New Joiners - Animals #890
Caron Steele

New Joiners - Animals #890

May 2026

Expert
winner

The detail on this image is incredible, with every strand and fibre along the feathers, eye and bill punching out from the screen. The composition is good with the subject looking into the frame and a lovely, vibrant and consistent colour palette.

Entry 28761332
29th
3

Whilst this image may 'break' some compositional guidelines in the placement of the bears face, it still works well. The symmetry is good with sharp focus and good depth. If you were looking to switch it up, this could also work as a square aspect ratio.

You have so much detail in this image: it's pin sharp at every point of the bird with a lovely, soft background isolating him further. The colours are vibrant but not overly pushed or processed and the contrast is spot on.

Entry 28770029
10th
6

You've captured a wonderful, tender moment here which adds to the overall narrative and appeal of the image. The colours are vibrant and aesthetically pleasing with great sharpness. I'd consider running the image through software to remove any chromatic aberration.

This image is impressive given that it's captured from a phone! The composition is spot on with the lioness looking into the frame and I like it in portrait orientation too. I'd consider converting it to black and white as I feel it could work really well.

Entry 28778094
51st
2

You've got wonderful separation from the background here and the colour from the lemurs eye bursts from the image, drawing us in. I'd recommend decreasing the exposure in post processing so we can get more depth in the shadows and more detail in the fur.

You've got great separation from the background here and the detail on the wings is so crisp! Whilst I like the space around the dragonfly, I'd consider a small crop to remove the leaves in the right of the image.

This works really well in black and white and I love how you've captured all the blobs of snow flying everywhere as this pup is clearing enjoying itself. The slight motion blur in the ears and snow adds to the image further.

Crowd
winner

Meet the expert judge

100 Images entered

98 Photographers

Entry 28779863
43rd
2

I love the overall feel of this image! The colour on the squirrel helps it to pop from the surrounding habitat and this is aided further with the shallow depth of field. For future reference, bring that shutter speed down in order to reduce the ISO as this is very fast for what you're shooting here.

This is a great portrait of a swan with such detail in the face and feathers. Whilst taken during what looks like bright, direct sun, you've managed to avoid losing too many highlights whilst keeping the detail in the darker sections too.

The lioness pops well from the image with the contrast, despite the overall colour palette being a consistent shade. This image does work well in colour but could also be a worthy candidate for black and white to enhance the contrast.

You've captured a great portrait here with wonderful character: it's almost looking down the camera wondering where you got the audacity to take his portrait. Be cautious with selective adjustments to colour & exposure as these can show artefacts and haloing around the edges.

4,229 Ratings

Entry 28764765
58th
1
3

You've captured some wonderful details on this portrait with great symmetry in the face. The separation from the background is excellent and if you're done selected adjustments to the exposure it's been done well with no visible artefacts around the edges.

Entry 28795546
61st
1
5

You've used the fencing to perfectly frame this subject here, with an aesthetically pleasing warm colour palette and some images that punch through. I'd consider a mild crop from the left of the image to get the pup to look into the frame a bit more.

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’.