Made from Glass

The vibrant colours of this image stood out for me as soon as I saw it during my initial image reviews, and it was always likely to be in my top three. The bold and contrasting colours are set off wonderfully by the black background, which ensures focus is fully on the subjects. The aperture is narrow enough to ensure sharpness from front to back, and the addition of the water spray drops is a nice textural compliment. It can be difficult sometimes to get a visually pleasing arrangement when setting up the objects in a composition such as this, but the way the bottles have been arranged with their heights alternating across the width of the frame seems to work well, as does the specific arrangement of colours. Congratulations on your winning image.

I love the dark and moody tone of this architectural image. The strong lines and bold contrasts show the form of the building. I especially like that you have embraced the differences on each side of the building, as many for some reason are tempted to divide a shot and flip the image to give perfect symmetry, which generally always looks unnatural and seems to me unnecessary. Just the right amount of highlights and shadows to show the interesting patterns of the reflections in the glass. Super image, well done on your top ten placing.

This is a beautiful and gentle high key still life showing two attractively shaped perfume bottles. The set up of the subjects works very well, and there is good balance to the composition. You have done especially well to reveal the nature of the glass, with the smooth curves and the frosting of the right bottle top looking especially tangible. The decision to present the image with a low tonal contrast really suits the subject, with the absence of dark shadows and blacks, plus the avoidance of harsh highlights, all adding to the gentle delicacy of the image. I also love the subtle contrast between the cool purply greys and the warmer gentle golds. Congratulations on your second place finish.

There were a fair number of entries in this contest showing the fabulous Chihuly glass, but this one stood out as being especially well considered and has photographic merit rather than being a record shot of the fine glassware. Composition and selection of this specific part of the glass sculpture is key here, as the shape is interesting, and through use of a shallow depth of field, this small section is well isolated from the background. The colours are gorgeously warm and rich, and the light has been well controlled, retaining highlights along the glass to bring life to the shot. Great work, well done on your top ten placing.

Sometimes a very long, thin image such as this does not tend to work too well, but such is the precision in the setup and skill in the capture that for me this still life works really well. Lighting is great, as you have shown the shine of the glass in the highlights, and the black areas reveal the lovely shapes and cuts on this beautiful glassware. I am unsure whether this image was created as a set of composites of individual bottles, or just one composition, but it matters not which, as either way it has been very well done. Being picky I think I would have been less heavy with the vignette, which generally tend to work best if they are less obvious and instead more subtly lead the eye to the subject. Here however the dark corners have obscured some of the bottles. It would be interesting to see the image without a vignette and a brighter backdrop throughout, or maybe a less heavy, more rectangular shape with increased graduation, which does not cover the subject. That is just a minor issue though, and this is still a great image which wonderfully shows off your fine collection. Well done on your top ten placing.

An interesting, fairly abstract architectural image, which shows the contrasting curves and sharp angles of the building. Excellent viewpoint to make the most of the structure and to hint at the overall size and shape of the building. Lovely capture of the light as it reflects off the glass, retaining a pleasing softness despite the hard nature of the steel and glass. The sky looks to have been smoothed in processing, which helps simplify the shot and stops the sky competing for attention. The limited colour palette across the image works well too and helps create the abstract look to the shot. Great image, well done on your top ten placing.

This image shows such a simple subject, but the way you have captured these nesting glass bowls elevates them beyond a simple photo of some glass dishes. The colours beneath add interest to the shot, although some curved edges to the paper rather than the straight lines may have worked even better. The light has been especially well captured, as we can see both the shine of the glass in the highlights, and the shape of the rims in the blacks and shadows. A well exectuted abstract view of an everyday subject. Well done on your top ten placing.

A great low key image, manipulating the light perfectly to allow just enough illumination on the subject to highlight the form and shape of the top of these bottles. I like the varied selection of bottles, some with tops and some without, which adds interest, and everything looks clean and sharply focused. A good decision to convert to black and white, as it creates a slightly more abstract look and makes the image more about shapes, lines and curves than a simple group of bottles. Great image, well done on your top ten placing.

Another image of drinking glasses in my top ten, which benefits greatly from being taken in its "natural" setting rather than a meaningless less creative backdrop of colours and patterns. The glass is in perfect focus, but what really makes the image for me is your use of a very wide aperture, which through the resulting shallow depth of field, has rendered the gent in the background nicely out of focus. There is however still enough detail to tell the story of a cosy and comfortable pint at the pub whilst whiling away the time reading the paper. Great image, well done on your top ten placing.

This is a very well executed high key still image. Unlike many entries of glassware which seem to focus more on the patterns and colours of the background, the subject here is obviously the glass. The combination of the objects and their set-up works well, forming a near triangular shape which is well balanced and pleasing on the eye. A flower stem in a drinks glass is a little incongruous, but the little pop of red does lift the image and overall I think the addition of the flowers to the glass has worked. Congratulations on your third place finish.