The judges were surprised by the small number of entries. It makes selecting winners much easier when several entries were simply out of focus, or at least not sharp enough that we were willing to consider them regardless of the action captured. If it’s not pretty damn tack sharp, it better be some really remarkable action. The home plate play in first did jump out quickly, the dramatic side/back light, against the shadowed background, gave the images strong, dramatic, visual pop. The cloud of dust illuminated by that light, the rim light around the players, all worked in the photographer’s favor. The body language of the umpire keeps the eye in the frame and focused on the play. Second and third both went to rodeo photos, with second being the best from that genre, a great dramatic moment, with a great face and body language from both rider and horse. The judges agreed a slightly more vertical crop would have made it a stronger image. The composition of the third-place frame was eye catching, with the photographer opting out of the standard frame ratio to better frame a great peak action moment with the cowboy suspended dramatically in mid-air. We even thought a more extreme horizontal crop would clean up the background and bring that focus even more clearly on the action, with the horses on either side being really effective framing elements.
Judges:
Sean D. Elliot/The Day, Michael G. Seamans/Morning Sentinel, Jim Evans/Morning Sentinel-retired
Judges Comments
The judges were surprised by the small number of entries. It makes selecting winners much easier when several entries were simply out of focus, or at least not sharp enough that we were willing to consider them regardless of the action captured. If it’s not pretty damn tack sharp, it better be some really remarkable action. The home plate play in first did jump out quickly, the dramatic side/back light, against the shadowed background, gave the images strong, dramatic, visual pop. The cloud of dust illuminated by that light, the rim light around the players, all worked in the photographer’s favor. The body language of the umpire keeps the eye in the frame and focused on the play. Second and third both went to rodeo photos, with second being the best from that genre, a great dramatic moment, with a great face and body language from both rider and horse. The judges agreed a slightly more vertical crop would have made it a stronger image. The composition of the third-place frame was eye catching, with the photographer opting out of the standard frame ratio to better frame a great peak action moment with the cowboy suspended dramatically in mid-air. We even thought a more extreme horizontal crop would clean up the background and bring that focus even more clearly on the action, with the horses on either side being really effective framing elements.