Corks

First, the colours of this simple image grabbed my attention (thank goodness for red wine). Next, there is the printing around the circumferences of the corks to add interest (and intrigue, if you know anything about wine). The title might be considered unfortunate by some, since it can describe bad wine, but there’s nothing wrong with this image. It is crisp and finished well!

This close-up captures in lovely detail the remnants from an opened a bottle of Champagne. It provides a delightful reminder of a special occasion for whoever was concerned, without the need to preserve the items themselves. If the title had hinted at the nature of the celebration, we would not be left to guess the circumstances - but at least we can imagine our own stories or be reminded of other joyous occasions. A few might quaff Champagne on a regular basis but the careful arrangement for this image suggests something rather more special. What a wonderful idea for a keepsake! Well done and congratulations on becoming my first choice. I hope this gives you cause to celebrate, yourself!

I liked your title, even if it does seem a little unlikely! It’s one step above just “Corks”, and two beyond an untitled contribution. As for the image: it’s so full of detail that your eye can wander over this random selection of cork and metal for considerable time before moving on to the next one. I avoided the temptation to count!

This is a delightful image. It addresses the brief well by keeping the focus on the Rioja cork, whilst the other related components lie in to be discovered the darkness behind. The subtle reflection adds depth and a bit of colour from the chance addition of a red highlight. A great Top Ten contender.

What a striking image! The foreground detail gives the eye plenty to consume, whilst the placement with a shadow behind gives a nice balance to the whole composition. I’m left wondering if there’s anything left to consume in the bottle? Somehow, I doubt it!

There’s little doubt that the subject of this image is the cork, proudly announcing its vintage. By keeping the background out of focus, there is nothing else to distract except, perhaps, the unusual cork screw. This is a great image that invites us to guess the occasion. I hope the wine had kept well!

I love the action in this clever arrangement. The corks provide perspective and are clearly the subject of this composition. I’d have placed them over a less confusing background, however, to increase one’s attention to the corks (and the great title).

It’s the delicate colour tones that draw me to this cork arrangement. Someone with a taste for detail - and Romanian wine. This is a simple, yet very pleasing image. I hope you enjoyed the contents and well done for keeping the camera steady!

I was attracted to this image because it was so different. It’s not just “Another cork”. This one’s special. It’s rather like a rocket, taking off into space. The composition is as much of the bottle as of the cork but the detail of the cork and the motion being suggested draws the eye to the cork more than its surroundings. This is a well-crafted image. The contents of the bottle are bubbling and a credible ‘puff’ encourages a sense of upward movement. I can almost hear the pop! I reward you for wandering ‘off-piste’, yet remaining within brief.

This image is different and that helps it to stand out from the others. Study it, and you’ll come to notice that it’s of only one cork, and not fifteen! The separate views are cleverly overlaid on an out-of-focus line of bottles, as if to suggest that alcohol may have been consumed. A most creative composition, indeed.

The angle has lifted this shot from ordinary to interesting. I don’t know if there was any more canvas available, but (as someone who crops regularly) I’d have tried to improve interest by removing the border on the right. If possible, maybe turning this 90° clockwise to present a ‘railway track’ appearance might catch the eye even more? Never-the-less it caught my eye without such amendment. Well done!

The mission of this contest was to capture an image of corks that was more interesting than most of the others. That has been achieved here with this close-up study of cork ends. The colourful deposits prevent the image remaining beige and add another level of interest.

This is a great arrangement of corks. I like the randomness of the cork orientations, forcing the eye to work harder to determine the dates imprinted on them (- which is the oldest? – which is the youngest?). To avoid any confusion about their origin, the out-of-focus image of a wine bottle behind completes the picture. I wonder what’s on the label? This is an intriguing image.

I loved this simple image, yet I imagine that it is more than a casual capture of discarded corks. These appear to have been arranged to catch the light and show off their individual details in a most effective way. The range of tone and level of detail is amazing. Full marks for the imaginative title, also! I hope you have since had time to recover?

I like the simplicity of this image and its square format. The focus is crisp and the colours are amazing. No-one could claim this to be off brief for a contest entitled “Corks”. You have captured some fascinating cork structure and print detail. This is a great image. Indeed, you could say it’s a "corker"!

It must’ve been some party? Well done for spotting the beauty within this confusion of discard corks! It may only be just a pile of corks but the detail is good enough to enable the viewer to compare and contrast the differences between them – and there’s a good variety. It’s just a shame that I wasn’t there!

Another great image of corks with a hint of their origin in the background. This one scores for its more imaginative title, although I’d have applied some judicious cropping to reduce the space to the right and maybe a little off the top.

This is a delightful still life of a corkscrew and a few corks. The placement on top of a reflective surface conveniently adds an extra dimension. What a pity that it was entered without a title. For me, such a charming image is otherwise incomplete.

This is a wonderful collection of cork tops, made so by the vibrant colours of their metal caps and lifted by the strong lighting. It has been sympathetically cropped to a square format and only needed the addition of a title to raise it another level.

What a lovely re-purposing of corks! I like the way the graduated background hides whatever the bird house is supported by, which might have been a distraction. I wanted corks, and that’s what I have, presented in a rather unusual way. It’s a great image but, somehow, I’m not so convinced of its suitability as a bird house!

This is a perfect still life of a cork. The green top is restful, adding to the natural colour of cork. The wires have been placed to catch the light in their twists. This is not a casual shot of a cork (on a cork base) but a careful arrangement to produce a well-balanced and pleasing image.