Gallery Winner

Gallery Winner 

I was surprised and honored to learn that I am the Gallery Winner from Nature Photographer Network for my image: “Frosted Fence Post.” There are nine gallery categories; my image was chosen from: “Man & Nature.”  So, what does that category mean? The “Man & Nature” photo critique gallery is intended for photos that depict landscapes, seascapes, or rural scenes that contain limited evidence of the hand-of-man, such as a path, fence, man-made structure or people within an overall nature theme. The hand-of-man element of the photo may not occupy more than 25% of the frame.

Who chooses the winners?

The Gallery winners and the annual Editor’s Pick Awards celebrates excellence in nature photography by recognizing the best of the extraordinary images posted in NPN’s image critique galleries. Every week the NPN moderators pick one of their member’s photos for display in Weekly Pick Gallery from nine galleries.

Gallery Winner Critique Photo Galleries

• Avian
• Environmental Photojournalism
• Floral
• Landscape
• Macro/Close-up
• Man & Nature
• Photo Art
• Weekly Challenge
• Wildlife

Selection Criteria

• Technical execution
• Aesthetic quality (composition, use of light, visual impact, etc.)
• Originality
• Compliance to gallery guideline or weekly challenge theme.

Images Permanent Display

Gallery winner images are archived for permanent display on the Nature Photographer Network web site. Photographer winner images are eligible for the yearly Editor’s Pick Awards.

Gallery Winning Image Detail

This image was shot back on December 8th 2011 just east of Spokane, Washington, near the small community of Four Lakes. I was out looking for some place to shoot landscape images and turned down a side road. To my surprise, there was my winning image right in front of me. It was shot in manual mode using my Nikon D300 with a 18-200mm lens. Focal length = 18mm, ss 1/90, f/16, & ISO 200. Note: Every image is shot in manual mode using a Pre-White Balance setting using the Ezbalance tool which I wrote about in Camera White Balance.  I mention this because I have learned that it is a key tool of the photography trade that ensures great images.

If you follow my blog, you will recognize some key features about my image. First, it has most of the key rules of photography. I talked about this in my blog article: The “Art” of Seeing: The Rules of Photography. The art is really the photography rules of composition.

Finally, and a sometimes overlooked feature, is the importance of really taking the time learning your post-processing software. I can’t say it enough times how valuable it is to be able to take an okay image and change it into something with a little more excitement.  My choice is Nik Software plug-in filters because they are excellent and save time. You can read more on this subject at Nik Software – Post Processing & Where the Excitement Happens.

In Closing…

My gallery winner image was a great acknowledgement of many years of trial-&-error shooting. My goal with this photography blog is for you to produce a winning image. As always, I am available to critique your images. Now get out there and produce some award winning images!

Thank you for stopping by!

Rick

Tagged as: How to take better pictures, How to use Ezybalance, how to use Nik Software "Bi-Color" filter, Image winner, Macro How To Photograph, Nature Photographer Network, Spokane Washington