Made from Wood

This image stood out for me as soon as I saw it, and it was never out of my top three placings. The wide angle lens used to capture the shot contributes to the strong and dynamic composition. Your framing works really well, as we are close enough to see lots of detail and textures, but there is adequate space around the subject to show some of the surrounding context. You have captured great lighting on the collapsing barrel, the round stone and the wooden stone support, and you have exposed the image just the right amount to enable us to see into the farthest corner dark corner, but retain a certain mood. Aside from the technical skills, the best thing for me with this image is the very limited colour palette of dark grey and brown, which add to the feeling of historic grime in this ancient workshop. Excellent image, congratulations on your win.

I like this image more the longer I look at it. The very slow shutter speed has brought a gentle calmness to the scene. The lighting is quite flat, which allows a lot of detail to be seen, as there are no harsh shadows or highlights to hide the details. I especially like the strength of the blacks in the shot, with the roof lines and drain pipes outlining the buildings and accentuating the shapes. Lovely, soft gentle colouring too. I also like the fact that you have not been tempted to add "fake" symmetry by flipping one side to give perfect, but unrealistic symmetry to the shot. Lovely image, well done on your top three placing.

I think the key to the success of this image is the clever composition, with the subtle curve formed by the paving leading us around and into the image along the sweep of the riverbank and the distant windmills. Good lighting on the water has produced a lovely effect with the reflections of the clouds and there is a lovely glow on the side of the foreground mill. Colouring looks bright, but natural, creating a scene which is very pleasing on the eye. Well done on your top ten finish.

What a great find! You have successfully balanced the strong, bold colouring on this beautiful car with the desaturated hues of the remainder of the scene - I pressume this effect was achieved in processing, but it has been very effectively done. The central composition suits the subject well, and shows the subject exactly for what it is. Spot on for the theme of the contest, with not only the wooden paneling on the side of the car, but the wooden slats of the pier and fence too. Great image, well done.

This is a striking black and white image, abstract as a result of the bold and contrasting stripes, but still recognisable as a subject. This is an image I am sure is stronger through its conversion to black and white, as we focus on the shapes and patterns, which is what the scene is about. You have done a good job with your black & white conversion too, and there is a full range of tones from black through to white with great punchy contrasts. Well done on your top ten placing.

This is a super image, half way between reality and abstract. We can clearly recognise the subject, but the way you have chosen to compose your image has made the most of the shapes and patterns within the scene. I love the strong zig-zag crossing the image on a diagonal. I like the limited colour palette of blues and browns, which look natural and harmonise well to give a serene feel to the image. All well focused and exposed too. Great image, well done on your second place.

What a great image of these three boats on the beach at evening low tide. Well focused, with a good amount of details on the boats, and some interesting textures of the vehicle tracks in the sand. The perspective, as a result of using a wide angle lens, adds a dynamism to the scene, and you have made the most of the setting sun to give beautiful lighting on the central boat. The interesting patterns formed by the wispy clouds in the sky completes the image. Well done.

For some reason, diptych and triptych images tend not to score too highly with the Crowd raters in contests. It may be that it can be slightly uncomfortable to view as a single image, as the eyes have to keep jumping across the central division to look at each side, but on balance I think this is a great image, and deserves to be placed. Each of the two images is strong in terms of lighting, composition, colouring and textures of the weathered wood and striped fabric, but as a pair they also work well together and clearly describe your subject. The plain verticals on the right also contrast nicely with the coloured diagonals on the left. Well done on your top ten placing.

This is a bold composition, and stands out as being a little different as a result of your unusual viewpoint/rotation of the finished image. I am sure had the image been presented in portrait format, the result would somehow be not be anywhere near as effective. Great lighting, picking out the smooth finish of the wood, but still showing the beautiful grain and rings within the wood. Your choice of a wide aperture softly drops the focus through the depth of the shot, which keeps all attention on the key detail in the foreground. Being a little picky, I find the watermark a little distracting in the negative space, but at least it is small enough not to dominate. Great work, well done.

I really like the top half of this image, as it shows good focus and strongly contrasting colours. What lets the image down for me, and keeps it out of the awards, is the water reflection processing effect that has for some reason been added to the lower half of the shot. Wooden buttons and water seems rather incongruous, which is a shame, as for me, this has the potential to be a great abstract shot of shapes, colours and patterns.

There could hardly be an image more suited to a contest with a theme of "made from wood", as wood is pretty much all we can see! Superb use of HDR processing has produced a very detailed image, and we get a good insight into the decorative wall panels and carved furniture used during this particular period of history. You have done a good job of balancing the natural light flooding through the window, with the darkness within the room. A dim room full of very dark wood will present a challenge to even the best photographers. I imagine the flowers were already in position for you, but they give a little pop of colour and provide a focal point, before letting the eye wander through the rest of the room. Great work, well done.