Containers

This image stood out to me as soom as I saw it. I enjoy viewing images in which the subject fills the frame, and here we see a number of rather beautiful pots with no distracting elements.. Although the pots are all similar, there is plenty for the eye to explore from the front to the back of the shot, and the colours are rich but look natural. The close in viewpoint gives a good sense of the size of these pots, and a view of the beautiful decoration. Great work, well done on your top ten placing.

A super environmental portrait of a potter at work, also giving pride of place to a beautifully shaped container in the making. Framing is spot on for me, as we are nice and close to the subject, but we can still see little glimpses of the surroundings to add context and give a more natural feel to the shot. The simple colour palette works very well too, with the contrast of the blue and the browns creating a lovely mood. I also like your capture of the liquid being squeezed over the clay, which adds movement to the image. Congratulations on your second place finish.

A great documentry image of water containers being manoeuvred along a dirt track by some young children, with the posture of the two children at the back giving a good indication of the difficulty of the task. The rich warm colours of the walls and ground are broken by pops of blue on the children's clothing. Composition is simple, with the subject centrally placed, but the angle of view, avoiding a full side-on shot, adds a dynamic to the image. Well done on your top ten placing.

I am unsure whether this scene is set up or as found, but it has a lovely natural feel to the composition. The two main colours of green and terracotta work nicely together and add to the naturalness of the garden setting. Sensitively processed to draw the eye to the main subjects, everything is well focused revealing plenty of textures and details. Well done on your top ten placing.

An unusual composition which could be slightly jarring on the eye, but that gives a point of difference and makes the shot stand out. The high key white-on-white is interrupted by the deep green of the potted plant, and I also like the contrast between the sleek lines of the little vases and the spiky leafs of the plant. Good control of the lighting has avoided any destracting deep shadows, but just enough shadow to give a sense of depth to tbe scene. Great image, well done on your top ten placing.

A subject such as this will usually need careful consideration to the composition of the shot for it to be anything more that a regular record shot of a container ship. Here extreme care looks to have been taken in the composition, most likely both at the point of capture and in post-processing to correct any distortions. All lines are either truely vertical or horizontal, and what I especially like is that the subject completely fills the frame. A good range of colours of the containers combine to make a random but interesting pattern. Congratulations on your winning image.

The use of strong HDR processing effects is not to everyone's taste, but I think here it suits the subject and brings a different dimension. By using HDR there is obviously good detail displayed in the shadow areas, and there are some lovely tones, especially on the all-important variety of containers in the foreground. The subtle colouring also compliments the subject of an old and dusty railway shed. Well done on your top ten placing.

A beautifully lit image of some interesting glassware, shows the qualities and beauty of the glass at its best. I like the effect of the darkened outlines of the bottles, as it allows each to be viewed individually as well as a whole. I like the range of colours of the different bottles, kept natural but the colours still bold. Everything is kept nicely in focus too. Congratulations on your third place finish.

A great abstract image of some whisky dispensers. The image tooks to have been captured with a relatively long lens and/or wide aperture, which has shortened the perspective to create a closely stacked effect, and a pleasingly shallow depth of field which puts sharp focus on the bottle near the front, with the rest falling softly out of focus. The limited colour palette works well, with the whole scene in the warm rich browns of the the spirits. Great image, well done on your top ten placing.