The colour yellow

This is a well-composed image - the bright yellow wall of the solitary dwelling in the vast snowy blue landscape is set right on the golden section. The eye follows the horizontals traversing from left to right across the slopes and back along the fence, always leading us back to the strong vertical element of the upward pointing shape of the bright yellow wall. The low light brings texture and interest into the snow as well as the building, which keeps the eye engaged. The blue cast on the snow caused by the sky could be removed in the white balance, but has wisely been retained and works well against the yellow. This small building with only a tin roof stands strong and hopeful against the elements, and its yellow colour and upward shape signify optimism that man can survive in this vast cold landscape.

I like the way the shapes are framed so there seems to be a single route for our eyes to travel until we drop off into the deep, dark, starry sky. The depth of field softly drops away which gives a feeling of distance as there is nothing that really tells us about the scale of this object. You seem to be looking along it rather than up at it. We are told in the caption that this is a dynamic and contemporary building, but it still seems abstract. This is an image of contrasts: the nearly black blue and yellow are contrasting colours; the building is man-made, but it reaches out to the cosmos, and the physicality of the smooth, solid and hard-edged shapes contrast against the ephemeral nothingness of space. I like the way the deterioration of the materials suggests it will not last. There is no real clue as to how this building has been lit, it looks otherworldly, perhaps like an aging spaceship… A close contender for first place, but nature won me over!

This is an atmospheric and captivating image and has a degree of ambiguity. The woman seems to be authentic and we wonder why is she blowing the yellow dust? Is it paint or pollen or something else? Is it a ritual or meaningful in any way? Whatever the reason, it makes for a great visual element giving her a sense of mystery. 160th shutter speed captures the action perfectly. This is an unusual response to the brief. I think the yellow element in the background to the right does not add to the image and could be retouched or cropped out. Without that I would have rated it higher.

This simple happy little flower, with its face turned upwards and bathed in a golden light, has a spiritual quality and the flower is a symbol of hope, the yellow colour helping with the optimism. I’m not sure if there is a conceptual reason behind it sitting in water, but it works well as an aesthetic tool as the reflection of the flower leads us nicely to it. I like the soft light and dappled background. There is just one small distracting bright spot which could be edited out. A square is often a difficult shape to compose in but the positioning is well executed here.

I love this simple shot of an almost cartoon caterpiller. He is nicely placed in the shot and again the blue gives a good contrast against the yellow, and this time it's a powdery light hue. A few bits of manipulation would really help: the gaps between the boards could be coloured blue to reduce their importance, and the side of the left-hand blue plank could be blurred out to match the other side. Also the crop could be made to cut out the top-right corner. With these adjustments I reckon this would have been in my Top 10. It made me smile.

There is very little yellow in this image, but very little of anything else as well, so we are drawn to the crescent shapes and to the deep black that surround it. This is an alluring image. I love the way the eyes are looking directly at the camera. Less is certainly more here, so every bit of detail counts. Holding detail in black is a tricky balance and David has revealed just enough to tell us that this is a cat. Small point - the little tiny dots of white dust are distracting and could be touched out as well as the tiny highlight spot in the eyes.

I think this is a strong image, but it would be much better in a vertical format, which would emphasise the height of the marquee. It's nicely composed and well exposed, but perhaps a bit of HDR to bump up the contrast and a bit more saturation on the yellow, which has gone a bit dirty, would help reducing the black and would give it that extra something. It's certainly a great response to the brief with more yellow than most of the other images.

Yellow light illuminates this gorgeous image. The yellow sun is low on the horizon casting a mellow golden light and it brings a sense of well-being and feeling of hope as you look towards it. According to colour psychology a golden yellow will lift our spirits and is the colour of confidence and optimism. This could be an evening shot, but once we know it's shot in dawn it is even more uplifting. There is a rich tonal range and incredible detail all over the image, which I would not expect with such strong backlight, and wonder if some flash fill has been used or very good HDR manipulation. It has been clevery managed so it has an illustrative feel, but is just on the borderline of fantasy. We want this scene to exist somewhere, it's idealistic and nostalgic, but not sentimental. It has a timeless beauty and harmony, and is of nature we all long to protect for future generations.

Martin the photographer likes the simplicity of this shot and so do many others, including myself! However the bird has been placed centrally in the landscape format which is an unusual choice as there is a lot of dead space, and if this was cropped to a vertical shape it would be much stronger and further up the list. There is also some slightly clumsy photoshop work around the twig that could be smoothed to make this a great image. The bird is in a good pose so you can see its beady black eye, and the soft sunlight in the top-right is picking up the detail of the feathers nicely. The shot is nicely exposed and the background colour is neutral with a lovely light to dark tonal change across the shot, setting off the colouring in the bird. There were lots of shots of animals and insects entered, but this one is a great example of yellow in the animal kingdom.

We know that the ubiquitous NYC yellow taxi wouldn’t be static for long in this dynamic scene! Long exposure blurs the other cars, emphasising the horizontal elements across the bottom of the image, but then the eye darts across from each yellow traffic light and towards the vanishing point created by the perspective of the street. It's a great composition. Post-production treatment has created an illustrative look. The buildings appear to have been desaturated, but not all over which is a bit confusing. However, this adds to the surreal slightly futuristic feel of the image and makes the yellow really jump out. I like the way the lights are red - ‘STOP’ contrasting the action in the shot. I’m not sure about the way the sky has been burned in leaving a white glow around the edges of some of the buildings - I think it could be a bit more subtle.

This image so nearly made the grade, but I would have retouched out the solid lump just in front of the droplet, which masks it slightly. This photo is well composed and exposed with a lovey rich hue of yellow, and I love the way the flower glows out of the black. This is also a good conceptual shot alluding to the fractal properties of nature, as within the droplet the flower will have a droplet and so on... And definately right on brief.