New Joiners - Animals #847

With such clean surroundings, it's hard to miss this striking insect, with great contrast with the purples, browns and greens. If replacing backgrounds or closing elements out, be cautious around the edges of the subject to ensure artefacts aren't present.

You've used intentional camera movement (ICM) expertly here, with great blur in the wings and background but a pin sharp face! I'd consider a slight crop from the top right corner to get the gannet to fly into the frame more.

You wouldn't expect such a 'simplistic' image to have so much punch, but this shows that sometimes, less is more. You've exposed and composed the image perfectly with those lovely layers followed by the bird of prey flying into the image.

I love how you've captured the contrasting light here, with the shaded foreground and background framing the red panda well and drawing our attention in. The red punches out of the image so well without being overly pushed or processed.

What a truly spectacular image and more than a worthy winner for this contest. Technically, the image couldn't be any better with perfect exposure, depth and focus and you've captured such an engaging image with that piercing and direct eye contact.

You've captured an incredible amount of detail in the eye here, both in the flecks of the iris but also the reflection. The image is framed well with good depth and the exposure is spot on. The small amounts of colour really enhance the image.

Photographing moving subjects in the snow can be quite challenging technically when it comes to focusing but you've made it look so easy here! I'd consider a very small crop from the left to get the eagle to fly into the frame a bit more but otherwise it's spot on!

This is such a quintessential autumnal photo and you've put it together so well! The warm hues and colour palette gives the image depth and atmosphere whilst the partial natural frame from the tree behind helps to draw you in.

Using soft, white vignetting can be very difficult to pull off but you've done it so well here, and with a phone no less! The image works so well in black and white to enhance that contrast against the whites.

This image has a gritty and moody feel, in part due to the rain and subject but also the post processing with the almost blue sepia tones. I like the image in portrait orientation although if this is a crop and the surroundings allow, I'd give it a bit more space on the left.

The colours contrast so well in this image, making the butterfly pop really well. This is enhanced further with the shallow depth of field. I'd consider either moving the butterfly ever so slightly to the right if this is a cropped image and you can, or crop from the top right slightly to achieve it.

The colours work really well in this image, with good contrasting tones with those warm hues against the greens. Be cautious if using masking to adjust the depth of field in post processing as this can leave artefacts around the edges of your subject.

I love the tight crop or composition you've done here as the most striking feature on this beautiful young pup is the eyes, with lovely reflection and catch lighting. Whilst this technically breaks a couple of compositional 'rules', it goes to show that they're more guidelines as this photograph is striking.

You've used a creative angle, paired with a shallow depth of field to create an artistic and intriguing image. I think colour is better than black and white due to that lovely dash of warmth on the face and the shallow depth helps to enhance the detail on the face.