Natural Still Life Photographed in Nature

Wow, that colour really hits you in the eye. Simple composition with the subject filling the frame. This was in my first selection for my top ten. It missed by a narrow margin

This image jumped out at me from the very start. It wasn't particularly high in the ratings until later on. My problem was that the theme was meant to be 'photographed in nature' the metalwork clashed with that for me. As I judged all the images I began to realise that my own definition of photographed in nature was flawed. Mother nature is always quite happy to make use of a space left for her by man. So, she claimed this section of metalwork and made it her own. This is the kind of shot that I would have set up myself, given the situation. The author was lucky to find such a photogenic subject to point their camera at. Great composition,I like the little bit of white above the leaf. It breaks the regularity. Well Done.

A simple shot using a wide aperture. Personally I think the aperture is too wide. I would have liked to have seen a bit more depth of field. Nice low viewpoint. very contrasty lighting.

When going through the images, This one was always in the running for a top ten place. Unfortunately, it was edged out, however, not by much. Definitely in my top 15

The same comments apply to this image as no12. Definitely one to be proud of. Perhaps a little more depth of field would have moved it up in the rankings

Sometimes simplicity succeeds. This is a shot that many photographers would have walked past, or even trodden on. the nicely controlled lighting makes the main leaf jump out of the image.

How close can you get? I have recently rekindled my interest in macro photography so this image calls to my macro soul. The lighter green item in the foreground tends to draw my eye. If I had been there I would have tried to move right to try and lose that obstruction. Having said that, I wasn't there so don't know if that would have been possible. As presented, this is worthy of a highly commended.

I have a feeling that my theme has struck a chord with photographers. Either that or there are a whole load of photographers who share my passion for natural still lives. I have very similar shots in my archive.

This shot gets a highly commended from me, for a photographer with a seeing eye.

I think the subject could do with a bit more depth of field. at least enough to bring the tips of the feather (at the top part of the image)into focus. I'd also take a trim down the right-hand side of the image just to the right of where the fence rail ends.

This image grew on me. I tried to view all the images multiple times. That's not easy with almost 1000 images and 48 hours to judge them. I dismissed this image on the first run-through and every time I saw it I uprated it. Perhaps given a while longer in judging it might have made the top ten 😊

Is this a still life? No doubt that is open to discussion. What it certainly is, is a wonderful image.. It reminds me very much of a shot I took of a lone tree in the Hayden Valley, Yellowstone national park. I would certainly have worked this scene to the best of my abilities. I'm not sure I'd have ended up with a better shot than this though.

This ticks all the boxes for me. If you've been reading my comments on the top images, you'll already know that this is my type of image. I have been known to spend hours on my hands and knees on a beach surrounded by dog walkers and families, oblivious to everything except the world inside my viewfinder. Simplicity wins the day for me in this image.

A photographer after my own heart. I framed this competition with this kind of shot in mind. The other images entered, blew my mind wide open, quite literally. This is another shot that was just edged out to the top ten.

Stunning, simply stunning. In an ideal world, I would have preferred it if the light green 'blob' at the top left of the frame wasn't there Mother Nature doesn't always get it right

Mother Nature Reclaims. Another of my own eclectic mix of subject matter. I would definitely have shot this if I'd been passing. I'm sure that I could have spent half an hour working the scene to get the best that Mother Nature provided.

A photograph I have been wanting to shoot for decades. I actually managed it this year 😊 Nice trio. they say threes work best as a subject. This follows the 'rule' Contrasty lighting lets us see the early stage of the seeds development, almost like an Xray. The finishing touch is the backlit hairs on the pods. Excellent capture.

Another image featuring man-made elements. Simple composition, and a nice clean background. An appropriate crop and most importantly, nice and sharp. I like that we can see odd numbers of barbs on the wire. Three on the left and only one obvious one on the right. The other two blend in with the rest of the wire. This is my kind of image. Another that I would love to have in my portfolio.

I'm jealous of this photographer. I've been to Iceland a few times and have not yet made it to this beach. The author has carefully composed and exposed the image to keep the tones in harmony. Nothing too dark. I like the longish exposure that blurs the waves. If they had bee static and the darker water visible I think the image would not have been so successful

Lots to love about this image. Clean, simple composition, Great use of depth of field. Lovely bokeh. Superb lighting. The only things the photographer had to do were see the potential image and get down low enough to capture it.

I'm probably going to get some flack for choosing this image, in fact I already have. Some people have taken inanimate to mean not alive. I have already excluded a bunch of stunning images of insects and animals. some of the images are amazing and deserve to win competitions, just not this one.. I have allowed this image as I believe the definition "Not Animated' fits this fungus I'd happily have this on my wall, although, my wife wouldn't let me 😊

This is an image that could have been taken from my archives. I've shot loads of images like this. Simple, with just two main elements. Barbed Wire & Wool. Great mono conversion. Contrast is the king of mono (in my opinion) and this image has plenty.

Are these leaves inanimate? In my opinion, they are. They aren't jumping about, in fact, I doubt they were moving much at all. A wise selection of the exposure to keep these leaves nice and sharp. Shortish shutter speed, mid-range aperture and higher than standard ISO