PSNZ Canon Bi-monthly Online Competition – Previous Rounds – 2010

6th Round Winners for the PSNZ Canon Online 2010

Canon Online 2010 winners

From Sally Phillips, Canon Online coordinator.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year. All the Best from Me for the year to come

This time John Greenwood from Hamilton did the judging. Thank you John for giving up your time at such a busy time of year.

Toya Heatley with her lovely image ‘Hide and Seek’ came 1st and for once one of my images was chosen in the top 10 (I have been trying for ages). So never give up it may happen for you. Congratulations to all othe place winners

I do hope the coming year will inspire you all to enter (several new entrants have put images in) and I look forward to receiving your images for the first round of 2011. So send your images for Round 1 Jan/Feb 2011 to ash_mac@xtra.co.nz

From John

I was a little disappointed at the overall quality of the images submitted to me this round. Certainly there were some very good images and these are reflected in the top ten images. There were quite a number of images that lacked simple adjustments that would have made them leap off the computer screen. Submitters need to pay attention to this and also to little presentation issues that can make or mar a picture. There were also a number of what I like to think of as “cliche images”, where you may have seen a technique or composition and you liked it so tried to imitate this. While imitation is a form of flattery, images that seem to follow an earlier theme or pattern tend to let you down when seen by an independent assessor.

Notwithstanding that criticism I did enjoy looking at your work and assessing it against the other images. This is always a pleasure to me, and keeps me abreast of how people are approaching their work. I only wish I had been able to discuss each of your images with each of you in the process of the judging.

Keep trying, next time might be your lucky time. (Actually luck has little to do with it eh!)

Top Ten Images and Photographers

The images can be viewed as a slideshow. Clicking on this link will open the slideshow in a new browser window. When you have finished viewing the slideshow, close the window to return to this page.

Overall Winner for 2010

The final placings for 2010 are as follows. Congratulations to Jason Byrne for taking first position.

5th Round Winners for the PSNZ Canon Online 2010

Canon Online 2010 winners

From Sally Phillips, Canon Online coordinator.

Well another round has come and gone, the months just seem to be flying by. We had 98 images this round Judged by Bret Lucas.

Congratulations to Tracey Robinson with her beautiful Portrait ‘The Little One’. Also to the top placed images which were all very beautiful. And for those who missed out don’t give up and I look forward to receiving your images for Round 6 November/December 2010.

Send them to ash_mac@xtra.co.nz and please try and send early especially as it is over the Christmas period.

Bret is from Auckland and is the present PSNZ Canon Online Photographer of the Year after winning 4 of the 6 Rounds last year with 5 out of 6 top ten finishes! Thank you Bret for giving your time to this competition especially as you are so busy with your photography at the moment. It is much appreciated!

From Bret

After spending the last couple of months shooting commercially for my main clients, it was a pleasure to sit down and gauge the cream of the PSNZ members.

The challenge for all photographers is to create the illusion of three dimensionality on a two dimensional medium. This is done with a firm understanding of specular highlights, true tone, and shadows, and the transfer zones between.

All top ten images clearly showed the photographers understanding and/or control of light, be it flash or ambient, and by stepping lightly into photoshop without leaving footprints.

Third across the line was "Spring Sweep". A lovely open image with fantastic composition and beautiful colours and curves captured in a large ambient light source. Most of the tones are in the upper range with little contrast that works incredibly well on this occasion. I felt uplifted by the image.

Second across the line was "Jemma Enjoys The Snow". Again captured in ambient light only. The sun was coming from camera left and above, which resulted in a transfer from true tone to shadow across the face. But the main attraction was the movement of the paws just off the snow with weight added from the shadows beneath. The ears and face are just crazy too! Snow helps no end by opening up shadows which takes attention away from hard shadow edge transfer.

The winning image "The Little One" along with beautiful feel, showed extra ordinary control of specular edge transfer on the baby's bum and heal and the large light source from above resulted in a broad shadow edge transfer beneath the hat that added to the feel in the image. And brilliant use of negative space! Babies are small, so good to see bold use of negative space to express this!

Thanks for allowing me to judge this time round. I really enjoyed the experience.

Cheers
Bret

Top Ten Images and Photographers

The images can be viewed as a slideshow. Clicking on this link will open the slideshow in a new browser window. When you have finished viewing the slideshow, close the window to return to this page.

4th Round Winners for the PSNZ Canon Online 2010

Canon Online 2010 winners

From Sally Phillips, Canon Online coordinator.

I have just spent 2 days flat on my back with a tummy bug and besides everything else it is late. So I have to apologise for the lateness of this Round as I still feel very weak and sickly.

Well, it has been a different couple of months for me with my 4 week trip to Adelaide to see my family. It was lovely to see the children although the noise level was off the scale. My daughter is still recovering and went back in hospital on the 8th Sept for a repair operation. So from now on all should be good.

It was nice to be somewhere different for me but I didn’t take many photographs. I was just too busy with family, and spending time with my daughter was a priority. Being my first travel experience on my own, it was all good.

This Round we had 115 images and our judge Francis Green ASPNZ who is from Christchurch has had an eventful week of his own dealing with earthquakes and helping people out. So his time judging this competition is especially appreciated in this difficult time. I am sure we all have prayers and love for the people of Christchurch. Also for our PSNZ members who live there our thoughts are with you all. Thank you so much Francis

Congratulations to Ron Willems for your fine winning image and to all other place getters

Please send your images for Round 5 September/October 2010 to Ash_Mac@xtra.co.nz anytime from now. The Sooner the Better. Thank you!

