Okay, judging time. Thanks everyone for all your entries - and nice to see one sneaking in there right at the very end from Janice
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Ian Yarwood - Daffodil @ Salmesbury Hall
Although a nice degree of separation has been achieved here, I feel the overall aesthetics of the shot could be improved. The background is way too distracting with all the squares pulling your attention away from the main subject. The Daffodil itself seems to be out of focus too and I would have preferred it to dominate much more of the frame.
John - Flamingo
Nice shot John, I just feel that the angle and eye contact are a little off, so it doesn't quite engage the viewer as well as it could.
Gill Blower - Buds
I really like this shot Gill, but with some reservations. It's a lovely subject with an excellent background that has some texture but not too much to be distracting. I would, however, have liked to have seen a bit more depth of field on the buds themselves and watch your framing as it's a bit tight on the left-hand-side - otherwise great work!
Stu B - Rock God
Bit stuck on this one. I love the subject, the dress, attitude and general feel of the image, however, I can't help but feel a different pose would have been better. With just the machine heads in focus, it certainly answers the brief, but I feel it lets down the most interesting part of the image, the rocker himself. Maybe if the main point of focus was just his hand strumming the guitar it would have been a stronger image. Still, very good effort stu!
Tracey - Flower Carpet
I really like two thirds of this shot, from the bottom with the flowers nicely in focus, up to the top of the steps where it naturally recedes to being out of focus. Unfortunately, I think this leeds your eye to the partially obscured window, which I think is quite distracting. If you cropped it to the top of the step then I think this would have been a contender for the top spot. I generally do like the image overall though.
Gordon Armstrong - Mushrooms
Really like this image Gordon. Main subject beautifully isolated and foreground and background out of focus. Minor criticism - I think I would have cropped it down a little as there's too much empty space (in my opinion). Great work otherwise!
Melbarnes - Seduction
Well Mrs Barnes must be a lucky lady that's all I can say
![;-]](./images/smilies/icon_e_wink.gif "Wink")
. I think this has been really well shot, in a studio environment. The rose is a very strong central subject with loads of detail and works well on the guitar with a bit of reflection too. Only criticism - it's a bit cheesy for my taste, but what do I know!
Paul Jones - Untitled
Fantastic subject!
Oh, I have to judge this don't I. Well, It's really well shot with black & white as an excellent choice. For me, it doesn't show enough of the model to get the most out of the differential focus. Also, like my criticism of Stu's image, I think a better angle or pose would have worked better and perhaps may have been more subtle and less 'in-yer-face'.
Janice Freeman - Common Sparrow
Great shot Janice! Nice eye contact and good background. I would have liked to have seen a better, more side-on pose on the sparrow, which would have gotten more of it in focus, but that aside - great job!
3rd Janice
2nd Gill
WINNER! Gordon Armstrong
![:-]](./images/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif "Smile"){kind=icon}
