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2008 GRAND PRIZE WINNER
Dazyl Young
Bacolod City, Philippines
Picture: Cat In The Garden
Judge's Comments:
I love this shot. The lighting is beautiful and soft, the pink blossom creates a lovely backdrop and the low angle is well chosen. Dazyl has captured perfectly the cat and its wide eyes. Lovely colours, sympathetic lighting, a stunning and very commercial image - a real winner.
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CATEGORY:
ANNUALS
2008 Winner
Annuals
Dazyl Young
Bacolod City, Philippines
Picture: Sunflower Field
Judge's Comments:
This striking picture really caught my eye. The yellow sunflowers are strongly lit and are complimented by the rich blue sky and pure white clouds. Dazyl has chosen to move in very close to the sunflower whilst using a wide angle lens to take in the sky and other flowers nearby, thereby giving the composition a really strong feeling of depth.
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2008 Honorable Mention
Annuals
Crystal Schoonover
Strawn, TX, USA
Picture: Snapdragons my children and
I saw while on a walk one evening
Judge's Comments:
This is technically a very strong, well composed and focussed image with lots of good strong colour.
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CATEGORY:
BIRDS IN THE GARDEN
2008 Winner
Birds In The Garden
Jarvis Walker
Tampa, FL, USA
Picture: Beautiful Duck Nest
Judge's Comments:
Most of the photographs in the bird category showed images of the birds themselves, but this image by Jarvis Walker shows that sometimes the least obvious choice of subject can still make a great photo opportunity. The nest, crammed full of creamy eggs, is beautifully lit by soft overcast daylight. Jarvis has filled the frame with the subject and this in turn has strengthened the composition.
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2008 Honorable Mention
Birds In The Garden
Daniel R. Lindquist
Salem, OR, USA
Picture: A male Calypte Anna pausing to hover
for a shot displaying his best colors in hopes of
impressing a Lady Anna. (Anna's hummingbird)
Judge's Comments:
There were a lot of humming bird pictures sent in but this was certainly one of the best - I love the brilliant colour of the birds throat and the soft peachy coloured background - a really striking image.
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CATEGORY:
BULBS, TUBERS, CORMS, RHIZOMES
2008 Winner
Bulbs, Tubers, Corms, Rhizomes
Diane Drinsinger
Edgar, WI, USA
Picture: Crocus In Morning Dew
Judge's Comments:
Crocus are very difficult subjects to photograph. Not only do they need to be captured just as they are starting to open up, but very often they are damaged by wind and rain even before they have opened. The lighting needs to be right too - bright but diffused to enable the viewer to look inside the flowers. Diane has chosen exactly the right moment and subject. The flowers and the light are just perfect and the pin sharp focus and great depth of field means that you feel you can almost reach out and touch the flowers themselves.
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CATEGORY:
BUTTERFLIES AND INSECTS
2008 Winner
Butterflies and Insects
Susan Weber
Little Ferry, NJ, USA
Picture: A wood wasp, in midair over my
deck, looking for a piece of wood to land on
Judge's Comments:
Wow wow wow. This was one of the most difficult categories from which to choose a winner. The standard of photography throughout was very high indeed. One shot however stood out from the crowd and it was this amazing image of a wood wasp in midair. The dark background and strong lighting makes the wasp stand out from its background and the movement in the wings is captured superbly - an absolutely superb picture. I picked the wasp because it was very different from most of the other entries - personally I like pictures which break all the rules or look at things from an unusual or different perspective - and this picture, though not technically the best picture I have ever seen, was very unusual.
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2008 Honorable Mention
Butterflies and Insects
Karen Bean
Ottumwa, IA, USA
Picture: A friendly Praying Mantis with "BIG" eyes
Judge's Comments:
I absolutely love the way that Karen has used a macro lens to get in close to this amazing creature. The composition is very powerful with the mantis coming into the frame from the right hand side and the head looks like that of an alien.
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2008 Honorable Mention
Butterflies and Insects
Garry Walter
Highland Heights, KY, USA
Picture: Dragons at Dawn
Judge's Comments:
It is the wonderful dawn backlighting, silhouetting the dragonflies, that really set this image apart. By making the effort to get up early and get in the right position, shooting into the sun, Garry has taken a great picture.
