the viewer to.

01:28 The biggest thing for me, though, in this, funnily enough, is presentation. I would have loved to have seen this in an aperture, lifted up off of the base, so that I can see it like a letterbox and I’m looking at a view rather than looking at a sheet in front of me. It’s just not enough on its own to be presented powerfully.

00:00 From summer night, we are moving into frost. Image 23. I basically want to put a jumper on. The last image, I’m like, oh, I want to be there. This one I don’t, but equally, it’s very pretty to look at. I’m actually enjoying the blue magenta cast to it. It gives that essence of cold and wilderness and very, very nice paper choice.

00:22 It’s kept depth in the highlights, the shadow detail. detail. Again, I think an aperture here would have really, really helped. But, you know, bravo for bracing the cold. You’ve got, you know, bigger balls than me, which is ironic given how cold that scene must have been. For the non-British, can you explain aperture?

00:43 Yeah, sorry, not camera aperture. Yeah, not camera aperture, sorry, like a mount. So, like maybe a 12×8 image in that, just just to enclose the image into it. Yeah, like you see there. And I think that would have done a better job with just, I think some images need that, some don’t we’ve seen today, but I think this really could help with an aperture on the mount.

01:06 So framing and mounting, you call it aperture. Yeah. So do you mean the matte? Yeah. So the aperture means the whole thing. You mean like the matte? Yes. Yeah. I think that one got lost. Yeah, yeah. The picture’s got to be framed. The picture is framed by a map. So like you’re looking into the thing. Gone.

01:25 The thing is that it’s not actually the classical portrait is only the only category where that would have been allowed. Then in the other ones it’s not. It’s not allowed in the landscape? Probably on the next… Yeah, we can do that, but as per this year’s rules it’s not. Well that would have been good to know. Yeah, because I mean now it just came up so hence bringing it up.

01:47 Thank you. That will keep that in mind. And it’s only for landscape? No, the only one where it would have been allowed was classical portrait. Everything else has to be edge to edge. Yeah, this kind of history way because usually there has not been a lot on any category.

02:08 People are maybe a little bit slow to adapt at all the printing. And now we have the portrait category where you can put in the proper bound. Makes sense now. But it takes time a little bit. That would increase another 5% rather than now. Well, that said, even so, if you are printing edge-to-edge, therefore you need to look at the edge-to-edge.

02:31 Oh, sure. Definitely. Absolutely. So much. Yes. Cool. Because that is one competition, imaging, that they need to be edge-to-edge, because the digital systems don’t necessarily, if you have digital mounts on it, they come off weird on that, including our system courtesy of you know who.

02:50 So that’s why basically that we have kept it like that because they don’t come up correctly in the system if you have digital mounts on them. Oh yeah, but you can have the original image. Yeah, the full image on the digital. On the digital and then you mount it for the competition. Yeah, we can consider that for next year. Okay, cool.

03:11 Thank you. It actually just gives the photographer an extra artistic choice. Yeah.

00:00 Let’s go. Moving on to solitude number 24. When this first came up, my eyes go straight to that little bird on the top. And I’m so grateful for that one is there. It lifts that whole image. It’s so small, but it does make a difference because here comes the little story, the little feeling of it.

00:19 And the title, yes, titles really do work sometimes. It was solitude, right? And that really gives it that feeling. We get that whole sense when we hear the title and this one comes up and you as a as a photographer, I’m quite technical, but when the emotions hits it really does make an impact for the image. So I enjoyed the tonality, especially from the ground and up. I would say that I could have brought this a little bit higher if I had some more tonality in the sky. It’s losing me, the brightness there, it feels just like it goes pretty much in the middle, like all white.

01:00 And if that tonality would have been kept and had some depth even in the brightest part, I could have brought this a little bit higher because it’s a serene, really lovely landscape. Good job to the author.

00:00 Next one up is number 25, Reaching Together. So this is one where I struggle with the difference between first impressions and when I start to study a picture. So my first impression on this one and the same with the digital view was wow, that’s beautiful. I love macro shots. I also love shots with razor thin depth of field.

00:25 But to me, so the bits that win on this one, the paper choice is perfect for this in my view. The toning on it is great. There’s some banding issues down the bottom corner. So some of this is from the shot. Some of it I feel like is a print issue.

00:43 So there’s that bottom right diagonal slight band, which is distracting to me, whether it’s in the shot or whether it’s the print. It doesn’t really matter. It just distracts. but to me the choice of such a razor sharp focal distance or depth of field sorry I kind of feel like I either want to see all those raindrops in or only one of them in having one and a half of them in I find a little bit awkward I get the point but it’s just visually to me it feels incomplete I think is probably the best way that I can describe it I’m not seeing any highlight issues, I’m not seeing any shadow. I think that this is a very flat contrast image by design and I think it looked beautiful on a wall. I think this is probably part of a series that could work really nicely together, but as an individual image I just find a couple too many distractions to make it any higher. Thank you.

00:00 Next picture please. Number 26, Modern Art in Nature Studio. And in terms of the rules, this category cannot be… Yeah, yeah. Yeah, there’s heavy limitations on what you can do. Can you remove things? No. No, I think this is…

00:19 So not really… I think you need… Feel temporary objects like dust spots and… Yeah, yeah. Not something that’s… Not actual objects. checks. Just clean up a bit if there’s dust or something like that. And obviously no heavy post-production, like no collages or anything like that. Yeah, exactly. No adding clouds to it.

00:42 No adding clouds, mountains, rivers. So I was on the higher end of this. Not enough to challenge, to be fair, because I was kind of conflicted with this. I scored 85. and I think to me I’m conscious of the category and this is a slightly curveball image for in general that category however I love landscapes that make you look deeper and trying to work out what things are I love them with a bit of a story often landscapes are literally a scene if there’s something in there that makes me want to look further then that brings me joy I think this is messy see in all the right ways and actually what I see in this is a print that would look amazing behind like a hotel reception or something like that as a there’s a big piece of abstract artwork the ability to make something abstract out of something that is so literal as nature is actually quite quite clever um I enjoy the fact that each of those fragments has a different store part of the story to tell there’s constant I’m keep looking around there’s constantly things to look at maybe this is turning into a challenge I think it’s worth more than 80 is it going to get it out of a merit?

01:59 I don’t know it’ll stay in the same category I would struggle I think to argue it up to 94 and above sorry 88 and above however yeah I’ll challenge it I think actually I mean so far it’s been very tight in this category so every point does count As a landscape photographer, in my head, one of the challenges we have is to show the world in a different way.

02:23 And I think this does that in bundles. I have to think about this image. And a landscape that makes me have to look deeper and have to think and have to work out what I’m looking at, I think, is clever. This isn’t just a standard scene on a wall. This is something that explores nature and explores what the photographer saw at the point they were capturing it.

02:42 And I think that’s worth more than an 80. I scored this as 78. I completely agree. That was the lowest and highest. No, actually, Scotty’s the lowest. I was the lowest. I agree with what Paul’s saying. It’s a wonderful, abstract piece of landscape. It’s imagined of its thought process. I can envision the photographer for creeping in closer and seeing different elements within the subject they had in front of them.

03:20 I’m not sure if the print is the right print. The paper is the right print. Also, there’s a small amount of blue toning at the top, blue-green toning at the top in the dark, and it doesn’t continue through. I would have liked to have seen that come through a bit more. maybe that was exactly as it is in the subject matter they had but graphically I come from a fine art painter background it’s almost exceptional and it’s such a pity they can’t edit post production to nail it but exactly as Paul said this is large print boardroom hotel reception it’s wonderful and seeing it I give so much credit to the photographer to see that as an abstract piece and take that capture we’ve seen all those colors and tones so I’m not sure it reaches all no oh it doesn’t quite meet merit because it doesn’t have as much of an impact for me it draws my eye in but it the impact is just not quite there for me to bring it up to marriage paper paper paper paper choice it’s very important for competitions we you guys gonna get so tired of us saying this because this is it’s our passion when it comes to choosing the right paper for the right print so with that said I’m I was at 81 I really enjoyed it for all the reasons you said I’m not gonna go over them them again. It’s I’m just gonna hit heavy on the paper choice. I would have loved to see this this broad vibrance vibrancy coming out even more and deeper blacks, contrast more contrast in the image. And also if if it could have been possible in the post production, I would have balanced out the exposure a bit more with the big white piece, the big light bright piece to bring that down a bit more and just to balance it out with the blue pieces on the right, made it brought them up a little bit so because now it’s just very left heavy so for the aesthetic eye I would have liked to push come up a little bit on that just to have that circle being more balanced with the things thrown up but a fun image and I think I could come up a little bit I think it’s worth to just be applauded for the creativity and to see it yeah i was at 76 i was initially confused by the title i think i need to know a little bit more about what’s going on um i think i if this was an image that i’d have taken i probably would have played on something like the universe or something like that it looks very much like a deep space hubble james webb telescope image and i think that would have probably sat better with me. The other thing I’m struggling with is the very, very nice, I’m going to assume, oil and water with the rainbow effect on the right-hand side with the very, very crisp edges and some of the other bits have got very soft edges and I’m struggling with the juxtaposition between the softness and the sharpness there. I’m at 76. You can do a little bit of work to get me into 80, but I am listening.

00:00 Number 27, first ice. Yeah, I was at 82. I quite enjoyed this. I’m very happy with the average score. I think the reason we were all kind of doing a bit of the shuffle was to work out if there’s actually ink gone on the paper on that big sheet of ice. And I think there has. I think there has.

00:20 So the office has done a very, very good job of controlling that. I like the merry dance of the lower left-hand corner to the upper right third of the ice breaking into the shoreline and that green on the right-hand side and the bottom is help keeping me in the frame. So very, very, we see a lot of drone shots in the UK that are done poorly, but this has been done well, so well done on the score.

00:01 Next one, number 28, Hideout. So I was on the higher end. I think I was 82 from memory. So I… Was I kind? No, actually, I’ll stick with it. I think, actually, the bits that drew my attention in a negative way on this were actually the two bits that we thought maybe were worth scrubbing off.

00:22 But actually, I go back to the same thing, which is I enjoy looking at a landscape that makes me look deeper into it. the the top mark on this print is actually the waveform the ripples on the water the bottom sorry the middle left is rocks in there the challenge that we have with it is the initial impact doesn’t lend itself to you thinking that immediately you have to look carefully to do it and i wonder in that top part whether or not changing the tone of the mid-tones to be closer closer to the tone of the rest of the water would have helped.

00:55 I like the human scale in this. The addition of the boat in there I think is wonderful. I actually really enjoy as well the shape of this print coming in from the top right to the middle. There is a lot of black in the bottom left and I wonder whether a slightly tighter crop as in losing the bottom 30mm or something like that or coming in from the left either the way might have helped a little bit but overall I think this is balanced I think it’s it’s vibrant but not too far I don’t think it’s pushed too far it’s just those two distractions that hurt it a little bit for me but overall so there’s a very good job and as Scott says we see a lot of drone shots that aren’t executed well to do it nicely and in a way that’s pleasing to look at is is quite challenging and this one’s been done well.

01:48 I just want to add that the loan, what was the title? Hideout. Hideout. I would have loved to see the trees coming down in brightness. So my eyes, because the dark being so dark on the left side and the trees being extremely bright because I wanted to focus on the hideout.

02:10 I want my eye to go to the hideout and now it sort of floats. Yes, it’s the brightest spot, it’s likely too bright, but the trees, if they would just come down a little bit on the brightness to maybe match the brightness of the shallow water part, that would have really focused on that mid part where that hideout is.

02:30 So that was just a thought I wanted to add. Thank you. Thank you.

00:00 Image number 29, Into the Silence. I scored this a 78, which is above average. Yeah, it’s a great image, it’s nicely captured. The rock formations are wonderful, full of character and tones are lovely, the shadows are well controlled.

00:20 The fade into the mist and cloud is really nice. and there’s it’s lovely that the rock formation on the right side is sharp and to give it you know interest it’s not just uniform the whole way across there’s a lovely blue to the right side of the sky I would have loved to see that a little bit more controlled on the left side as well it just seems to go to pure white which is distracts my eye and also the the one little bird down the bottom that I thought was a speck of dust. It now actually becomes a character after the fact but I think more you look at an image the more you’re going to love it. So it’s very well executed, it’s very nicely composed, just the balance of the highlights in the sky and to give it detail would have been helpful to bring up the score for you. But very nicely done.

00:00 next one is number 30 Harmony yeah I was at 84 I quite enjoyed this, very very hard to do the texture I thought when it popped up on the screen it was a desert and I’m like no no that’s snow we’re in Finland there’s no sand here and it’s very difficult to get that level of tonality to drop in the sky without having haloing around those twigs so bravo to the author for doing that and the The control in the darker areas of those twigs compared to the brighter areas of the snow, this photographer knows what they’re doing.

00:36 And I think this, again, goes back to what we saw earlier. This could easily hang behind a reception in a hotel, so bravo.

00:00 Number 31, Pete. My turn. I scored this a 86. I think this is excellent control of the shadows, the lights, the composition. I love that there’s tones through the clouds as if there’s a lunar eclipse or something, a solar eclipse.

00:22 It gives me so much emotion and atmosphere coming from it. It’s such a great impact. The position of the plane flying through it is just almost perfectly in line with launching off the peak. One thing of note that I would love the judges to notice if they haven’t already is on the mount, they have cut the edge of the foam at a 30 degree angle to hide the foam.

00:50 So it’s not distracting at all. All the edges and corners are very, very well cut. Choice of paper is very, very good. So bravo to the author. Okay. Scott? Go ahead. Go on, Paul. So I’m glad you challenged because I’m at the other end.

