Ants

Awesome photo! The silhouette, symmetry and reflection all work together to create a very well balanced image. The ant looks so contemplative looking into the water below. The pose reminds me of movie scenes where people/animals are looking into the water. Nice job on creating such an emotive image of a subject that is not often portrayed in such a way.

Such a cool photo it looks like a National Geographic image to me! The ants all lined up together in between the two leaves adds balance to the photo and shows their incredible coordination. You also got a great depth of field showing a lot of detail on each ant.

I love how you are able to tell a story with this shot. I wondered where the 2 ants were going and then I read your caption and realized it was an ant funeral. The choice to do a silhouette shot adds to the mood of the photo and creates a nice effect.

Incredible image! The ant is perfectly sharp down to its tiny hairs. When I first saw this photo, I thought the green was leaves but when I looked closer I realized they were aphids. Not only do the aphids provide a beautiful green backdrop but they also tell a story: the ants protect/tend to the aphids and in return they get honeydew. Also, I am very impressed by your ability to focus stack such a small and fast moving subject! Congrats on a well deserved 1st place!

I normally like more natural photos but in this case I love how you edited the photo. Blurring the edges of the leaf makes the two ants stand out more and it adds a dreamy effect. Normally it’s hard to personify ants or find similarities with them but when I saw this photo I immediately thought of the ants as a couple or as two close friends. Great image!

I absolutely love the lighting in this photo! I really wanted to put this photo in top 10 but there was too much good competition. I love how to light mostly highlights just the ant but also brings out some of the beautiful purple tones in the flowers. All the colors and composition work so well together.

I saw this photo later in my ranking but I immediately knew I had to bring it up to top 10. The angle makes it look like the ant is walking through a fairytale landscape. I love how you were able to create such a dreamy effect for such a tiny subject.

Wow! What an incredibly detailed shot! Each tiny hair on the ant stands out so well it looks like a halo around the ant. The ant itself looks very unique too I think it’s an Indian Jumping Ant based on iNaturalist. Would love more details about this ant species!

It’s incredible you were able to get this shot with just your phone! The action and framing of the scene makes up for the quality of the photo. I was immediately interested in what happening when I saw this photo. The ants holding onto each other look so tenuous but strong at the same time.