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CATEGORY:
FRUITS AND VEGETABLES
2008 Winner
Fruits and Vegetables
Marlene Bell
Shafter, CA, USA
Picture: Pomegranate pair in the sunlight
Judge's Comments:
When I saw this picture of pomegranates I instantly wanted to reach out to pick them. What makes the picture work for me is the fact that the fruits are sharp, the background is nice and dark and the fruits themselves are beautifully lit by rich sunlight.
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CATEGORY:
PERENNIALS
2008 Winner
Perennials
Sandra Calderon
Concord, Ontario, Canada
Picture: Reliability of a perennial bloom
Judge's Comments:
This was one of the few pictures in this category of a plant combination. It works really well mainly because of the soft, but warm lighting and the harmony of the flowers - the rick pink of the cosmos and the bluey purple of the perovskia (?). The image is pin sharp with good depth of field.
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2008 Honorable Mention
Perennials
Dazyl Young
Bacolod City, Philippines
Picture: Not sure what kind of plant. The photograph is a macro of it.
Judge's Comments:
This is a very strong image. The bright touch of green in the background sets off the rich orange of the gazania itself and Dazyl has been careful to focus on the centre of the flower which has been cleverly placed off centre. The picture could have been improved even more I feel if the depth of field was slightly less, blowing the background completely out of focus.
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CATEGORY:
PETS OR ANIMALS IN THE GARDEN
2008 Winner
Pets Or Animals In The Garden
Dazyl Young
Bacolod City, Philippines
Picture: Cat in The Garden
Judge's Comments:
I love this shot. The lighting is beautiful and soft, the pink blossom creates a lovely backdrop and the low angle is well chosen. Dazyl has captured perfectly the cat and its wide eyes.
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2008 Honorable Mention
Pets Or Animals In The Garden
Dazyl Young
Bacolod City, Philippines
Picture: Sometimes Geckos surprise me
whenever they appear
Judge's Comments:
This is a superb shot. The focus on the gecko is absolutely right and the shallow depth of field and simple curve of the leaf make for a very graphic composition - well done
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2008 Honorable Mention
Pets Or Animals In The Garden
Garry Walter
Highland Heights, KY, USA
Picture: Pet Tree Frog "George"
I shoot George a lot in our garden!
Judge's Comments:
Technically, this is another superb photograph. The way that Garry has captured the the fog in mid air - yet still gripping the twig with one finger, is outstanding. The lighting is also well executed.
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CATEGORY:
ROSES
2008 Winner
Roses
Robert Elliott
Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
Picture: Warm Yellow Rose - Shallow
depth of
field of and overwhelming warm colour
Judge's Comments:
This was by far the best shot in the category. Using a macro lens and a shallow depth of field, Robert has completely filled the frame with the creamy centre of this pale lemon rose. Placing the centre of the rose off to the right of the picture makes the composition more interesting and the soft light shows off the delicate petals to perfection.
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CATEGORY:
TREES, SHRUBS, VINES
2008 Winner
Trees, Shrubs, Vines
Dazyl Young
Bacolod City, Philippines
Picture: Beautiful Plumeria
Judge's Comments:
This striking image, superbly executed by Dazyl Young, really blew me away. The background is deep black, which shows the beautifully lit pale blue and yellow flowers off to perfection. The depth of field is spot on and the image is pin sharp.
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2008 Honorable Mention
Trees, Shrubs, Vines
Robert Elliott
Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
Picture: Banksia side - Gradation from the soft green edges to deep orange stems with purple and green hints in the background - it looks like they’re whispering to each other.
Judge's Comments:
The subject is really unusual and Robert has shown it off to its best by closing in on the incredible structure of the banksia. The colours really compliment each other and the depth of field and soft lighting make for a really strong image - well done.
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2008 Honorable Mention
Trees, Shrubs, Vines
Rob Waterman
Mesa, AZ, USA
Picture: I am constantly surrounded by so many different plants and trees in the valley. I turned around one afternoon and noticed what a contrast this shot was of 2 different specimans, and how one is native to the area and the other is very much a transplant from another climate but manages to survive here. It seems the two somehow compliment each other.
Judge's Comments:
I love the graphic quality of this shot, the deep blue sky and the interesting low angle chosen by Rob.
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