CRITIQUE FOR THE WINNERS

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IMPACT on the viewer is key to what makes a great photograph! Everything else about the photograph falls somewhere in a subcategory under that one important category! The camera is just a tool, so it does not matter if you are using the most expensive DSLR camera, a point and shoot camera, an old film camera or your cell phone camera, you can still create a great photograph – no matter what anyone tells you!

….it takes us only one tenth of a second to form an opinion about a photograph too! That's why companies choose very carefully (and are willing sometimes to pay a lot of money) for the stock image that says exactly what they want the image to say in a split second.

^{Diane Macdonald six months ago (as a newbie to Steemit) in Photography-101 Lesson 1 here!}

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Image ©Diane Macdonald. All Rights Reserved.

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Camera	EOS 5D Mark II
Lens	EF100mm f/2.8 Macro USM
Exposure	1/200 sec; f/14; ISO 800
Post-processing	Adobe® Photoshop CC 2018, Adobe® Camera Raw

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One of the most important things I have learned from over 20 years in the stock photography business is that you have only a split second to make a first impression and IMPACT! After that, the viewer has gone on to look at other images, and your image is forgotten.

There are no hard and fast rules in photography – only guidelines. Photography is THE ART OF SEEING by the photographer and the viewer alike. “Rules” of composition are not really rules at all. No one has ever proven scientifically that the RULE OF THIRDS or any other rule is critical to the beauty or interest of a photograph in the eye of the beholder. Of course many times the “rules” work – but not always. I'm not knocking the “rules,” but don't be afraid to break them in order to say what you wish to say with your image! It's your vision! Each person looking at your work will have a different opinion about whether it works for them or not. This does not mean that your photograph is “bad” or “wrong.”

Not only is this true in stock photography, but it is also true in art photography. We live in a digital age, and we are bombarded with images from all over the web! Here on Steemit, we are also bombarded with images – many original, and many simply taken from the web (but that is another story.) Why do you think that those who are not photographers go out of their way to find images from the web to use in their posts? It's because they understand that a post is opened most often because of the IMPACT that the thumbnail creates!

Sometimes a “bad”photograph that breaks every “rule” can have tremendous impact! If you don't believe me, check out this work entitled simply WRONG by American contemporary photographer John Baldessari (1931- .)

Baldessari explained, "I loved the idea that somebody would just say that this is right and this is wrong. So I decided I would have . . . a work of art that was wrong—which seemed right to me."

With that being said, I have decided that each winning image in my photography contest from last week - Wiwcontest Week 20 Theme – FLOWERS (White) deserves a critique, because accepting critique is one of the best ways to grow in photography, and it is my desire that you all grow – and continue to grow long after I am gone! I may make this a new weekly post for #photography-101.

You may not agree with my choices, but in my opinion, every image I chose is worthy of a win. I have explained the reasons behind my choices under each winning image below. Please feel free to add your CONSTRUCTIVE CRITIQUE if you feel so led. Let's open a dialog about what what works and what doesn't.

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@youhavewings Please read the post here

I chose to ignore a couple of dust spots on this image because its overall IMPACT was very powerful. The framing of the image, placing the center of the flower in the center, had the effect of drawing my eye right into the very depth of the flower. Exposure is spot-on with good detail in the whites, and there is no visible color fringing. I'm not sure what exposure was used in the shot, but the large depth of field makes this image stunning! The image to me says: Freshness.

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@sunscape Please read the post here

This image has a very interesting composition, although not conforming to the RULE OF THIRDS. The bee is pretty much on the center line and right at the point of a very interesting triangle of flowers, with only a few in focus. It's hard to tell whether the bee is totally in focus or not, but viewing at the size presented, it looks as if it is only partially in focus. There is something quite jarring about the bits of the image that are in focus, but it works! I imagine that this image was photographed with a very large aperture. However, with its completely out of focus background, the image does have tremendous IMPACT, worthy of a win in the contest because I can see the relationship between the bee and the flowers. The image to me says: Symbiotic Relationship.

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@fernandes Please read the post here

The composition of this image had IMPACT on me immediately! There is a natural triangular flow to the composition here with the two flowers at one side of the image and the other standing alone at the other. There is also good use of negative space. Perhaps the stamens in the photograph to the right are not quite in focus; I can't tell for sure, but don't find it to be too important here. Images that have odd numbers of objects often work better than those with even numbers. This image to me says: Two is company – Three is a crowd.

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@kunschj (Honorable Mention) Please read the post here

What I enjoyed most about this image was the overall soft and dreamy look, which is what created the initial IMPACT for me. The center of the rose is placed on the upper right intersection point using the RULE OF THIRDS. The square format works very well, reminiscent to me of the days of film photography with the Hasselblad. The image to me says: Fragility and reminds me of the painting Abstraction White Rose, 1927 by Georgia O'Keefe.

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@claudiaz (Honorable Mention) Please read the post here

The grouping of flower heads on a single stem was what first created the IMPACT for me in this shot. As far as I can tell, there is excellent depth of field in the flowers which are situated on an out of focus background. The branch coming into the image was at first a bit of a distraction to me, but I can see it as a connection somehow – letting us know that the flower is part of something else. It is positioned just off center which works. The image to me says: Togetherness.

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@ninahaskin (Honorable Mention) Please read the post here

What has IMPACT for me in this image, is the overall environment of the shot and the sharpness of the yellow center, which is the center of interest in this photograph. The scene is of a flower growing right in its natural environment. Good use is made of the soft background to make the image stand out. I overlooked the green and pink tinging in the white petals classic of overly post-processed shots, because of the overall beauty of the image, which to me says: Beauty In Nature.

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@bigsambucca (Honorable Mention) Please read the post here

This is a beautiful magnolia flower shot with great visual IMPACT. The vertical shot works very well for the subject matter of the two flowers. The slightly opening center of the foreground flower creates a sense of mystery. I would have preferred to see the whole bee and the very center of the flower in sharp focus, instead of the surrounding leaves and the tips of the farthest away petals, but nevertheless it still works well. The image to me says: Purity, thanks to the crisp whites in the flower petals.

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Thanks for taking the time to read this. I appreciate your support! If you are interested in entering the #wiwcontest, please check out the theme for this week, and the rules here.

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