01:11 I was 74. Oh, thank you. And actually, these are my people. I like landscape people. I want to give this lots of points because it’s beautiful. As a mountain, it’s stunning. I don’t like green clouds. and while I understand what you’re saying about tonality, in the same way as Martina picks up on skin tone, I’m seeing pure white clouds, cyan color here, almost like a smoke, a green up here, a brown here, a green here, a cyan here, blue in here, back to neutral down here.

01:48 I don’t agree with the tonal and color control. I think it’s all over the place. And to me, one thing, if you are going to capture nature, I need to make sure that it’s captured naturally. unless I intend to do something abstract. And to me, this doesn’t tick those boxes. I’m also not sure about this on the side.

02:06 I find that distracting. If that had carried on in to enclose, then beautiful, keep it in. But without it, I actually find it slightly stronger. So to me, there’s just… And I’m looking at the digital, which is more neutral. And I think as a neutral print, it worked better with that toning. And it is a colour choice, I think.

02:25 So if that was intentional, then great. It’s a style and I get it but for me it unfortunately is just too imbalanced across the tone Yeah, I completely agree with Paul sadly Yeah, there’s definitely a tonal shift between the sky on the very left to where it’s almost like The author’s got the the burn tool and gonna make that darker and it’s gone You’ve lost all the contrast and it’s taken the color and I’m really glad you mentioned the degree of the amount mount sadly from here where I can see the person needs to sharpen their knife it looks like it’s been cut with a very blunt knife and it’s always sticking out on the side and that’s really pulling my eyes away from it and I’m at 79 and I’m I’m comfortable there I do not have you know what I don’t have a lot to add because I think you already said the things that I picked up on and I another crop I might have liked this as a square crop actually to focus more on the mountain and not having my eye you know travel out on the left side would follow that cloud and for me the highlight is quite strong the the big bright cloud in the middle I would like to take that down and more contrast in here and yes the color tone so we already covered that and i’m i’m sorry i think i was at 77 or 78 78 and i i think i need to say with scott i’m i’m i think i’m sticking to my category usually i’m you know easily moved but i think it’s quite good in that um category standard thank you okay i i appreciate everybody’s notes and accept definitely. I appreciate the crop and everything. The highlight in the cloud, I didn’t want to mention that initially because I want to fight for it. But I was hoping to bring it up to a merit. Yeah, I’m happy to rescore and take everybody’s points of view on board.

04:35 That’s unfortunate, but they fell on the right side. I did not see that. I’m surprised nobody picked up on overburning. I did. You did? Yeah. To me that’s very distracting. I think that’s a fair score.

00:00 Kuva numero 32. Satoi tai paistoi. Rain or shine.

00:05 I was at 79. Really good portrait. I’m really enjoying the warmth. The print quality has been done beautifully. There’s a little hot spot where the sun’s coming through, which stopped me going higher. But for any wedding photographers in the room, hand placement of the groom is quite crucial here.

00:30 Now given where his hand is and if I took a quick glance at that image It looks not like a hand and something that should be tucked away between his pants so Just when you’re doing a shot like this Just make sure that far hand is round the back of the bride so you’re not losing so it looks now you can’t unsee it So just be very careful if I can use Martina very quickly stand up for me So this is now a workshop, I’ll charge 20.

01:02 So if you do this, it looks weird. Just make sure this hand comes round to here, pull her in nice and close, looks a lot better. But well done for the author, keep going. Hello, darling. Well done, stiff but polite. Stiff but polite? The only problem is Martina enjoyed it. All right, we’re good to go, I guess.

01:22 Yeah, yeah, sorry, that was the end of my TED talk. Thanks for coming to my TED talk, everybody.

00:00 number 33 modern Mona Lisa I scored this a 77 it is definitely a professional practice what kept me from going higher on this one is the shadows are blocked out you have some artifacts going on where the highlight moves into the shadow on her arm and it’s very strong we are losing the details in the back where I think it’s heavy vignetting going on and that little highlight on her forehead could have easily been adjusted slightly so skin tone again I gotta mention that just be careful with the redness coming in and there is I don’t know what it is but there is a line here on the shoulder I don’t know if it is an editing flaw or but because it feels like the texture is different from the lower part of the shoulder and then comes a line and then it’s actually some some texture in there so it could be a post-processing issues. So this is a lovely portrait and her connection is really there and she looks happy on her wedding day and it’s pretty and it’s sweet. It’s just those technical issues that need some attention from this to go higher. Thank you.

00:00 Image number 34, A Moment of Heart. Yeah, I enjoyed this. I scored it 83. I think this is architecturally beautiful. Bravo to the photographer to getting absolutely dead central to the building in which you are photographing in. The placement, the lighting on both the bride and groom has been very, very nicely executed.

00:21 They have been lit beautifully. One thing I think would have helped elevate it, I’d have quite happily liked to have seen the lower half or the lower quarter cropped up because you’ve got those five windows at the bottom you could easily kind of crop those out and then if you spun this image upside down the brightest part is is the three windows in the middle so just with a little bit of layer mask and just take those black brightness down with three windows as well as the vertical strip lighting just take all that down 25 or 30 percent and let me see the bride and groom first and then evaluate the scene but But I think placement of the couple, placement of the photographer has been very, very well done.

00:58 Bravo.

00:00 Next up image number 35, the world around us. What’s the rules on post production? Don’t. On the portrait it’s not really, you can do post production on them. I scored this one a 78. It’s above average. It’s good.

00:20 I like the concept and creativity the photographer has chosen to bring in their, obviously friends or family. but still keep the center of focus on the bride and groom. There are some elements that draw my eye away from them. When looking around the highlight on the the fall of the dress on the ground is I just find it too distracting and the ropes hanging on the right side if editing is allowed they could have been I find that distracting on the edge and the person on the right side, the male figure on the right side is very, very, just a little bit too close to the edge for my liking.

01:04 Otherwise, it’s creatively really nicely done, composed and staged. So with staging I think it should be nailed a little bit more and more focus on how you’re composing when you’re staging something like this because it could easily jump up and score with a few minor adjustments on the day and in post-production. Well done.

00:00 Number 36, Between Day and Night. So I’m actually debating on this one, whether the paper choice is the right one or the wrong one, and I’m actually genuinely torn. I have a horrible feeling that if this had been done with a denser black, it would actually lose something, weirdly. So I think, actually, on balance, it’s probably the right choice, and actually it makes it quite enjoyable and soft to look at, which is nice.

00:22 That contrast with how stark they are as a silhouette against that sunset is wonderful. wonderful. The sun colours and saturation have been pushed too much, certainly on the right hand side, that’s not a natural orange. Certainly especially in order to get it that orange on that paper means it’s actually very much pushed. The bit that I think is a little bit confusing to my eye is the fall off here, if you guys can see it. These leaves here are sharp in focus, these leaves just behind it are not. I love the layers in this, the that this is out and then as it goes back it gets into focus and then back out again but when you’ve got overlapping foliage it can get confusing to the eye so i think the competition is lovely the the tone is is beautiful actually the setup with them no dodgy hand placement there’s nothing sticking out we’re good so overall like it’s a very well executed image it’s just there’s a couple of bits that technically it almost needs to tone down and calm down a little bit and it would still be just as strong.

00:00 Image number 37, Not Our Last Goodbye. That would have sounded sad. I know. Interesting choice for a wedding portrait as a title. I was just over 80 at this. I think it deserved to merit. With that average score, I’ve got a little bit of work to do if I wanted to challenge. I think she’s stunning.

00:20 Again, if she wasn’t married, I’d probably take her out for a drink. She’s beautiful. She’s lit well. Well, I’d like to have seen a slight refinement in his face to turn in towards the light a little bit more to really get that catch light and light underneath the eye. His right hand on the back of the chair is just pulling me away slightly.

00:40 You can darken that down just a little bit. But the biggest thing that’s distracting me is the reflection of the two lights in the glass cabinet on the right hand side. I think with the ability to do a little bit of post-production here, I probably would have taken those out, as well as darken down the light behind his right shoulder. But that said, it’s a really strong, powerful portrait.

01:00 The couple, this could easily hang up in their wall. And if you know, this is exactly what a working photographer should be pulling out on the wedding day. So well done. She doesn’t look very happy, though. She doesn’t. It’s not her last goodbye. That’s what she might have. She tried to blur it three times. There’s one other small thing-ish.

01:24 It is in the digital file as well. There is a lot of noise in those shadows. They have been pulled up, which is fine. And actually, the effect, it’s interesting. On this paper, it’s complementary to it because it makes it feel like a fine art print. Digitally, not. So again, it’s one for paper choice, which is you can get away with that on a fine art paper.

01:45 If this has been done on a glossy, high contrast page, you’re going to see it terribly.

00:00 Number 38, Wrapped in Golden Light. I love the warmth of this, and the exposure of the couple is very well done. I’m guessing it’s a bounce or a flash to bring them in, but it’s falling onto the branches, the foliage on the right side above his shoulder, which distracts me a bit.

00:25 That could have been brought back a bit with post-production, and I love the lens flares through the center but the lens flares in the bottom left are distracting possibly cropping to a square vertical might actually make this a bit more powerful because the shadows on the left and right are so dominant and yeah it’s the center is so exceptionally composed and exposed exposed, that it’s a pity the left and right just fall off.

01:02 But very well done. Just a little bit of consciousness of how much left and right shadows you’re going to have.

00:00 Number 39, reflection. Yeah, this is a lovely portrait. I was at 81. I think there’s a level of sharpness here. We spoke earlier about something can be over sharp, but this isn’t. This isn’t the perfect level, I think, to make the image sort of jump off the page. Beautiful paper choice and very well printed, capturing the colour and tonality of the setting sun.

00:21 The reflection had been nicely done. There’s very little burnout on the back of that dress and given the satin material, it was very, very hard to control. so well done for that. I think his expression looks a little bit staged. I think you’ve looked at him and said, okay, smile at each other rather than try and get reaction. He looks a little bit like he needs to relax a tiny bit more and I think the next image in this set would have been the one to enter where his weight’s not fully on the back foot.

00:48 He’s leaning back ever so slightly. That next image where his weight’s further forwards, his chest will naturally come up and it’ll give him better posture as well. So this is beautiful. but the one for competition I think would have been the split second after this was taken, but it’s going to sit and do very well in merit, so well done.

01:06 It’s a bit stiff, I think. Yeah. Is it polite as well? It looks polite, but it’s a bit stiff. I should have got that in. That’s a missed opportunity.

00:00 Next up, number 40, Forever Yours. I scored this one an 83, so I’m right there. And I think it sits well in that category. And I really enjoy this seriousness, this different type of take on a wedding portrait with a veil of it.

00:18 It’s quirky and it’s interesting. And I can really appreciate the photographer going for something different. With that said, I would like to talk a little bit about the posing and the camera angle. I think this would have been striking and could have climbed so many more points if you as an author had chosen to step in front of them and being a straight on shot.

00:46 Having that, because it’s so serious, it’s posed and it’s supposed to be moody and straight straighten the camera and now it’s slanted and the bench is going up in the back and the groom is getting a little bit smaller than her. So for me that would have been a world of difference if that would have been straightened up and you go straight on them.

01:07 Then I’m not sure that that top part where you see the sky is helping so I would have maybe looked at a square crop on this one where you can take some of the bottom out and some of the top out and just focus on that straight-on portrait with that seriousness of them so but on that good idea to do something different and keep exploring these kind of photographs good job

00:00 Story number 41, Gravity Optional. Sorry, say that again? Gravity Optional. Gravity, oh, okay. Okay, go on. I was at 83 on this. I think this, it’s so refreshing to see a couple that have just got married having fun on their wedding day and not looking thoroughly pissed off having their photographs taken.

00:27 I think this is lovely. His expression, the colours. I mean, he’s got some hang time too, man. He’s got Nike hairs on or something. He’s up, he is high. I’m really enjoying this. And I think in a category where we typically see very stoic looking people, I think an image that shows fun and vibrance and colour deserves to be rewarded in America.

00:55 And I’ll defer to my fellow judges. I’m at 80. We’re in the same club, it’s all right. Which means they brought it down. Actually for the same reason, I think it’s fun. And actually the first thing you see when you see that picture is fun. There are two people having fun. The photographer has captured that fun well. For everything that you were talking about, one of the previous shots, the person looking stiff, he is anything but at this point. So timing is everything.

01:23 but actually the other elements of this this image in terms of the focus fall off is is spot on you know the the positioning on the bridge no it’s not perfectly central but then actually if it was perfectly central they’re not going to jump perfectly central so then we’d be criticizing something else so i’m in a place where as a couple running towards the camera celebrating something that just exudes emotion in in that sense so i can’t fault it in that way yes there there are things that we could have improved with a million hours of time.

01:54 So maybe a little bit of burning in the background and stuff just to bring some focus purely to them. It’s quite flat as an overall tone. But to me, it’s a safe merit. I’m happy with that. I think it’s a fair challenge. Okay. I scored this one a 77, and I take everything you say on board.

02:13 It is completely fair. It’s full of energy, but it is flat, as Paul said. it the bringing down the trees in the background on the right would definitely have drawn it in and it’s a very simple fix um and it’s quite an obvious one straight off i don’t mind that it’s off center i’m an architectural photographer i don’t mind that i’ll accept it the energy is great from him i would have loved a bit more from her and and her eyes up a bit she doesn’t have to be looking straight at camera like he is but eyes up a bit more would have definitely helped um her Her engagement is great, her laughter is great, her energy is good compared to him.

