New Joiners - Animals #780
Caron Steele

New Joiners - Animals #780

February 2025

The crisp focus you've captured on this is divine, with that face popping from the image so well despite a detailed background. The colour palette is warm and aesthetically pleasing and I like the composition, with no elements of the bird clipped off.

Crowd
winner
Entry 23197161
1st
11

100 Images entered

99 Photographers

The lighting on this frog is gorgeous and I love how much detail it brings out in the eye and skins. I'd consider cropping slightly from the bottom right corner to get the subject to look into the frame a bit more.

Entry 23127006
9th
7

I love how much depth you've created in this image by shooting through the foliage in the foreground. It's quite common for this to obscure the face or eyes but it doesn't impact either here. I love how the warm hues on the serval pop against an otherwise desaturated image.

Entry 23137962
13th
4

You've used the foreground really well here to frame the subject and the clean, distraction free background helps to draw us in and keep us engaged in the image. It works well in colour but could also work in black and white.

Entry 23151659
15th
6
Entry 23152287
58th
5
Entry 23153171
84th
3

Those beautiful amber eyes pop so well from the image, especially with such a gorgeous and silky black coat. The colours in the images are lovely and warm and the blown highlights were essential to bring the detail out on the cat.

I love this image in black and white as it really adds to the atmosphere. The vignetting helps to highlight that ear tag but we still have enough detail in the image to give us context of the surroundings. Be cautious around the ear with heavy exposure differences to make the image look more natural.

I love the framing on this image and the zen nature of the subject is fabulous. I like it in colour but think it could be even more impactful in black and white to enhance that contrast and detail more.

Entry 23161198
73rd
1
Entry 23166541
45th
1
Entry 23172770
51st
5
Entry 23174792
25th
3

I like the detail you've captured in the feathers here and the eye pops well. Try to resist the urge to centralise the subject when it has a clear direction it looks into, so if this is a crop I'd recommend moving him to the right of the frame.

Entry 23176833
81st
3
Entry 23177145
70th
4
Entry 23178645
67th
2
Entry 23181658
26th
5
Entry 23181666
41st
34
Entry 23182301
44th
6

There's several factors I love on this image: it works really well with a square aspect ratio and the black and white removes any potential distraction, giving us the opportunity to focus purely on the cat. I love the catch lighting in the eye and the details on the fur.

The warm colour palette on this image works really well here and I love the shallow depth of field which draws us into those gorgeous eyes. Whilst this may be an original aspect ratio for the camera, I'd consider a slightly shorter one to remove some 'empty' space, but not too much!

The light and colour on this image is truly divine and really makes the image. The composition is good with the subject looking into the frame and whilst we can get good context of the surrounding elements, they're. not distracting.

Entry 23188952
6th
9

The lighting on this is utterly gorgeous and adds so much punch and atmosphere. The warm colours are gorgeous and I love the blacked out background, paired with the contrasted shadows on the dog. It works well in portrait orientation.

Entry 23191279
74th
3
Entry 23196485
71st
3
Expert
winner
Entry 23197010
46th
14

This image is dripping with narrative and I truly love the context and composition too. The path acts as a leading line to draw you in and the gateway gives the cat a nice natural frame. There's so much to explore on this image!

There is sometimes the argument that you must always include the eyes in your images of animals or wildlife, and that they should be in focus too. This image shows why this isn't always the case, as the image simply wouldn't have the same feel otherwise.

I really love how well you've used the surrounding foliage to add depth and natural framing to the image and that gorgeous little face. I'd strongly recommend cropping ever so slightly from the left to get the meerkat to look into the frame slightly more.

9,499 Ratings

Meet the expert judge

Brief

See more contest details

Welcome to Photocrowd’s ‘Animals’ contest for New Joiners! These contests are a chance for new members to introduce their photography to the community, and get a taste of how Photocrowd contests work. They can be entered by anyone within their first 28 days of joining Photocrowd. After 100 images have been submitted the contest closes and the Crowd will start rating the images. The Expert Judge will also be judging the images and writing reviews at the same time. All the winners, both Crowd and Expert, will be announced after 3 days of judging. Make sure you also check out our two other New Joiners contests - ‘People’ and ‘Landscapes’.