From Francis

It has been a welcome distraction in earthquake-struck Christchurch to have had the honour of judging this round of the Canon on Line competition.

Photography is a challenging science and an engrossing art. Images often simply record but can also communicate an infinite variety of ways of seeing as well as inspiring emotions or even actions.

Some recent correspondence has questioned the bounds of photography and how much may be added in “post production” work. Since the beginning, photographers have sought to expand their horizons albeit with less ease than we now have. Surely it is solely the end result which is important, not the means used to produce it? As the excellent PSNZ judging Philosophy statement puts it “the success of an image is based on how successful the photographer has been in communicating the idea or concept to the viewer”.

The approaches used by this round’s entrants have varied greatly from the literal through impressionistic to utterly abstract.

The ten images I have chosen were those which initially attracted my attention then held it after repeated viewings. They all have a message; sometimes simple and sometimes more profound. Congratulations to these photographers particularly but also to all other entrants. Frankly(!) I found something to enjoy and think about in every single image so thank you all.

It was relatively easy to pick the top 20 so but very hard to cut them to 10 and even harder to sort into order within that group!

Regards
Frank Green APSNZ

Top Ten Images and Photographers

The images can be viewed as a slideshow. Clicking on this link will open the slideshow in a new browser window. When you have finished viewing the slideshow, close the window to return to this page.

3rd Round Winners for the PSNZ Canon Online 2010

Canon Online 2010 winners

From Sally Phillips, Canon Online coordinator.

Congratulations to Mark Berger with ‘Look Right’ and the other top images

This Round we had 104 Images which is really good. As my job as Coordinator I really enjoy viewing the many and diverse ideas people have for their images, I also enjoy the friendly messages I am getting it helps me as I know I am appreciated. Thank you.

Also this is a request from me to ask you to PLEASE send your images in ASAP for round 4 July/August to ash_mac@xtra.co.nz.

It will help me a lot and also help the competition to run smoothly as I am going to Australia to help my daughter who is having an operation. I will be looking after my two little grand children ages 2 and 5 years.

You can still send your images any time but may not get a receipt for it until I get home again.

Please don't leave it until the last minute. Thank you to the people who have already sent their images.

Our Judge for Round 3 was Alistair McAuslan APSNZ. Thank you for giving up your time it is much appreciated.

From Alistair

An interesting entry of images with all the leading selections being well presented with good lighting and showing strong elements of mood or action.

There were some images not chosen that had the potential to do well but needed finishing off. It was disappointing to find many that were let down by lack of appropriate cropping to strengthen a message or highlights that were either too dominant or blown out. However it was pleasing to find that there were entrants who were willing to put forward something different or unusual. They are to be encouraged.

Regards
Alistair McAuslan APSNZ

Top Ten Images and Photographers

The images can be viewed as a slideshow. Clicking on this link will open the slideshow in a new browser window. When you have finished viewing the slideshow, close the window to return to this page.

2nd Round Winners for the PSNZ Canon Online 2010

Canon Online 2010 winners

From Sally Phillips, Canon Online coordinator.

I am always amazed how fast these rounds go by, and already into May with the lovely crisp mornings and Autumn colours One of my favorite times of year. Frosty, foggy mornings are always good for a lovely image if you can bear the cold.

A total of 118 images this round and I always feel very privileged to see them all.

Thank you to everyone for making this a great competition

Congratulations goes to Jason Byrne with his image ‘Lake Tarawera’ and all top 10 authors. I think the overall quality would make it really hard to pick a top 10

This round was Judged by Lynn Clayton APSNZ AFIAP

Thank you Lynn for giving your time to this competition.

From Lynn Clayton

I would like to say that there were several other images that also deserved a top ten placing but what can one do? A couple of other images would have been front row contenders except for defects such as uneven tonal range and bright, uncontrolled highlights. There was a huge variation in the standard submitted. However the top work is outstanding – creative, emotive, beautiful. Even some not awarded a prize.

Thank you for the honour of judging your work
Lynn Clayton APSNZ AFIAP

Top Ten Images and Photographers

The images can be viewed as a slideshow. Clicking on this link will open the slideshow in a new browser window. When you have finished viewing the slideshow, close the window to return to this page.

1st Round Winners for the PSNZ Canon Online 2010

Canon Online 2010 winners

From Sally Phillips, Canon Online coordinator.

Welcome everyone to a New Year and already here we are in March. How time flies! We have started the year off with 98 really good images. It is always sad to see that some images that are really worthy don’t get into the top 10 but I hope they will be re-entered or keep trying. I feel honoured to be able to view them all.

Thank you to everyone for making this a great competition

Congratulations goes to Eddie Griffiths with his excellent action image ‘Feel the Pain’ and all top 10 authors with some fine images

This round was Judged by Brian Cudby FPSNZ AFIAP ESIAP. Thank you for giving your time and expertise to this competition.

From Brian Cudby

What a diverse group of quality images!. This has been a very pleasant and satisfying experience for me. Narrowing the selection down to 10, and then ranking them was challenging, because of the overall quality. I am only sad that there are many others that, on another occasion, might well have joined the final rankings. It's a tough challenge for all entrants. Congratulations to you all.

Top Ten Images and Photographers

The images can be viewed as a slideshow. Clicking on this link will open the slideshow in a new browser window. When you have finished viewing the slideshow, close the window to return to this page.