02:54 Maybe there’s another shot. Again, this is a staged thing. Run at me, jump in the air, be celebrating. Or maybe it was their idea. Do it again, do it again. Just do it. Take two or three minutes, do it a couple of times. Maybe this was the best version. But for a competition image, I’d bring it up a little bit, maybe to bring it in bottom end of a mirror.

03:15 Because I want to be her friend. now it’s it’s got amazing energy it really does just a little flash for me thank you there’s I do good we are on the same we’re the same team here I did score a 77 yeah it’s the divide and yes it’s fun and yes it’s vibrant and I enjoyed this too for coming from a wedding couple it is the technical stuff and it’s easily fixed so it is distracting with the backdrop and the foreground being so bright I took a quick glance at the digital digital file and it was much more details in the digital file.

03:49 We’re not judging the digital file, so I’m judging this. And this one is flat and it could have been brought down just in exposure. And once again, it might have to do that we do look at this under a very bright light. So printing for competition, keep that in mind, push it a little bit down. And eyes on the camera for the bride, would have lifted a little bit, but I’m listening and I might come up a little bit because I like you too well done

00:00 image number 42 pure at heart i don’t know if i can talk this i was going to challenge this i’m at 89 because i’m forgiving of a few things in there i i think this is strong 83 overall i’m going to talk about the bit that i’m not a fan of which is the foreground hand being out compared to the background hand i think if you’re going to have two features it would be better if the foreground was sharper however However, as a concept, as a composition, as a piece of artwork, I really like this shot.

00:33 I think it’s clever with the layers. I think the textures are interesting. And actually where there are, for instance, highlight challenges, those highlights come ironically from placing the plastic in front of her. And plastic having specular highlights, I’d give a huge amount of leeway for.

00:53 to me if I think about the words creative portrait this literally is the definition of a creative portrait of a person and I’m struggling to see why it would lose that I’m almost coming from the okay so what’s it losing rather than what am I gaining on this one yeah I’m struggling to see it drop so low to me it’s a solid upper merit maybe distinction distinction that’s a challenge challenge accepted um i was 81 for pretty much the reasons that you gave um i’m gonna come up i’ve i’ve sat on it the beautiful thing about a challenge is often you get the chance for an image to kind of wash over you and this is washed over me while you were speaking the reasons that again i think i’d like just a bit more refinement on the light the light hit in in the hands is very very strong I just tone that down slightly whether you put a grid on or you just take it down the layer mask that one piece of hair going across her eye I just would like to have gone and just moved it just a little bit and that’s easily done just take the next frame um but I’m you know I’m I’m going to be coming up because it has definitely washed over me yeah this this is this is a definition of a creative portrait so yeah it’s not often but But take notice, I think I was wrong.

02:19 Whoa. You heard it here first. That’s important, right? You heard it here first. I, just like you said, I sat with it, and I was like, I underscored this. And we do as judges, sometimes we focus on certain things, and then we miss others, and we’re only humans.

02:41 And I’m admitting to being human right now because I focus so much on the brightness. And the eye that’s closed is actually bright red. And that irked me so much that I was like, I can’t go. I mean, impact was there. But I was so focusing on the technical stuff that I sort of missed that this one actually made me feel.

03:04 And I ignored it. And I shouldn’t because it’s a creative portrait. And I think that one tops it. So I will definitely listen in. And I’m coming up. No pressure, I’ll be fair. No pressure on me. Come down at your peril. Paul’s eageringly eyeing me up here.

03:25 I agree with most of what everybody, my fellow judges, have said. I scored this an 84. Definite merit standard. Close-ish to distinction. The highlights on her left arm on the right side of the frame.

03:44 and the highlights on the plastic brought me down. I don’t mind the hair coming across the eye, but I do find that the composition could have been improved upon by the elbow over on the left side being not so close to the edge or bringing it into a square.

04:07 I think emotionally it’s wonderful. wonderful. It’s so well composed. The directing there, the photographer, the author has put effort and thought into this and has done such a great job. It just does fall on the highlights, even across her right side, sort of lower neck and chest area. That highlight is just so distracting away from the face. The face should be our center of attention in that gap of the, you know, it’s the purpose of the image.

04:41 And I’m being distracted away from the centre, so I don’t think I can bring it up to distinction. But it is definitely a merit, and I commend the photographer.

00:00 That’s called the composer. I would love to know what the egg is. Yeah. We were wondering about that too. Is the author in the room? She is, actually. What’s the egg for? We’d love to know what the egg is. It’s for making something new. Ah.

00:19 Symbolic for that. All right. Rescore. No, I’m just kidding. I really enjoyed it. I was at 80. My phone’s gone off. off 82 so I think this is well worthy of a of a merit I think your retouching is beautiful on the skin you’ve done a very very good job of that her style and her pose and the the very soft elegantness of her fingers as she’s grapping onto the the piece of paper is very very lovely it’s really nice to see just be very very careful it’s a little bit hot on the forehead it’s a little bit hot on the nose and underneath the eyes so just move the light backwards ever so slightly just just feather it a touch just to get that hot beam of light coming from the modifier out.

01:04 You can see you’ve used two lights. You’ve got a lovely fill that’s gone in, so you’ve got all detail in the darker areas of the material, which is very hard to do, so you’ve done an excellent job of that. Excellent job. You see what I did there? So just be very mindful of that hot spot on the forehead, but this is an exquisite.

01:23 If you’re on this path of portraiture, keep going. This is a beautiful series of what you’ve got here. Keep it up and well done. I just want to add one thing. I completely agree with my fellow judge. I come from a fine art background. Classical portrait is wonderful.

01:42 It is so well executed. Your print is beautiful. Great choices. The egg is distracting. Even though we know it’s a symbol, there’s something there, it’s just sitting there by itself. Also, just be careful of her left arm, the shadow underneath her left arm touching the table.

02:02 It’s just a little, I’d add a little bit more depth to that. It doesn’t quite balance quite right. But very well done. And as you said, the hands exquisitely done. Thank you. I scored that an 86.

00:00 Next image is number 44, Sloth. So I was at 79. One thing I do struggle with in general with compositions that have geometric shapes is they need to feel that they are geometrically correct if you’re going to play that game. And to me, the bottom left frame is slightly higher than the bottom right frame.

00:21 So if I’m going to have a geometric shape in a frame in a frame, it just feels a little awkward if it’s not quite right. and it’s always when it’s a degree or two out that it just hangs in my head. I’m not… I like the actual overall orange tone, but I’m not convinced that it hasn’t been overdone on her skin. So although there is clearly orange light in the studio at this point, the blocking of orange on the arm that comes out forward, there’s a flat shadow on the underside of her arm where it seems to have either been recovered or is just flat as a result of printing.

00:54 printing. But it’s almost, I’m picking up almost on Martina’s point about skin tone where I’m seeing a huge variance in that shot between the top of her right arm through to the right hand through the bottom of her right arm, her face, her body skin. It just doesn’t feel natural and I think while this is creative portrait and I understand the realm of that, the portrait element still has to stand. And to me the portrait of her isn’t quite as strong as the concept.

01:25 Thank you.

00:00 Next one up, number 45, The Light We Forget. I know for transparency I was at the higher end of it, but I think it’s a fair score. Yeah, I think this is just one word, beautiful. There’s almost an anime film sort of feel to her face, which I think is creative as hell when it comes to pulling that off in the studio.

00:21 The light falling on her is stunning. To me, I scored this 89. I think the placement of the light falling on the back of her with that fall off of the back of her dress is perfectly placed. It’s well done. I wonder if it feels a little too tall, just as a crop and almost coming in above the elbow.

00:45 That may have helped sort of make it feel a bit more intimate. But to me, I felt this is really strong as a portrait. I’d be proud to put that on my wall. Yeah, there’s no… The bits that I would look for as technical problems, blocking in the background, you know, cross-shadow, whatever, there’s a little bit of lack of texture in the hair, but I think that’s more down to the paper than it is the actual capture.

01:10 I think it’s done really well, and actually, if that’s a style that someone’s getting into, please keep shooting that, because the… I don’t have a kid, but if I have a kid that was shot like that, it’s stunning. I’d put that on my wall every day.

00:00 Number 46, compassion. I’m at 90. There’s cards on the table. I hate it when a person disappears into the background. I love that this person disappears into the background. Because to me, this is the combination of abstract and portrait.

00:23 In a way that actually, if I step back and look at the shapes, the shapes are strong and solid, the contrast is there, the connection is there, the eyes both closed for both the animal and her. That link to the animal’s hair wrapped around her arm, you know, from a styling point of view, it’s done so well.

00:44 The only thing I could pick up on is, to me, it feels like there’s a bit too much space to the right-hand side or there needed to be a bit more space on the top to give it some breathing room. but as a as a portrait of someone with a horse if i look at the and we’re not comparing for clarity but if i look at the previous one um with the two hands around it’s this one genuinely this one to me is if the previous one was was a great portrait this one is exceptional i was at 82 so i’m not a million miles away from you a pound a week yeah so the reason i was at 82 too is exactly the reason you said i the way the the person just disappears off into the uh the background i wish there was a tiny bit of separate a tiny bit of separation i wish that the the left hand holding the main was just a little bit softer i wish this was the only image that i have seen impact is a really big thing for me when i’m judging and because we’ve seen something very Very similar in the first category.

01:49 The impact on this has been lost slightly. This is a better image. Granted, I wish I’d seen this one first. I would have been higher. That said, we’ve got the same tonality in the black. It’s been beautifully done. You are correct. The right-hand side could come in a little bit. But I love the fact, and I really hope that the photographer in the room, if they’re in the room, said to the horse, close your eyes and put your ears back.

02:15 because and look somber because the horse’s expression is matching the person beautifully I would have called this yin and yang Martina it’s all yours well we are friends and I’m just a little bit higher than you I was at 85 so I’m smack in the middle there and I think it’s it’s really really well there and I could have gone higher just for the same reasons that we’re talking about i would love to see just a tad separation and actually it’s not just that fact but it’s also lost details up in her sleeve a collar it’s burned out there so for me to go all the way up to distinction those things i can’t i gotta be true to the technical stuff here and the impact like you said the impact is so important if you’re gonna enter competition be careful we’re entering the same subjects in different categories because when we see the second time around we’re gonna go oh yes it’s beautiful but and hand hand this this softness in the horse and the softness in her face is absolutely wonderful I could see this on my wall but then that hand it’s not soft it is cringing a little bit it’s slightly I know it’s hard to hold on to something but that’s why you got to try and turn and flip that hand around to see if you can find some softness in that hand because this is a beautiful moment between horse and man and I think that’s what I know oh there was one more thing category this is creative portrait category and that’s another thing that it sort of like I made me question is because if this would have been entered in classical portrait I would have been through the roof maybe switching it points. So surprisingly the Irishman is close to the Brit. I’m 86. I agree with everything. Like the highlights, yeah they could be turned down. That would have brought it up to distinction. The crop, I have an issue at the top or bringing the side. Also in the main, let the main finish at the edge of the image or give a little space the her back you have the ruffles around her collar on the back and you’ve nothing if that was falling down a little bit where we had separation and then it went into no separation that would have been absolutely perfect that would have been into the 90s easily yeah it’s very i just found it distracting and and there’s too much tension in the hand i completely agree but it is exceptional it is so so good bravo bravo bravo to the photographer their understanding of how to photograph a horse is phenomenal we’ve seen it in the last image we see it here again and also the control of the horse it’s I want to meet that horse I want to say hi i love it so all i heard was exceptional yes you’re right paul all i will say though is always look at each image individually no matter what you’ve seen before judge what’s in front of you and what you see in front you not remember what you’ve seen before

00:00 Next up, number 47, the Queen of Scarabs. Yeah, I was back on the average at 82. I think this is a beautiful portrait. And the use of directional lighting with gels has been very nicely done. It’s hard when you’re bleeding green or blue. I’ll probably both onto white.

00:19 But you’ve done a very good job of controlling it. The light on her face is done. The hair light has been beautifully done. And the addition of the beetle, it looks real when you’re looking at this. image. The only thing that stopped me going higher is she’s neither looking at us or it and I think if there was a bit more connection rather than looking just aimlessly off into the left-hand side, I think it would have scored higher. So just be careful with eye direction. If she was looking at us or the Beatle, for me, I would have gone up a few points.

00:00 Number 48, Triangles. I mean, it’s very, very cleverly done. I think it’s very, very, very hard to get girls to do this and get a capture. For me, what stopped it going higher, there’s a black halo around where both girls have been cut out.

00:19 So if you’re going to do this level of composition, just make sure you’re tidying up your post-production. And for those of you that are in the room, If you come and see myself and Jimmy in the bar later, we’ll be demonstrating how to do this properly.

00:00 Image number 49, Girl with a Dragonfly. I scored this one an 82. So I’m right there and I think it is a stunning portrait, very well executed. A dragonfly is kind of a cool thing. It’s not like a flower or a butterfly or something like that.

00:19 So I think her intensity and her sort of fierceness fits with the choice of insect, so to speak, to put on her. So I really enjoyed that. I’m a lot for balance in images. And I think that Halo really helped to balance this image up because of the tool being so prominent in the image.

00:42 And the choice to having so much tool in it got helped by the Halo. I would probably have brought this up if the tool has not been as prominent. So if I could have cropped that one slightly tighter, not having all the tulle coming down, that could have balanced it even better.

01:02 But the halo sure did help for that. And just be careful when you have, what I’m guessing here is a texture backdrop, because that texture comes out on the left side, but not on the right side. So we have a very uneven backdrop here. and either you choose to mirror it or put something in on the right side or you take it out on the left side just to balance that out and not having those things being slightly distracting for us when we view it.

