Saguaro Cactus

This was a much more difficult contest to judge than I anticipated. I was looking for unique pictures with good light. I also wanted to see good landscape scenes. This one meets all of my criteria and is done with very good lighting and in a vertical format. This format is difficult to carry off in most cases and the only criticism would be if the camera was at a higher angle to bring the hills closer to the "Rule of Thirds".

This is a wonderful picture of these blossoms. Great focus and the colors and tonal qualities are spot on. I really like the composition. You made the "Rule of Thirds" work to great advantage. The contrast of the blue and green and the tonal quality of the white blossoms make this an outstanding photo.. You used the camera to its full advantage, since the depth of field at f/4 is truly exceptional. The slight movement of the small "bees" give the picture a hint of dynamic movement.

Great Landscape technique. Great foreground, midground and distance. If I had a criticism on the camera technique, it would be on the 400 ISO since the was an opportunity to get even more depth of field with a smaller f/stop. (Since this camera goes to 100 ISO, there could be gain of two full stops something like f/22) This adds approximately 8 ft to the foreground hyperfocal range of about 4 ft to infinity.. Camera speed captured the clouds well but by raising the shutter speed may have made them even sharper. However this is a photo I would be proud to take and show. Post production, I may have brightened the masa on the left slightly

It would be interesting to know for sure if this is a composite photograph. The polar star seems too low in the sky for this not to be. Since there was no technical information about this picture it is hard to judge how good the photographer is compared to the quality of the editor. While I like the photo and think it is a striking image, I would like to be able to analyse the technique a little more. I think the star trails were taken at too long of an exposure and feel that detracts from the technical quality of the photograph. I do like the color grading of the photo.