Crowds

This is what I call picture power! Certainly not your average "crowd" shot. It's full of action and high drama. An exciting image that jumps out at you.. And I think what makes this such an attention-grabbing picture, is the way the photographer has framed the action; giving it an abstract feel by cutting out the crowds and the location and thereby the context of the picture; but instead homing in on the tangle of humans and machines.. Bodies and Bicycles throwing all sorts of shapes..I Love the figure "diving" into the frame with her arms up, bottom left. The cyclist top right, with all her limbs up in the air; the single leg coming out of the mess of bicycle wheels in the centre, and the rider top left seeming to almost become the bike, top left. There is so much to look at in this "decisive" moment. A worthy winner. Congratulations! .

Wow. Sometimes a great image is because of it's subject matter alone. I don't think I've ever seen a crowd like this in - and on a train!. I've been to parts of the world where public transport has been a squeeze for commuters..but this!?!. It helps that nobody is aware of the camera - or each other. The commuters can be identified to the left, in the foreground, but I really like the way they gradually become anonymous and abstract as you run along the image down towards the end of the train to the right. The crowd eventually seeming to swallow the train as you follow it's line from left to right. An almost biblical image because of it's sheer scale. Well done!.

I love this image. Again, the photographer has looked at beach life in a different way. This time from above, which brings an abstract quality, capturing shapes, colours and textures; all the while keeping the subjects anonymous. The image is arranged in lines that run across the frame. Each section giving us different shapes, colours and light. Along the top is the sparkling dappled green of the sea. Below are the quirky shapes of the sunbathers; each giving their own identity.. This gives way to the sharp-angled green and blue of the shelters - with alternating light and shade. A great off-beat image with a sense of humour as well as being artistic.

I absolutely love this image. It's so clever, becuase it captures a crowd, an event and all the excitement that can surround it in a very clever and unorthodox way.. The photographer has used. just a single raised fist in the middle of the foreground, to embody all the emotion and excitement of a day out at the races, with all the symbolism it conveys, whilst giving the photograph all the context and information it needs from the middle and background - the galloping horses and riders in full flight on a carpet of fluorescent green rising into the montage of crowds and colourful tents on the hillside , that meets the bright blue sky dotted with summer clouds. I also like the white railing running across the bottom third of the image that seems to strengthen the composition. And composition is what gives this image it's stand-out quality. A very clever and striking image that really jumps out at you. well done!

A painterly picure indeed. As the photographer says, they wanted to capture the crowd in the dimly lit gallery with the same light and therefore feel, as in the Rembrandt painting hanging on the wall. A very sophisticated and intelligent image, using light and the main component of the photograph. I love that the photographer has also deliberately made the crowd in the gallery as one, and has not focused on any particular individual, making it very much a crowd, but again, not your conventional crowd shot. The heads of the visitors arranged nicely across the middle of the whole frame and the Rembrandt painting itself holding your eye in the centre of the image; with the light softening and tailing off at the bottom and top. The crowd painted with light in the gallery almost the same way as the crowd in the painting. A beautiful image.

Well done to the photographer for identifying the element in a picture that can make it stand out from the ordinary. But this is an example where you can spend a little more time in order to realise the potential in a picture.. It would be good to have isolated the dog on the pavement in oder for it to be seen properly. Also, taking a photo of it from the side would have made it more obvious that it was impersonating a hot-dog.. Maybe a wider lens or getting down lower to emphasise the Dog?. Anyway, it's important to remember that when you spot potential in a shot, to spend a little more time and thought to try a few different angles or - if you have time - different lenses when taking the photograph. Working quickly is key, because chances are, that little dog ran off seconds later. Not a bad effort.