01:30 Other than that I think it’s a very well lit and technically beautiful portrait. Good job!

00:00 That’s image number 50 time and elegance I was on the higher end on 83. I think I was a bit forgiving because of the creativity the photographer has put in the influence and the thought processes that they’ve shown to create this images is Really interesting really nice really dynamic and very creative creative portraiture the it’s what’s not very very it’s the vignetting and the tone of the vignetting being blue throws everything else off because the whole image is warm um with the subject matter the brick wall behind um i love the brick wall as a background to this um maybe bring less of a square frame around the model because you have so many rectangles behind it is slightly distracting but that’s a choice for for the photographer and I think it’s very well executed maybe a little fill light on the face might help lift the eyes a little bit they’re not that focus the nose bridge of the nose is where completely aren’t drawn to and not around the rest of the face and the foreheads a little too hot as well it’s creatively wonderful just the execution needs a little bit of fine-tuning.

00:00 also the last one in this category number 51 sunny inside um so i ended up at 79 i actually started in my head a little bit higher but um i find the color and the top line really quite distracting out of this which is which is a shame because i think as a portrait um i think this is lovely i think it’s it’s a really charming portrait um you know everything about the The elements around the human and the animal are executed well.

00:29 There’s a couple of blown highlights on his hair. I get that. But the fur has come out on the dog really nicely. The sharpness in those sunflowers, like Scott said earlier, the right amount of sharpening. Actually, the right amount of fall-off in this. The depth of field is probably spot on. I don’t think he could have improved that. But it’s that weird colour tone in the top left.

00:49 It’s almost gone to a yellowy green. and then the top right is this sort of deep orange sort of rusty feel I don’t know whether that’s been added or whether that could just be cropped out or not cropped out but by shifting maybe a little bit higher up on the frame you would have got rid of it I just found that a bit too distracting but as a portrait it’s solid it’s it’s really nicely done and actually I’m sure whoever’s parent it is is very proud of that on their wall sorry just want to I would have scored this higher if it wasn’t in creative portrait.

01:22 It’s a portrait. It’s an excellent portrait. It’s lovely. And I agree with all Paul said, but it’s in creative portrait category. So just be careful of the selection. There’s a lot to say about this portrait. It is a beautiful professional practice. And once again, this is the level we should give our clients.

01:41 And I’m sure the client is extremely happy. One thing to mention, if you go all the way through this trouble to find this wonderful field and you bring the dog and you create this and you post this, please take consideration to the clothing. Oh, that’s okay. They are allowed to be in there. but the clothing here having a style styling this boy where it’s not crunched up to cover his neck and his chin and they put up put some parts into the styling here and and to complement the area and the dog and everything it decided been elevated absolutely

00:00 to do image number 52 struck by light yeah if you’re in the room i was at 76 i think it’s a great portrait i’m definitely taking this one for a drink as well um i think uh from a composition point of view there’s a lot of foreground there if you got the camera lower to the ground and shot through a little bit more it would have alleviated the uh the foreground i think her posing is nicely done but her skin is overworked i think it’s gone a little bit motley in the lower legs where it’s the light’s not quite hit it, and a slight adjustment of that light so it’s not hitting the knees as brightly.

00:33 I think this would have been an upper score category, but well done.

00:00 Next one, number 53, about decisions. This category allows for editing? Yes, pretty much anything in this category. Except photography. I scored this as 79, so right on the average. I would love to score this into merit.

00:20 I really, really would. Composition, I think it’s wonderful, except for some elements. the placing the the person on close to the edge but not too close where it’s dangerous wonderful in center center focus the shape of the edge coming through the image from from right to left is lovely and the textures of the rocks are wonderful the birds nice there’s a bird wing coming in on the on on the left, which is so distracting.

00:52 And the birds in the bottom right, they’re messy compared to the others. And it just throws your eyes off. If you’d edit out a few of them, just cleaned it up a little bit, it would be less distracting. Also in the foreground, very nice. I like the amount of foreground you have, but it becomes distracting when the rocks are so chunky chunky and weighted it kind of draws my cropping in you lose then that the figure being in the center of the image but it’s it’s a choice you know obviously the photographer has made and I appreciate it it’s it’s there are just too many little things that can be edited quite quickly or you know spotted it they missed out on a few things. The texture of the print is lovely. I really like the choice of paper. It may not be everybody’s taste but I think it’s very nice so well done.

00:00 that would be number 54 balance so it’s actually initially it’s very striking um and actually compositionally it’s it’s really powerful as a shot um i’m just seeing technical challenges so i’m seeing blocking on the floor i’m seeing hard lines of fall off i’m seeing a weird outline around her as well it’s like a three millimeter or four millimeter line all the way around that’s slightly lighter than the background which i don’t quite understand if it was intentional it it seems like a strange choice because it actually creeps up along the bottom base.

00:31 So to me, this is one where, you know, photographically, I think it was probably done really nicely in the studio. A couple of highlight issues, but the shadow fall-off on her is nice, the detail on her is nice, the lighting on her is nice. It’s just the post-processing, from what I assume, has just pushed it too far.

00:50 It’s just gone too blocky.

00:00 Number 55, Orpheus. I scored this 86. I’m not challenging it because it’s still within a merit. And I know there’s some issues, but I think this is creatively very well executed. The thought that went into it, you can see what the photographer, how they directed it.

00:23 Initially, in the digital printer, I thought that was the person’s hand, but now I see that’s up to our own judgment which I love it’s not defined whether it’s their hand or not it challenges my me emotionally the highlights on the right are well controlled but just not quite enough for me the top right there seems to be a shadow in there within a fold of the the fabric, the grey of shadow across within the folds of the background are very well controlled. Just the person themselves that there’s a loss in detail within the shadows and there’s that one little spot of very dark on the chin, throws me off from bringing that up to a distinction but I’m happy for it to stay in a mirror and it’s very nicely executed.

00:00 That’s number 56, The Night. I think I challenged that. Yeah. I was actually in 83. I enjoyed this. Powerful horse, powerful image coming across. The color spoke to me. There are a few technical issues that, yes, I spot them, but I thought that the storytelling and the impact for this one came at me, that I wanted to award it coming up to the merit.

00:32 Not a high merit, but just slightly above standard practice. So I’m listening in, and I’m interested to hear what you guys are saying. Thank you. I scored this a 76. Don’t think it’s quite there in merit. Compositionally, I see problems.

00:53 The horse’s tail on the right edge of the frame being cut off. I understand the lance may or may not be in that’s fine the horse and the knight don’t seem to match the sky background, the upper part of the background the lighting highlights on the knight’s helmet just stand out way too bright for me to be in that atmosphere, maybe bring that down a bit also you’ve got to be very careful with red red in an image like this, the red on the lance and on the shield and the boots or shoes that the knight is wearing are too distracting for me to award it a merit. I think it is above average, it’s composed and attempted creatively. It’s good. I just couldn’t bring it up to a merit with lots of little things. And it is only small things, but you just need to be aware of it and in post-production they could.

01:57 Misery. I was at 80, so I’m at the bottom end of where you’re at. Funnily enough, for the similar reason or similar statements as Albie, although I’m not judging his shoes, I’m over the fashion choices. Interestingly, though, the use of red on the shoes kind of matches with the lance and the shield so it is maybe actually a styling choice.

02:25 However, the bit I do agree with is the tonality of that picture feels moody by the background, feels blue, washed out, stormy and so on. And then there’s this weird light that’s been added in there which doesn’t match that overall feel. So to me, there’s a disconnect between the light that falls on the character and the background that’s been chosen.

02:47 Now, given that this is a category where you can be creative, You know, I wonder whether just toning that down a little bit might have made it more congruent throughout. But I’m in a place where I’m okay with the merit. I don’t think it would go higher than that. But I think it’s probably worth that. Yeah, I’m at 79 for all the reasons Albie gave.

03:10 Short and sweet. My God. Can we just talk about the shoes right now? because we always talk about the triangle and those shoes balance the red in the light and the red in the shield so for me that actually made it come together and the saddle so I would say this though I just think it deserves to come up there in the 80 and not asking for much but what would really improve it I didn’t want to talk negatively about it in the first because I wanted I wanted to sort of have you guys come along with me, but I will say this for the author, just for the benefit, not for the scoring.

03:50 But having taken that blue out of the sky, making this more of a gray tonal, it’s like slightly colored, but just grayish, and then having the colors pop gently from it would have been a more dramatic, more storytelling for me. So. Too much color competition.

04:09 Little bit, little bit, yeah.

00:01 That would be number 57, free will with a question mark, as in free will question mark. No, I’m challenging. So I’m at 89, and actually I wish I’d scored it higher because I could have dragged it up more. This just screams commercial day in, day out. When we talk about paper choice, this is the first image of this type, and I’ve seen quite a lot of images of these with phones as subjects.

00:27 projects. This image glows in front of us now. So in terms of the ability to present an image, this ticks every box to me. There are some challenges with this. I don’t particularly like the flyaway hairs that cover the headphones. But the detail of the phone screen as the catch light in the eyes, the finishing of this, and this will be a creative choice, but the post-processing on the skin to make it look futuristic, almost robotic to a certain extent.

00:59 I think the storytelling in this is great. There are some shadows that are dropped off in this, but in a weird way, because this feels so almost computer-generated as an image, it almost feels right that it’s gone almost binary to a certain extent in my head.

01:18 That may just be my opinion. I may be of an opinion of one. However, if I look at a billboard trying to get a point across, this one would scream day in, day out as a strong candidate for any advertising agency. I think this is wonderful. Thank you, Paul.

01:38 I was at 82. I enjoy the image. I enjoy the color. I enjoy the blue and the green. And I enjoy the fact that you can see that the person there is completely immersed in the phone. you mentioned the flyaway hairs that bothers me greatly because they’ve been it’s a flip and if you’re going to flip it then take care of the flyaway hairs because it just makes it more obvious uh the skin on the forehead’s being overworked i’m again i’m just i’m struggling to get over that and whether you have the ability to remove things the catch light of the original modifier would have liked to have seen taken out because i’m just i want to see the catch light of the phone i don’t want to see that i don’t want to see the light source that lit the whole subject but I can come up a couple of points I say what Scott said and I will set the same score to I scored this 90 I’m a pool strangely I think yet the flip is it’s very well executed because actually if you look at the hair on the forehead on the left and right they didn’t flip that they did flip the the headphones phones and the hairs, but yeah, you’ve got to remove the stray hairs.

02:52 I think I’m with Paul. This image just stands out. It just glows, as you say, which is the light of the phone. It is exactly what the phone does to our eyes. It gives us that light. I like the catch light of the modifier.

03:11 modifier and it seems to have a grid on it which kind of reminds me of a matrix style um and the light on the forehead matches gives a reason for it because you wouldn’t have that much light on the forehead if it was only phone only um the strength and dynamic of it it’s illustrative it screams illustrative it is getting that uh even just that little green glow on the phone yeah is so well executed so well controlled and adds even more interest in the foreground even though it’s blurred out it’s you know it’s and yeah so yeah I’m at 90 and I think it’s definitely worth a distinction

00:00 Next one up, number 58, Humulus. Yeah, I was 84. I enjoyed this. I think the title works really, really well. The styling of the outfit matched to the color of the background, and the level of retouching has been very, very well handled. I’d just like to have seen a little bit more refinement in the pose and just kind of bring that knee across, liquefied that dress in a little bit more to create a little bit more shape, adjusted the highlight on the left upper arm there, and just given her a little bit more of an expression.

00:32 She looks a little bit kind of dazed and confused, just a slightly more happy, or just something to give me a bit more expression, I would have come up, but well done.

00:00 Number 59, Shiro. Yeah, I liked it. I was at 77. I think the title really helps. For those in the room that don’t know, Shiro means white in Japanese. So that, you know, helps put that over because it is, there’s a lot of white in there. And I’ve done a very good job of controlling that white. I think just a slight crop from the top to make it more central.

00:20 Maybe even rotate the image 90 degrees to the left. Have it falling down, probably would have had to come up a score category.

00:00 Image number 60, Planet of Spikes. I’ll take this. I scored this 80 and I think it’s well executed. The balance of the mirroring in the four quarters is nicely done, it’s nicely controlled.

00:19 There are some elements that have been edited after the mirror has been done and they’re I’m not lining up with the other one areas maybe I’m not lining up with the other three so if you are going to mirror make sure all your editing is done before you mirror and then mirror because otherwise you have imbalance especially when you have such a graphical image and structural image is like this but it’s a lovely concept a very well executed just careful next time well done

00:00 Number 61, It happened quietly. I scored this 88, just inside distinction, very high standard. I think it’s an exceptional portrait of a young boy, lighting is lovely, studio conditions, obviously the background is very well balanced. The idea and concept is lovely and nicely executed.

00:24 The makeup is very well done on the face. I would have added a little bit of makeup onto the shoulders to balance it because the shoulder looks kind of flat The skin looks flush. There is some slight problems with the colors of the skull the tunnel range in the skin And one other thing to careful of is if you’re adding something up in the top right corner Give it a little space to breathe But I love the focus. I love the feeling and I get from it. The impact is really great No, no because it won’t move You don’t have to.

00:58 That’s it. Thank you.

00:00 Image number 62, Thorgren, which I presume it’s a name, so I’m assuming it’s the name of the athlete in question. You said, okay, so I was at 88, I was trying to push it a bit higher. So sports images like this are all about timing, being in the right place at the right time and pressing the button exactly then.

