Another exceptional image. The use of a good prime lens has made it really nice and sharp. The post processing is very good, pulling back and pushing forward the palette to really accentuate the colours in the scene. The subtle but not too heavy tonal contrast increase works well, showing a good mastery of his/her post processing. The composition is very good and it's a well planned out location, with plenty of thought going into the season and time of day.
This was another image that really caught my eye on the initial viewing. Quite difficult to get the separation between the subject and the background in this situation, but the photographer has done a great job. Nice tonal range - the processing is subtle and very complementary to the hues of the sunset, and the photographer has retained all the detail in the shadows. They also did well to keep the motion sharp at 1/25 - clearly trying to produce the optimum quality at base ISO.
A lovely silhouette, keeping nice and low to maximise the effect. Good timing, as the subject is clearly recognisable without to much overlapping. A small aperture has kept everything nice and sharp and it's an excellent composition. This is one of my favourite images in the competition, but I reduced it to 10th place because the post processing was not quite as refined as the the execution of the photograph. There is a small amount of dirt on the camera sensor which is showing in the image. Overall a very nice image and well read situation.
Coming from a livestock farming background I can really connect with this image. The photographer has used a wide angle lens to capture the scene, which would suggest that he or she is in quite close proximity to the sheep. Regardless of this they appear relaxed and trusting which shows a good connection with the subject. The image toning is very fitting with the environment and I like the fact that they have not gone too fast with the shutter, thus keeping ISO low to keep quality as high as possible.
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Another shot with incredible light - the nutty tones are lovely. I am not sure if it is ISO noise or added grain in post production, but the texture has a Turner-esque quality. The scene reminds me of agriculture in the UK before farming became a machine-based, solitary profession. I can imagine a small team of labourers hand cutting and stacking the crop. It harks back to the days of the rural idyll. This would have been in my top five, but I felt there was too much detail lost in the highlight.
What a beautiful image. I think the two things that stand out for me are the palette and the intricate detail. It draws you in - you can almost smell the salty air. The composition flows well and I like the use of grain. It was a great choice of time of day as the sun is high, which really brings out the colour in the water and gives the people nice contrast. The slightly hazy cloud gives just enough detail in the sky to allow it a bit more space.
What a stunning location. It would work well graphically without any subjects, but the labourer and cow really give a sense of scale. On the initial observation I thought it was snow covered, but on a more detailed view I realised (due to the reflection of the man on the top left) that they are waterlogged paddies. The desaturation gives the image a good tone, though it confused my initial perception. The composition flows well and there is nice compression making the photograph look quite graphical.
This is such a good observation. The blankets and cushion on the chair give a good clue to the type of person who would live here. You get a sense of this cottage being quite isolated, with possibly quite a harsh landscape beyond the lace curtains. There is nothing exceptional or unusual about the subject, which makes pulling off a great shot even more difficult. The composition is really well thought out and the exposure could not be any better.
Brief
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A roam in the country - don’t you just love walking the fields, breathing in the air and discovering all the beauty on offer, fully equipped with your trusty camera gear? Whether it’s landscapes or animals, plants or human life in the country, show us how you have captured the essence of rural existence.
705 Images entered
411 Photographers
85,744 Ratings
I like this shot because there is quite a bit of narrative going on. It reminds me of a Martin Parr image with the use of on camera flash and the satirical look at British life. The subjects are completely engaged in their activities while the young girl is the only one in acknowledgement of the camera. My only only fault is that the focus has been missed and it has hit the housing behind the scene. The aperture is quite small so the image is still very usable though.
A lovely UK country scene. Nice and sharp focus - the skies have been pulled down to create a little more atmosphere and a nice amount of contrast. I did not give this image a commendation because I felt the composition could have been adjusted to create better visual flow. For me the panoramic crop does not show the image off to its full potential. There are also quite a lot of black artefacts in the image which are a little distracting - I think they are insects, which possibly would be better removed from the image.
Great tones and and composition. I like the processing - it's not over-saturated, but it is sympathetic to the rustic appeal of the scene. It would have been quite easy to push the contrast too far to compensate for the hard backlighting, which is not the case here. I like the slight lens flare on the building and the fast shutter freezes some of the drama of the breaking waves. The choice of camera angle draws the eye down the impressive coastline.
A really nice shot of the politics of the bird table. I think these are starlings? Lots of action and individual characters have been captured here, with a nice fast shutter freezing the majority of the action. A couple of things that maybe could improve the image would be framing the shot slightly more to the right, or in post production to try and crop out the dead space to the left of the birds. With the tighter crop your eye would flow nicely around the five frantic birds.
A fantastic looking stag and a great attempt at photographing him. Wildlife takes a lot of patience and persistence. I felt the subject was neither central nor to the left, which would have helped the composition. This could be remedied with a different crop. Was the original file underexposed? There seems to be a loss of dynamic range and a little bit of noise for ISO400. With only the chance to capture one frame of a notoriously difficult subject you have captured the spirit of the animal and it is nice and sharp.