00:19 So this one ticks every box in terms of that, whether it was staged, whether it was practiced, who knows. But in terms of the composition of it, I think it’s fantastic. I wonder if the skater had been between the two fires, it might have looked less like he’s getting torched, but in reality, this is an event that’s very difficult to be able to predict exactly where someone ends up.

00:41 The only bits to me that could have been improved on this, number one, the snow in the foreground, while I appreciate it’s getting lit with orange, I think it could have been toned a little bit less saturated. Number two, the fire. Fire and traffic trails have a similar issue, which is when they blow out, when you try and recover them, they just recover flat.

01:04 and this fire has been recovered to try and stop it being overexposed but the result is a flat blue color to it aside from that it’s a solid sports image i think it’s well deserves a merit i would argue it a little bit higher but i think it’s done well

00:00 Image number 63, close-up. I scored this one a 78. I see it as above average, getting close to merit. Its focus is wonderful, very well captured. The subject matter, it’s just a pity the photographer was not a little bit lower to have separation to the track for the back wheels and the front left wheel.

00:28 The shadows have been brought back a bit around the car just to bring it in more centre of focus particularly on the left side of the car and if that was actually left in it would add more I think more dynamic to it. It’s not something you need to do because the front right of the car was very nicely highlighted and brings in draw focus and especially to the grille where it says safety culture.

00:52 It’s wonderful.

00:00 number 64 sideways I don’t usually jump it to speaking about sports but I felt that I had actually a few things to say first of all I just think it’s really cool image it definitely has speed sense to it and I’m saying this again sports is not my thing but I enjoyed this and also oh did I say I scored it and I I think 80?

00:23 79. 79? What? Okay. Sorry. 79. Tonality, it sort of blends. I’m a stickler for balance in tonality and color harmony. And if you just think away a little bit of the greenery up there, you have the lower part, the browns on the browns and the beige and the grays, and they actually blend quite well together with the color of the car.

00:45 Good matching there, people. I would have taken this further up if I could have got real some of distracting highlights going on especially in the background it keeps pulling me up and if you look at the image you have on the left side it’s more cooler and it’s more warm on the right side so those little things as well it’s a good thing to think about and if they would have been more balanced I would have come up a little bit further good job though I don’t care I don’t you know what I’m I’m glad you said it because I will address this.

01:17 He said it’s wheel smoke. And since I can’t see the smoke that clearly, it becomes a distraction because even if it’s there, logically, if it’s in the print or in an image, it becomes a distraction. Then take it away. It’s like the wrong kind of red shoes. You’re not giving up on the shoes, are you?

01:39 He had a red break disc. I wasn’t complaining about that.

00:00 Next up, number 65, Zero Chill. Yeah, it’s a solid shot. The only question in my head is actually category. Because if the category is sport, I’m… Is it Cane and Cross? Okay, so then hence my ignorance to it.

00:18 Yeah, therefore. So in which case, yeah, it’s a solid image. There’s nothing over underexposed in there. It’s, well, the top of his helmet, I think Martina’s probably going to pick on. No. Oh, okay. Yeah, it’s not, I wouldn’t say it’s something that is exceptionally memorable.

00:39 And I think that’s where these shots tend to have to go to in sport to really stand out. So this is a great capture of a great moment.

00:00 Number 66, Perhonen, which means butterfly. As you’ll soon see why. Yeah, I enjoyed this. I was at 83. Hard to do. Very, very hard to do, especially when they’re up and down so quickly. You’ve got to find that capture, compose it, and hit that shutter literally within a thousandth of a second.

00:21 And the timing of this is really, really well done. You can see she’s grabbing that lung full of air before she goes down again. Again, the perfect butterfly position, the horizontal shoulders, and the low shooting angle has been very, very well executed. So well worth the merit.

00:00 Image number 67, women’s large heel competition. This image is so clean. It’s like it’s been polished. It is literally a perfection in the sky. Again, it’s a bit like Scott was saying with the swimming. Timing and tracking and everything on this is important and the photographers nailed it. The only challenge I have is a context part of it.

00:26 it’s it is a beautiful shot of someone coming coming from a great high on skis it’s finished well it’s produced well it’s printed well the paper choice is good it’s a solid merit thank you very much just for the photographer i might add just be careful the composition on the left side with the ski um and try and get like hair flowing so you can see the wind gushing past them just don’t really see that within the image.

00:57 You want to yell at her? Get your hair out! What you mean you can’t see the nose hairs? Thank you for that lovely mental image. We’re all really grateful for that. Just flapping in the wind.

00:00 image number 68 blood before glory i remember this coming through digital round uh i’m at 85 and i think this is really really good uh title was really strong you can if you can’t see on the digital he’s got a cut finger where he’s probably come around the corner and just to steady himself put his hand on the asphalt and it’s just kind of cut him up a little bit but what really makes this is the crowd reaction in the background they’re shouting for him they’re they’re cheering for him.

00:26 And the fact he’s doing it with like a non-plus expression with a fag on the go, it’s brilliant. The only thing I would have done slightly is the cropped in ever so slightly on the left-hand side with a guy with a white t-shirt on his head, and you’d have got less of the drunk person just above that. But overall, this is a well-captured moment, well seen.

00:48 I think it’s really cool, well done. And I could have a drink with him at the bar, I’m telling you.

00:00 Image number 69, Maximum Attack. Very nice action image. I would possibly crop it in a little bit or control the highlights. They’re very white. They’re glaring at us to distract. It starts hurting my eyes, actually, when I was looking at it.

00:20 Maybe I’m just getting tired. But very nice. It could be cropped in to give it more drama, and it would stand out the way in which they’re driving and the attack they have. It would stand out a little bit more, but well done.

00:00 that would be number 70 snow blast yeah this is great i was at 83 really strong image perfect paper choice for this as well you’ve got that there’s no reflection whatsoever so you’re really getting that snow effect coming through because it’s a dark dull dismal day there’ll be no reflection coming off so the office done a really good job of putting that over just cropping slightly from left hand side there’s no need for those tree branches coming in but not too tight so you lose the snow coming off the tracks here because you actually need those two flags there for balance.

00:32 So come in ever so slightly. Be very careful of the blue magenta cast you’ve got coming into the white. So just adjust that ever so slightly, and this would have gone up another score category.

00:00 Last one in this category. Number 71, Speed Corner. It’s a very nice catcher. It’s a great sports image, great movement. I would have possibly waited with Motocross, MotoGP to have a moment before or after in the corner.

00:20 He’s obviously, he’s either approaching or coming out. I think he’s approaching corner. The knee will drop and that will add more dynamic. Also, adjusting your angle slightly so you’re a bit more of a diagonal across the print would add more drama to it because it is a downhill section of a track. It would just really bring this up into a merit or into closer to a distinction, should I say.

00:46 But it’s very nicely balanced, maybe a little bit more separation from the top, from the bike in the background. Just one small thing. We see a lot of motorcycle images come through competition, a lot of them, and they always have something that’s not quite in. This is one of the rare occasions I’ve seen a motorbike where everything on that bike is tack sharp. The tracking on it is nothing less than perfect. Yes, it could be improved in energy. It could be improved a little bit with composition, but the 10 out of 10 for the tracking on this one, this is stunning.

00:00 Image number 72, Taste of Helsinki. I mean, this is a fun commercial image. For a chocolate brand or for a tourism board, it doesn’t really matter which one it sits on. This is just classic, I think, to me, and it’s executed really well. It’s one of the few times the hand through the paper roll has not made me go, ugh.

00:22 So they’ve actually done it really well. The cloud additions in there, assuming they’ve been digitally added, have actually been done pretty sympathetically. So, yeah, well done.

00:00 Image number 73, Cora. This is really close to being something awesome. I was at 78, so bang on the average. I think when it first sat down, I’m like, oh, man, this is amazing. And then you go in and remember you’re judging a photographic competition.

00:18 And sadly, there are highlights blown in every single person that’s sitting there. And there’s nowhere really for my eye to rest. I’m kind of dancing all over the place. I guess that’s kind of the point. You want there to be a messiness to this image, but there also needs to be a calmness here as well. We need a resting place for the eyes.

00:38 Refine the light on each sitter before you do it because I think conceptually this is incredible. Look at a good friend of mine called Chris Anderson in Australia. He’s awesome at stuff like this. So look at his YouTubes. He’s scored in the 90s in various competitions using this technique. So if you are in the room, please explore this.

00:58 you are on to something amazing, you’re just not quite there yet.

00:00 Number 74, food and wine mag. I might. I’m up there with you, see. I wasn’t up there, but… If you want to challenge, yeah. Yeah, I’ll challenge that. Challenge? Challenge. I’m about 89. I think sometimes when you hear a title before the image gets put down, you’re like, okay, this better be good.

00:25 This is really good. This is very, very clever. For those of you that can’t see, it’s two forks to make it look like a wine glass with the wine glass in. I’ve never seen Martina shoot forward to a print mall when she thought it was actual wine. It’s very, very clever. This photographer has seen the brief or got the brief from the creative team and run with it.

00:50 This is very high-level commercial photography at its best. Sometimes we see people that try too hard and overcomplicate images. This has been done very simply, very subtly, and been done very well. You know you said earlier about giving time to let it sink. I’m coming down.

01:12 So for a few reasons. Number one, I’m not a fan of the banding in the background of the gradient that’s been added in this bottom left. There’s a lot of curved lines in there that you can see in the print. Two, I don’t understand visually the reflection in the wine. It doesn’t link to anything that’s in the frame and I’m struggling to understand what that black shape is other than something probably in the back of a studio. Number three, I love a geometrically perfect shot. If it’s going to be geometrically perfect then it should be and this isn’t. The wine glass is not in the the center of the two forks. It is so close. The concept I love. The second it got put down, I’m like, this is stunning. But the more time I’ve had to look at it, I’m seeing flaws that wouldn’t be so much of a flaw if the author hadn’t intended it to be so perfect. And with perfection comes an expectation. And unfortunately with this, it raised my expectations too high.

02:14 So I’m at 80. I could come up. I was debating, but I’m not sure it’s a distinction. Yeah, I’m at 80 as well, and I agree with all your points. The reflection in the wine on the middle to top left looks like a white wall with backdrops hanging above.

02:34 This was in the studio. It’s not a hard fix. Also, the highlight on the surface of the wine in the glass is artificially put in, so more illustrative than actual commercial. They’re allowed, no doubt, yeah, but I think if it was in illustrative, it might go up higher, Mark.

02:55 Also, yeah, the level of the forks throws me off because the forks have been mirrored, they’ve been adjusted, they’ve been played with in Photoshop or whichever editing software you use, and they just haven’t nailed it. Boom, what an impact. What an amazing image. When it came up first, that was my thought.

03:14 And I was right with you. And I think I was starting to score it up in the high 80s. But as I’m looking closer, I cannot get over the banding. This is a print competition, and it’s all around it. It’s on top, but it’s in another corner. And it’s actually a smaller white line outside the forks.

03:34 And we talked about the dark line on the guide that was cut out before. and I’m just referencing it as far as being taken such a good care of the idea and the execution and then those little details kept me from going I was at 78 I’m really the bad guy here definitely listening it has the concept that is worth for me to push it up a few more points but I don’t think I can go with you all points gratefully received and I shall be adjusting my score

00:00 Number 75, Meganta. I think I scored this 86, was it? Yeah, I think it’s an exceptional, it’s a very, very good image. Nice concept, nice delivery. There are some elements that kind of throw me off a little bit.

00:18 You know, the headpiece that was centered on the nose or even reaching down to the tip of her nose. But, you know, it’s a very difficult image to control all those tones together. I think they did an exceptional job. Some of the highlights are a little peaky around the eye on the left side of her right eye. Just be careful of that but it’s it’s very nice image, very well executed.

00:00 Image number 76, visionary edge and optical study. Actually again this is one where impact is great, so when it’s first put out it looks stunning. I think it’s a fair merit. When it comes to commercial work, if this is commercial work for a sunglass brand, I need to understand whether I’m buying blue lenses or brown lenses. It can’t be both.

00:22 So there is an element of if you are producing commercial work, we’ve got to be sympathetic to the commercial element of it. but overall I think it’s a great concept I love the abstract background the paper choice on this and the printing is is well well executed again it’s a bit like Martina said earlier remember that in these these are viewed under quite harsh lighting so you know maybe just backing it away you know 10 well five percent even might get you some of the texture back in there admitting that or agreeing that it’s obviously white plastic which is difficult to see texture um but yeah it’s a solid commercial piece i agree with the merit um there’s just a couple bits in there just think commercially about how you’re displaying the product and there’s a fly in there

00:03 I scored this a 79. Kind of glad I went up to merit though. I mean, that’s something that could be on a wall too, in the kitchen or something like that. It’s fun. And I would say this. I tried to, maybe I didn’t spot it, but I tried to find if there was like a copy of the, but I can’t see anyone copy it.

00:28 They all look different. Right, right, right. They’re not. They are all different. You know, the time that was put into doing this, I really appreciate. That’s sort of like why I was happy it landed up in Merritt because I appreciate the effort that went into doing this. And I’m just going to say quickly that the exposure is a little bit all over the place because the middle is dark and it’s muddy and it’s very bright on the top and then it’s sort of like quite well balanced down in the left corner so when you do something this abstract and this very precise then you need to be very precise with your lighting as well but other than that fun good job keep doing this

00:00 Next up number 78, Muistojen Malja, a toast for the memories. Yeah I was at 78, I can see where this is close to a merit. I think the use of again colour gels into the glass is creating something really quite magical. There’s a whole spectrum of colour going all the way from top to bottom and I’m really really enjoying that. To make this sit into a merit category, a greater depth of field, we could have been better achieved because you’ve got some of the corks at at the front here that are soft and I really wish there was like an anchor point for the bottom of that glass so it’s not just floating amongst the black but aside from that well done

00:00 Number 79, Life. I think this is executed really well, actually. I’m not convinced it’s entirely as sharp as I would like it to have been. Some of that maybe print on there, in fact, looking at the digital, I wonder whether a matte print was the right choice for this. I think actually having a paper with more dynamic range might have been a bit stronger for it.

00:23 But I think as a concept, it’s fantastic. The shadow fall into each of the legs of the eggs is great. It’s a really well done piece of artwork and that’s what I would call it, it’s art. I can see that on the wall of a restaurant, it’s a really exciting feature piece, it’s done really well.

00:00 them number 80 black tea before i think this is exactly what the manufacturer of this gin is going to want to see on an advert in a magazine or a poster i think it’s been beautifully done the fact you’ve got the gin uh on the box and the way the photographer has lit the gin it’s shone through onto the branding at the bottom on the box is very very nicely done the one thing that stopped me going any higher was i’d like to probably seen the depth of field come down a bit more stop down down to, if you’re on 5.6, go to 8 and keep the top of that bottle nice and sharp.

00:31 But I think it’s a very, very nicely executed image.

00:00 Image number 81. Every golfer’s dream, a hole in one. I scored this 85, I thought. The creativity and artistic merit, I brought it up. There’s issues with some of the shadows. You see this distracting shadow in the foreground, right?

00:21 The cross shadows coming across. We don’t know the origin of them and we don’t know why they’re there, so they become distracting. So just be careful of those. And the shadow on the one and inside the hole are not really comparative to the shadows on the ground. So try and match them a bit more and it would just stand out a little bit more.

00:40 But the creativity and concept, it’s very nicely done and well executed. Thank you very much. I’m going to be that very quickly person now. Sometimes when we see a title, we need it to do some of the heavy lifting. And I think every golfer’s dream, that would have been the perfect title. or sometimes as a judge, I want to kind of suss it out for myself and go, Oh, I get it.

01:04 That’s a really good narrative on that. Sometimes when you force that narrative on judges, we’re like, Oh, we kind of wanted to get there ourselves. So just sometimes you can go too far of a title. So just this one, I would have just been a golfer’s dream and would have left it at that.

00:00 with image number 82. Ranta Sauvaki had to google what this is in English. Apparently it’s long job orb weaver gold figure. What is the restrictions on this category? The usual nature things that pretty much nothing is allowed. Okay. No replacement for healing. Yeah. And if it includes wildlife they need to be shot in their natural habitat.

00:24 I wouldn’t say so. This has to be its natural habitat. Well, I don’t think anyone would have this as a pet. I would hope so. Removing of objects is a pet? I think dust and that type of things are, but not actual objects.

00:44 I can talk real quick. Because I was at the higher end there. I was at 86. I truly enjoyed this as a graphic kind of a feeling this is another piece on the wall and i don’t really like spiders i really don’t like spiders snakes i don’t mind but you know it is pretty because it’s pretty and and the colors are complementary and it’s really well done and i i love the shape of the branch and and how it ties in with a little spider web thread that keeps that pulling down and coming back and i i really do quite enjoy this and what kept me from well i think it’s actually in the really really good spot point-wise, but something to think about.

01:24 It’s just controlling the highlights and bringing those down. And I would say this again, because we haven’t touched on this subject for a while, paper choice. So maybe a little bit more vibrance in this could have brought this even up further, even for my dear colleagues over here. Thank you.

00:00 Image number 83, Portrait of a Black Grouse. Yeah, this is a really, really cool portrait. I was at 87, just keeping me out of distinction. So I’m comfortable with where this is at. It is, we’ve said it before, it is perfectly sharp without being overdone.

00:19 You are drawn into each feather. and those big old Martin Scorsese red eyebrows above its eyes are so sharp we’ve said it before paper choice this is the perfect paper choice for this image so this goes to show that if the author or any of you in the room test your papers test the image on each paper until you find the perfect one this is why this image just scored so well because the author has done a bit of of research and not left it to the last minute so well done on your 85 just to than it doing the screen.

01:10 That’s what you’re doing. Just to bring the image up to the next category, be careful of composition. The tail feathers are off on the left. You look like the old kiddie with the eyebrows. I like that red. The old kiddie with the eyebrows.

00:00 Next up, number 84, Katossa, on the ceiling, upside down. That’s the way. Yeah, on the ceiling. This is really nice. Excellent focus. Love the color balance. And a nice fuzzy spider. Spiky fuzzy. This one is not going on my wall.

00:20 Really nice sea shot. Compositionally, the bottom greens are slightly distracting because they’re off-center when the spider is so nicely centered there’s not a huge amount but maybe bringing in the crop my and I’m bringing the spider as a larger element within the center of focus would increase the the effect of the impact of the image but it’s lovely very nice balance highlights are just a little tad just be careful of them but yeah really nice thank you so as well Just one thing, on the bottom greens, the lines that are obvious, they may be part of the shot, but I’d find a way somehow of fixing or smoothing that line on the left, and also the one on the right where there’s that strange green that creeps in the boundary.

01:11 As I say, that may be actually part of the shot, just what was in the out-of-focus area, but I find it quite distracting because it makes it look quite graphical. Yeah. That’s what I was trying to say. Okay.

00:00 Number 85. Snack. [Following species descriptor is unclear.]

00:06 Challenge I’m at 90 With wildlife We talk about timing Moment And actually to get the composition There is one problem I can see on this I’ll call that problem at the start Which is in tail feathers There’s a weird thing going on with the shadow I don’t know whether that’s something that’s In the foreground ground that’s maybe pushed it slightly paler maybe a reed or something going across it is in the digital as well but if i look at that as a moment that’s captured of wildlife behaving in their natural habitat surely it doesn’t get better than that the toning of that that photo the contrast between the cool blue and then the orange and the red of the of the birds birds.

00:55 It’s a complementary image. The toning is nice, the sharpness is spot on, the paper choice is beautiful for this. The composition I find to be, I don’t think I could list something that would improve the composition. Whether I’d want a bit on the left, I don’t know, but even the water ripples where the bird has been to the right -hand side, I’m struggling to find anything other than that tail feather that is a problem, and I’m kind of in a place where I think it deserves a bit more than 85?

01:24 Yeah, I was at 84, so you haven’t got a lot of work to do with me. I agree. I think this is nature at its absolute best. It’s unobtrusive, mayfly being fed to the little chick. I actually felt the paper choice distracted slightly with the texture of the paper choice.

01:43 I think a smooth… The paper’s great, but just a smoother version of… When I got close to it, I’m like, oh, look at all that texture. Yeah, so I think that would have gone up a little bit higher and then that highlight of the reflection underneath It could have been taken down but because there’s no highlight at all in the birds chest or neck But it’s there in the reflection and I was just kind of going Thing But you haven’t got a lot of work to do.

02:07 I mean, I’m enjoying this the more I look at it So yeah, I’m probably gonna come up. I Was at 85 and I think I underscored it Because I’m sitting here going going, can I fault it? mean, it’s like, but then is it wow? Is it amazing where we got to a gold or a distinction very high?

02:28 Maybe not, because we do see these kind of images. Yes, we are going to judge the one in front of us, I agree. So with that said, the color tonality is beautiful. The complementary color just speaks, and it’s a beautiful moment. I would have liked to have the ripple in the back. Yeah. Yeah, and of course the feathers that you meant.

02:47 But when you challenged it, I said, okay, what is it that kept me down? And I think it’s just that because that ripple is so strong and it’s cut off. But that’s nitpicking, really. It’s beautiful… Yes, it felt like it a little bit. That’s thing, you start at 100, you think, where am I going to take points off?

03:08 No. So, yeah. But anyway, I’m listening and I think, yes, it deserves definitely a little bit more. Go on then, Misery. Is it nice when your friends support you? Paul, I heard you. I heard you. I was 83, which I was the lowest. I actually find that I’m with Scott on this, the neck shadow, the highlight of the neck shadow doesn’t equal the neck.

03:35 Also, the tone tells me that the light in the environment is a lot warmer than the actual background colour. that’s my perception so just just to pick up on that specifically yeah I just want to find something this is not the shadow of the neck this here is the head yeah this is something beyond it I’m yeah I’m looking at this here yeah all right it’s here yeah yeah that that’s but that’s above tonally okay yeah totally that’s why I think the background is not quite it’s it distracted me me right and I agree with Scott the print the grain of the print I liked it initially at the water but then it distracted me for the background the bird it’s it’s a wonderful moment of nature I agree completely agree and I’m willing to come up I’m willing to come up not quite a distinction but it might push it into a distinction with everybody combined and I agree with with Martina Dei, The Crop.

04:37 Yeah, just because there’s in -focus prevalent ripples. Yeah, I want to see that close. It’s been cut off. But it’s spectacular, actually. It really is.

00:00 Number 86, a tiny snacker. I think I was on the high end, 85. Compositionally, I love it. I think it’s great. The choice of paper, I think, brings it down. It’s just too matte for what it is.

00:20 The head of this butter looks great on this matte, but everything else kind of drops compared to the digital. and yeah I think it’s an exceptional capture you know it’s it’s a moment again in nature and and it’s very well composed and so Bravo well done the color balance is lovely it’s just the the shadows on that much print has you know dropped them a little bit but yeah very well done

00:00 number 87 lonely swan i’ve got electric shock off that um yeah i was at 78 i think good black and white conversion i the problem we’ve said it a few times now about images being sharp this is probably too sharp on here now it’s just the the bird is nice just about okay but where you’ve over sharpened everything else the the bokeh and the the specular highlights off the top of the water are just just too distracting sadly but yeah it’s just it could have been really really good had you just not toned it uh sharpened it so much and you’ve just kind of burnt in the back of the swan too to try and control that highlight where it just would have burnt out given the situation you took it in but yeah an over 70 a good score

00:00 Number 88, White Silence. I’ll do a quick talk about this one. Wow. Such a cool guy, right? I’m assuming this is a guy and he’s pissed off with something. This really has impact. And I like the graphic kind of a feel to it, which means that I’m ignoring the loss of details in the white because it sort of all happens in that middle part.

00:26 the eyes and the beak and the little thingy that you call underneath the beak here so I do appreciate it however I think that it would have needed a little bit more oomph like a contrast or a different paper something like that it would have taken this to a little bit more higher points for me but good job to the author

00:00 Image number 89, sinirinnan pyrähdys, sprint of a blue throat. Sprint of a blue throat. This is really sharp. I think really, really sharp, but a good really, really sharp. Again, perfect paper choice.

00:20 Point of focus, the fact that the bird is flat on, and you can see it’s got its eyes on a prize to a bug or something. I just think it needs a square crop. I think you tighten that cropper on the right-hand side and to center that bird there, and we’re talking in the 90s, there’s a little bit of brightness coming through on the left-hand side, sort of level with the bird’s butt onto the left.

00:44 But I think this is a bird that’s probably flying at 100 kilometers an hour, just flitting about. So to get that critically sharp at this point of capture is why it’s done so well to score, so well done.

00:00 image number 90 here it will hog our wall it’s a solid nature shot there’s not much more we can say that there are some shots that just tick the right boxes this one this one hits them i think the only thing that i in my head that i would look at maybe altering is it’s that left hand trunk is very heavy as the outer focus trunk if anything i’d want the focus trunk to be the heavier one or crop that left hand side out a little bit um because it does seem i understand I think why the author’s done it to try and balance the frame but the fact that one is out one is in means I’m losing the balance anyway so I’d rather put more focus on to the bird itself. The bird is like the previous image tack sharp exposed excellently the feather detail is there it’s done really well and as a solid nature shot it’s where we have merit that yeah it feels like it’s in the right place well done

00:00 Number 91. Any time now. Challenge. Y’all can photograph birds really well in Finland. I see a lot of birds in England and they’re crap. This is really good. Either that or they’re all dead. Yeah. On the side of the road.

00:19 I was at 90. I think this is definitely worth a distinction. And the title, remind me Anna, the title? Any time now. anytime now this is a bird patiently waiting for that and it’s going to eat for dinner and you can almost tell that it’s just focusing on this one little ant hole and any minute now back it’s going to come out and it’s going to be gone this is such a hard color to print as well this yellow with green and it has been done beautifully this is an in-camera capture that has has been like Brett the Hitman Hart, excellently executed.

00:58 One from my 90s kids there. Yeah, I think it’s more than deserves a distinction. I think this is really bloody good. Don’t miss worse now. Would you remind me of my score, please? 80. 80.

01:16 Oh. You were the bad guy on this. You said you really do love me. Yes, I think I underscored it. Maybe not be as crazily infatuated with it as you are, but it is a damn good image.

01:38 I struggle a little bit with the short depth of field. I would like to see more of the bird sharp because it has such an impact and it falls just below the eyes. And I would have died to see more of these feathers coming back. Maybe not all the way back, but at least for the chest.

01:59 And I think that will sort of keep me down. And I think that the yellow is overpowering it in the background. I don’t mind the green though, but the stark yellow is almost like neon color. And that held me back a little bit. but I’m definitely listening and yes it’s a stunning image yeah I scored this 84 what you said Scott is what I initially saw that same motion I got the impact it’s it’s fabulous but I think the impact comes because of the color contrast it’s a wonderful color balance except for the yellow I would agree with Martina you talked about a narrative of the board waiting I can imagine the photographer also waiting and Bravo to photographer for waiting for this because It’s exceptional, but you could have as Martinez had adjusted the focus within that time I doubt this is the only image you got while that bird was About to pants because of the title that you added And the yellow distracts from the beak which the beak is then going to be eating the the ant which distracts me from the storytelling the crop as well if that that bird is so well centered except for on the print it’s not centered which throws me off and there’s there’s a problem with some of the phone cut for the print which I haven’t seen in a while but unfortunately I see it here and it’s a print competition so I don’t see going up to distinction I’m very happy with my score I think it’s it’s exceptionally well well done is just missing a couple of elements that could be improved on after the fact.

03:41 So, yeah, bravo to the photographer. I give that person a lot of credit. So I’m with you. I was at 89. I don’t actually, I’m not, the only, I agree with a lot of what you say. The bit I don’t agree with, I think, is the beak, because I think actually the beak in its silver actually adds a separation separation from the rest of the entire frame because everything else in the frame is a color of some sort so i think it is um defined but just in a different way to to through saturation and the yellow doesn’t bother me the fact the reason i actually asked the clarification about are they allowed to edit the background if that’s that bird’s native habitat and it is yellow and green in the background then well played to the point where actually the red edition is genius whether that was accidental whether it was natural, whether it was added, I kind of don’t mind.

04:28 That split, that contrast in colour really adds something to me. To Martina’s point, I agree. I wanted to see, and as I got close, I wanted to see more of the head feathers as they went back. So I’m in a place of, if it’s not 100, I’m losing some for the depth of field. I’m losing a little bit for the edging on the print.

04:48 I’m not sure what else I’m supposed to be taking away. way the composition to me seems fine i know yeah i i see what you’re saying about it being slightly off-center but actually if i look at the the left and right extremities of the bird they are centered it’s just he’s looking or she’s looking slightly off um i think that’s a poster on a wall all day like god if i’m trying to sell a nature program that’s its thumbnail right there and for that that sounds like a distinction to me, no? Go on.

05:22 I used to teach for 12 years at the University of the Marine and Natural History photography course. Nature, conservation, teaching people to take underwater films. 11 of my students work in the BBC with David Attenborough. I know how difficult it is to get something like that. It’s very, very difficult. So that’s very well done.

00:00 Image number 92, great-grandmother’s telephone. I was 78. And this is a really cute portrait and I think that the parents will absolutely love it, and especially grandma, since it’s grandma’s phone. I think the lighting is quite well handled and I do appreciate the well-thought-out color harmony from the clothing in the background.

00:25 That’s something I do appreciate. shade. I would say backdrop in the post process has some banding going on, there’s color shifts in it so you gotta be careful with that. I can actually see it from over here, there’s purple going on so that is a post process and also a paper choice that clashes together.

00:44 So one thing I would like to mention though, because I do shoot fine art children a lot, using old phones like this, they are really heavy. So when you have it on a child’s lap, It’s sliding down you can see that the the child is not super comfortable And I think that if you if it possibly could have been easier for the child and have it more relaxed Pose for that phone to be steadied on something and we could have another angle of the phone Maybe a little table or something like that because right now it’s sliding out of the image and since it’s so tightly Cropped on the right hand side. It’s even a more focus on that phone. We almost like afraid it’s going to fall down so those little things paying attention that would have elevated this image but good job keep on working like this

00:00 image number 93 before the world changes yeah i’ll tell you this is i scored this 78 and i think on the whole this is a good professional standard image which is why it’s sitting in the score category where it’s at it’s been nicely lit the styling’s been done well the paper choice is okay i think it’s no maybe it could do with a little bit more contrast in there and maybe a slightly square crop just be careful when you’re toning down feet and hands you’ve got a bit of a halo around that left hand just be careful to bring that back in but the parents won’t care about any of that because we can prove time and time again that people will spend money on pictures of their kids smiling which is what you’ve done here which is the hardest job any of us can do with a kid in a studio so you’ve ticked the box you’ve made some money well done

00:00 Picture number 94, a little man in a fur hat. I’ll cover this one. So the first thing I see in this one, his eyes pop. If you look at this picture, it’s almost like they’ve been stuck on, but in a good way. They’re so powerful, they draw you in. The paper choice in this, I think, could be the right paper.

00:22 Unfortunately, the way that it’s printed, there’s an awful lot of detail blocking in the shadow, especially in the back part of the fur on the right-hand side and even in the top part wherever it drops below sort of a mid-tone we just lose all the detail just crushes and goes flat and there’s some sort of blocking and banding on the side so you know as a portrait like scott says you know the parents will love this it is a stunning shot of a little boy but technically there are some things that i think could have been improved whether it’s through the print process because in the digital I see a lot more detail.

00:57 So it’s either through printing or through paper choices, possibly through the printing decisions, because the paper choice itself I think is actually quite nice.

00:01 Image number 95, Awake. I scored this actually an 80, so I rolled it up a little bit. But yeah, it’s lovely. It’s a lovely moment. It’s, you know, the storytelling is there. Very nice capture. The eyes seem to be just, I’m not sure what it is.

00:24 It’s a little bit too much sharpness, a little bit too much blacks. in it compared to the rest of the face, the hair, the ears, the mouth and nose. The nostrils are not as dark as the eyes, which tells me this is quite a bit of maybe editing in that to draw you in. I don’t think that you need to add more to those eyes to really bring us into the child’s eyes. But the moment I give it a little bit more to bring it into of marriage because of the moment it captures.

00:55 But very nicely done.

00:00 number 96 no what a cute kid guys I was right there on the 7-8 and I think this is a really cute portrait and I like the idea I like the way that it’s styled the color that the well thought of process here before you get out in the woods so to take this one up higher for me it would have been to work more on the hand posing when you have Adam actually don’t mind the clenched fist on the right Because you don’t know maybe that gnome is a bit angry for something.

00:33 Because gnomes are known to be a little bit having an attitude. But that said, I would talk about the hand on the kid’s left. And when those fingers come straight to you, they sort of like literally move towards you. And if that hand would just have been fingers coming in a little bit and just resting slightly turned towards the inside of the thigh, that would have eased up or having it coming back up on the log would have eased that pose up a little bit and having that chin way up there I’m losing connection with the kid so brightness coming down a little bit on the face as well and I would say this to last I don’t think that it benefits from all the negative space on the left side I would have loved to seen a little little bit more space around the kid and then maybe a vertical crop on this one but it’s it’s a it’s a good idea well done I just want to add on the storytelling they they’ve added mud dirt on the face there’s no mud or dirt in the hands there’s nothing on the knees kids always have hands muddy feet knees muddy if you’re gonna have that type of storytelling just just be careful of that maybe you’ve been dragged through by the feet i hope not

00:00 number 97 screen trap it’s a very cool idea really really enjoying it because we know if those of us that have got kids this is pretty much what kids do they’re just so buried in their bloody screens you don’t even they don’t even notice what’s happening I just wish it was a bit sharper in the head it’s not there’s that you lose a little bit of critical sharpness in here this hand is very very soft compared to the feet so whether the the author’s taken it on a very narrow depth of field and it’s just been lost or it’s all the composite it’s just I just wish it was sharp all the way through but I think the concept is fantastic

00:00 Number 98, I will always be there for you. I’d like to challenge this. I think it deserves merit, and because it’s so close. I gave the score 84. It’s a beautiful moment in time, I’m guessing between brother and sister.

00:19 And the tunnel range is just so nice, so well executed. There’s a bit of highlights there, and I like the way it’s printed. It may have benefited from a slightly different paper, but I do like the choices that were made the composition that was made And just the moment in time it emotional impact is very high So I can forgive it on a few little technical foibles, but I think just the emotional impact of this is is excellent capture So I you actually don’t have to convince me. I was at 81 But I’m actually happy to accept that it was slightly lower to me I wanted this one to score I wanted to actually score this higher I think this is actually such a powerful pose such a powerful shot I think the paper is sympathetic to it the print is is nice on there I think there are some highlight challenges in there the hair on the top right or her top left I find quite distracting the fall off on it is very sharp it just drops And then goes to mush as the strands go out, and I think that’s a shit That was actually the one bit that draws my attention up I’m in a place where I’m happy with it being a mirror I’m not sure it goes much higher than that, but I think as an emotional piece This is great like this is we talk about child or children photography even without the title. This one’s a powerful pose It’s yeah, I was slightly lower than than the pair of you which is which is cool. We’re looking at images is objectively um the title is is not like the title that the embrace there is is nice i just wish there was a little bit more connection between the two i wish there was either the the elder sibling was looking down or the younger sibling was looking up there just needs to be that little bit more to kind of i said earlier about a title doing the heavy lifting this title is good But I just want a little bit more of a narrative towards a title in the image But yeah, I’m gonna come up a second. I’ll see it merit Yeah, I was just just just below a merit I was at a 79 for all the same reasons as you guys have already mentioned and it is I Would have loved more connection as well But I do think it’s a very natural because it’s hard to get kids to post like this naturally Naturally, even if they love each other, they get awkward and sort of in front of the camera.

02:44 So kudos to the photographer for doing that and being able to create that. The hair, it’s a little bit all over the place, which they usually are, but you can do post-process. Because when the highlights hit some of these sharper hairs, it really comes almost like a scratch in the paper. Because it’s the hair that caught the highlights so harsh.

03:04 and what brought me down the last piece was the hair coming from out of her chin the beard hanged out there after you see that you can’t unsee it and I know I’m sorry I’m sorry for in it but I I deal with this all the time when I shoot children and it’s messy and you get excited and if you don’t stop as a photographer go hold on hold on and maybe that wasn’t possible but if that wasn’t possible then try to tone it down and burn it and and soften it you know because it’s sharp and it’s bright and it’s there so that’s what kept me down but I might have been a little bit too harsh and I’m willing to listen and come on

00:02 next up number 99 growing strong yeah i was at 82 i’m really enjoying this again the really good use of title you can really get the the mother’s love looking like a flower and it’s growing strong and the pose in this man he’s going to be world’s strongest person no doubt about it he’ll be lifting out the stones before he realizes it it’s really really good um paper choice is okay Kay, just be careful of that blue and cyan coming creeping through into the black and white there.

00:30 But just a slightly warmer black and white would have helped put that over for me a little bit more and jumped it up a score category.

00:00 Image number 100, hold me tight. I really enjoy the expression on the baby here. And the title is good. It’s definitely good. So I appreciate that. Shooting cute little babies on the blanket. Please pay attention to exposure.

00:21 We have a very decent tonality on the left-hand side, but it’s burning out on the right-hand side. Also the texture. it’s sharp on the left hand side but it’s not sharp on the right hand side so if that happens then adjust it in post when it’s possible and I’m gonna have to go there skin tone this is a very red baby and babies are hard we have all kinds of skin tones in bit little babies so that’s why it’s it’s important to pay extra attention to that other than that this is a well executed placed right right there in the professional standard category.

00:58 Good job.

00:00 Number 101, Velias and Cisco, brother and his sister. Yeah, it’s a very nice image, nice moment captured. Compositionally, I think it works because they’re centered. I can kind of forgive the crop off the feet because they’re out of focus as well.

00:18 And also you’re bringing the riverbank into the bottom right corner, which is very nicely done. It pleases. Just be careful of the shadows in the background. they seem to have lost a bit of definition and yeah it’s just it’s very nice moment between two brothers um i’m guessing and yeah mind the highlights a little bit on the younger boy his white t-shirt just a little bit too hot um you know the blonde hair uh is is controlled well the brother’s hair and his feet are controlled well with highlights but the t-shirt’s just it’s jumping out a little bit too much but very nice image

00:00 102, son of a breacher man. I’d like to bring it up to America. I gave this an 84. I’d love to bring it up to America. It’s just so close, just less than a point. So I think it’s very well controlled.

00:21 It’s reportage, so you can’t control a lot of the environment, but the positioning of the photographer was really great to get this moment. the composition that he’s created is lovely that his lead singer is filling the frame and and I can feel an energy coming from the stage and from the singer we’re interacting with the crowd which is what you want from a live gig and so I think this is it’s this highlights obviously there’s shadows but the print quality as well is I think it’s a good choice to control a lot of that it’s never going to be perfect within in that type of environment and that would bring it up to an excellence but but i think it should deserve a merit um anyway so uh so i’m at 78 um it’s close i’ve shot a lot of concerts in my life um and there’s an awful lot of things that we forgive so we forgive high iso um we forgive blown highlights we can’t control the lighting the the lighting director is um to a certain extent i forgive a lot of shadow work but in this in that singer’s body that the shadows are gone they are completely gone um and i to a certain extent forgive wide angle lens distortion because you tend to shoot wider in a concert to get everything in the problem with this is because the placement is right on the edge of that lens i see a huge Huge finger, which is bigger than his head.

01:49 And I get the challenges we have with wide-angle lenses, but one of the ways that we deal with that is we step back a little when we’re shooting to stop it being at the edge of the frame and pulling. I just think it’s a decent enough concert shot that is of a professional standard. I’m not convinced that it is anything exemplary compared to other images that I see.

02:13 i too was at 78 um and i take everything you say on board apart from i quite like the distortion on it i quite like it don’t don’t i’ve again i’ve shot a few gigs and sometimes you are your ass is up against that pit and you can’t move backwards and you have no choice but to get it and I yeah it is massive it’s like ET but it’s kind of bringing me in it’s creating that little bit of depth to the image and making me feel more immersed into the scene because I can almost feel the guy’s finger coming over my head which probably was to the author so I can I can forgive that I’m at 78 now I’m gonna come up yes thank you for saying that I was like I got it I gotta say I like it, I like it.

03:06 Yes. And I like the big shoe too, because that’s, you know, that’s huge as well. I’m struggling with the pitch black, the lack of details in there. I am struggling with that. I was at 79, and I felt comfortable there, because for me, it was just that, it’s a really good professional shot.

03:31 Boom, period.

00:00 Next up, 103, Recovery of the Drowned. You say Recovery of the Drowned? Yeah, I was at 78, I think. My phone’s gone off. There we go, 78. Yeah, I think the title, Recovery of the Drowned, I think this is, you’ve got a lot going on here.

00:20 You can see the life raft in the lower left-hand corner, the helicopter, which I wish there was a slight drag on those propellers to give it a little bit more sense of movement. It looks very much like it’s stuck on there. The guy with the ladder, the police officer, the two paramedics, and the guy on his Facebook. And it’s like if it recovered, they’d drown.

00:40 The guy’s, well, he’s dead, so we’ll see what’s for dinner tonight. They’re very black and white. I’ve got friends that are in the service like that, and once they’ve recovered, they move on to the next thing. And it’s a lot of narrative there. I just wish it was printed a little bit lighter. It needs a little bit of black. There’s not so much contrast in there.

00:58 And again, I just dragged that shot just a bit, get a little bit of movement in that, and I think that would have gone up.

00:00 Number 104, Whirlwind. It’s funny when we all agree it’s probably for the same reasons. So, yeah, I’m one of the 77s. It’s a great, fun shot. It’s an action shot. It’s a great event shot. She’s not sharp.

00:20 And I think, like I was saying in the previous one, we forgive a lot in event shooting. And we allow for a lot because it is an impossible environment to operate within. But your one job is to get it sharp and unfortunately in this one it falls a little bit short I love the motion in this like getting her hair doing that and wrapping around her face is fantastic The fact that she’s actively playing at the time like this ticks so many boxes It’s just the second you go in for a closer look. It’s like oh, I want to see more and the details just not there So it’s a great shot. Well done There’s an event image and I’m sure as a band they’d love that put it all over your CD album cover and whatever food for for as long as you can, but as a print competition entry, it needs to be shot.

00:00 Number 105. You can vote that down out of jealousy. Rikki. Broken. Would you challenge? Well, you all scored in the high 70s. And I scored 86. Let’s talk about it. I’d like to bring it up to merit.

00:19 I’m guessing it’s going to be very close. If it’s already in the merit with that calculation. I’m back up. I love the storytelling and narrative. Highlights are a little bit much. but the shadows are well controlled and a very nice print.

00:00 number 106 headstorm so um again this is a it’s a solid rock shot i think the challenges with this are highlights um some more highlights and some more when we talk about highlights being blown generally we’re talking about from a lighting source um but when it falls on skin and when it falls on objects um there can be a little more control the other challenge that i see with this is um the paper choice has lost some of the contrast this works really well as a high contrast contrast scene. But on this particular paper it’s lost some of it, it’s gone more to the mid-tones.

00:34 And actually I think like a similar one in the previous round it’s gone to a slightly blue tint in the background which is losing something. So you’ve got in here all the sand elements, there’s some lost shadow, there’s some blocking in there, there’s some highlights in there. So it is a great shot of someone actively playing at a gig but I don’t think it’s quite in the merit place.

00:00 707, Hockey Hooligan Catwalk. Yeah, I scored it 77. I think this is, yeah, it’s not something you often associate with sport, but we all know this kind of thing happens, and it’s quite a dangerous place to be in, because when you’re part of the world that I live in, this stuff can get really nasty, and you start pointing cameras at people, they’re going to take the right arsehole with you.

00:24 So the fact that the author’s taken the punt and took the image, well done. red is a very very hard color to print it’s the first channel that will break up if you oversaturate it and we’ve got a little bit of that and the brighter part of the flare i think just cropping in slightly to remove the highlight to move the the bus on car lights at the top and the bus station or the bus stop on the left hand side would have helped kept me in that red color but bravo

00:00 That will be 108, Midnight Celebration. If you can’t see on the screen, this guy is hammered. He is having a while of a time. I’m going to go with it’s foamy because it’s full of beer. I think that’s what’s happened there. And the fact you’ve got everybody just standing around watching, you’ve got two people on their phones.

00:23 This is documentary photography in a nutshell. Bravo, well done. It’s actually quite funny, documentary photography is now becoming photography of people on their phones taking photographs. It’s funny isn’t it?

00:00 109 WRC Finland Rallyscape. The one thing is it’s a solid shot. Technically, it’s sharp, it’s in focus. I don’t see many highlight issues. I don’t see many shadow issues. And unfortunately, this is the irony with it, it makes it quite safe and it makes it quite standard.

00:18 I’m not getting the feel necessarily of a huge amount of energy because the position of capture feels a little bit divorced from the scene. and actually the car because it’s shadow side seems to blend into the crowd a little bit more so maybe getting lower might have helped maybe coming around a little bit more into the light might have helped but in terms of a documentary shot or a repertoire shot that captures that moment that happened it’s spot on it ticks every single box well done i just add one thing um if this was in sport it would get higher if the crowd was in focus and the car was soft it would get higher in reportage so be careful the category you choose it’s a good shot and it’s done well in reportage you may have done better in sport but it’s a nice shot well done

00:00 Number 110 in the foundry. I would have loved to put this in the mirror, it’s the print. I look at the screen and it’s the shadows are gone. They’re blue, they’re not controlled in the print unfortunately.

00:18 It’s a wonderful shot, lovely composition, well controlled exterior light coming coming in, it looks naturally highlighted. The movement of the hammer for the gentleman, every element is just so nicely done. I love images like this. It’s just such a pity, the print.

00:40 Yeah, but well done. Lovely shot. Digitally, it looks wonderful. Just one clarification, actually, for most of the people in the room, more than anything. think you’ll hear us say the shadows are gone we don’t mean that they’re below zero we mean the detail and the shadow is gone and one thing that we see quite a lot in competition when someone believes the shadow is too dark they just lift the black point up but there’s no more detail coming back when you do that and this is one of the examples and paper choice makes a difference with that stuff too the flatter the paper the less detail you’re going to see in there and this is one where that’s there also the glow from that window in the back is is unfortunately spilling but i wanted to score this higher and it just didn’t hit it

00:00 Also the last one in this category, number 111, Turn Up the Beat. I was at 81. Yeah, it’s a great capture. It’s actually quite nice to see a different angle on a gig that isn’t just the person on the stage. There are little stories going on here, which is what documentary photography is all about.

00:21 You can read the person on the right-hand side with his phone up. The one at the front is getting the same shot you are. You’ve got the drunk man clapping with a beer above his head. His missus next door who’s put on a jeans and a nice top. Who’s probably been standing the whole concert singing word for word.

00:39 Then you’ve got people politely clapping in the front row. And on the stage, this mad smile with the flames. Beautifully captured. Really enjoying the print. Well done.

00:00 Number 112, Gorkia, peeking inside. Yeah, I was at 80 actually. I think this just scrapes into merit. I think this is a very clever title because you’re thinking, well, maybe it’s the photographer peeking in on the kiss because they’re beautifully highlighted by the sun coming through the window.

00:25 But then you look at the top, you’ve got that little page boy at the top peeking over the roof. and it’s just like oh yeah that’s very very cool but you’ve almost lost that by the chandelier if you’d just come down ever so slightly to remove that chandelier and just maybe a little layer mask on that little person at the top there would have put that over a little bit more and i’m sure the gentleman on the right hand side will not thank you for capturing his bald spot but it’s not it’s it’s documentary so we’re gonna have to live with it you can’t retouch it

00:00 Next up 113, marriage has its ups. Fun moment captured absolutely and I do actually I think I enjoying the crowd almost a little bit more than the bride and groom because they were really thoroughly enjoying what they are seeing so that for me is a good capture. I just wish that that and I know it’s documentary but having a captured the the groom having more fun.

00:26 He feels like he’s… We tell the groom this. Exactly. And I’m not sure what you’re gonna, as a photographer, what you’re gonna do about that. Hey, you, smile, be happy. He just, he looks stiff. Frozen. Stiff, but yet polite. She got the last laugh.

00:46 Oh yeah, she got the last laugh on this one. And why I asked about the crop, because you’re doing a wide angle like this, the people on the edges they go big and they are distorted so do we need them i know they are part of the wedding party but sorry for competition get rid of them um so crop them out and yeah just a few more points that would have elevated this for me but it’s a good it’s a good shot and i was at 79 so i was right up there i don’t know that my wife made me do this I want to do a choreographed dance.

01:21 He’s carrying it, he’s thinking, what the hell have I married? Yeah, exactly. Is this my future? She’s heavy.

00:00 Next up, number 114, caught in the act. I would be interested in the lower score. Yeah, I scored this 74, acceptable competition. It’s supposed to be documentary. It kind of looks half-staged.

00:20 And also, I like the image. I like the atmosphere in it, but it looks kind of half-staged. Maybe it’s the guy with the camera stepping in front of the photographer and people reacting that way, but they look over exaggerated in their emotional response. That’s why I pull back a little bit on the score and also the crop.

00:45 Maybe a square might be a bit more conducive to this.

00:00 115. The pause before forever. I’ve shot over a thousand weddings. I can hear this image. You still love him? Yeah. Sure. Yeah.

00:23 Right. Let’s get this over with. I can hear it. I can literally hear it. And the fact the author has seen it and captured it is genius. Well done.

00:00 1.16 after I do. I just want to talk about it. I think it’s a good capture moment. It’s not always easy to get the groom as being so engaged to the camera. I appreciate that. I appreciate his look and he looks kind of content and happy. When you do documentary, you cannot change colors and things and ears that are going bright, bright red.

00:27 So when I have, if I would have an image like this, I would suggest that maybe considering black and white, because there is so much going on with the colors here. So a conversion into black and white and maybe cropping the driver out slightly or even totally, but maybe or just his back.

00:46 I don’t need to see his unengaged face, but maybe just the back of him. So because he will frame it and be in adding to the context. But yes, I think this would have been lifted higher if I could have seen this in a monochrome, but good job capturing it I Understand where you’re coming from with the crop, but I would just point out that you’re gonna lose the only two people smiling Reflections of glass I

00:00 Next we have 117 and Paul you’ll be happy to hear that the next image is called Let’s Party. I think the title matches. This is a fun shot of a wedding. This is full of energy, full of emotion and actually I’d like to, I’m not married, but I’d like to think my wedding would be more like this than the formal stuff. Hannah creative illegal substances over there as well.

00:26 but I think there’s an awful lot in here that actually allows you to forgive some of the challenges so again we’ve got some shadow issues in here we’ve got some highlight issues in there there are there we’re losing detail in some of the textures on on the clothing and so on but as a as a documentary image of a wedding it just fills the frame with energy and life and people celebrating and that’s exactly what you want as a documentary wedding shot so it’s very well done them.

00:00 Number 118, the finishing touch. This is the shot between the shots. You know, we’ve… Standard bride and the bridesmaid image on a wedding day, and she’s gone, oh, shit, have I got anything in me teeth? And someone’s just gone in there and gone, oh, hang on a minute, let me get that. And it’s very easy not to take this image, but the photographer’s done a good job of it, done a nice job of presenting it, a nice job of printing it.

00:22 I think, yeah, it’s a nice, perfectly saleable shot, which is why it’s scoring in the mid-70s.

00:00 Number 119, first look. So I think, especially with documentary, a shot that works really well is one that forces the viewer into an emotion. And I think the first thing that I did when this shot was put up was smile. It actually draws you in. And funnily enough, the longer I look at it, I’m not sure whether she’s happy or sad.

00:22 But my initial reaction is she must be happy, probably because of the title. either that or she’s very sad because first look whoa but I think the fact that it actually elicits a reaction from the viewer is what you’re looking for in any of these shots and to me that one’s got emotion in it which which works the printing actually is is well done I don’t see any issues particularly I think it could do with a little more depth I’d like to see maybe the background lost a little bit more but as a documentary shot bearing in mind we are limited what we can do it’s it’s done well well done talk about seeing something and then you can’t unsee it no no i’m going to mention something else no no no no no because i had to move in closer i thought that poor thing has a very hairy back when you have hand placement and you have a male hand coming up with lots of hand hair then maybe either crop it out or move back a little bit so we can see where that hand comes from.

01:29 This is exactly what I told Jim not look at the hairy wrist there at the bottom. So that’s I just want to be careful about that. It takes a woman to notice that. I like the image though. I scored it in the 80s. I’m there.

00:00 number 120 joyfully ever after um i think i scored this a little higher um 84 um in marriage come to me i think it’s a great capture it’s a lovely moment and they’re actually happy to be married even though the people behind them don’t seem to be that happy you know there’s there’s a lot of uh highlights strong highlights in the background but i don’t think it takes away too much uh as you say it’s documentary so it’s it’s hard to control that but i think it’s um It’s a great capture for the couple and they’ll be really happy to have this on their wall.

00:00 121, bride’s daughters. Yeah, great capture. I mean, we all see a lot of this where bride’s daughters, so you’re going to assume it’s second time round and you’re going to assume that maybe their dad wasn’t the best person in the world and the three kids are happy that she’s marrying someone nicer and that’s why they’re all looking.

00:25 and it’s but it’s like you’ve got the stoic daughter in the front you’ve got the middle daughter who’s quite happily emotional and the little girl looking at her going well don’t you start because i’m about to bloody go so it’s a really nice story there i wish it was a little bit tighter in i wish it was a little bit kind of moved this way just a little bit so you’re seeing less of the people on the left hand side and the man’s incredibly shiny head just to crop in down down ever so slightly more and I think this will have gone over as well as stopping down slightly and getting all three girls in focus but this is a great capture beautiful for the wedding album well done and on that note