AG|WPJA The Artistic Guild of the WPJA

Judges Comment: A beautiful advertisement – er, engagement - portrait that screams Grace Kelly in Monaco. With the final overlays and border treatments, this is one of the best engagements we've seen all year. I hope the photographer has a huge print of this on their wall; it's a true testament to their unique vision for an engagement portrait.

Judges Comment: This image evokes a vintage feel and makes us believe it could have been shot when the El Camino was hot! The contact between the couple feels genuine. One small suggestion: tone down the whites along the top right-hand corner of the frame. Viva El Camino!

Judges Comment: An excellent seaside composite image captures this couple's personality as well as a nice sense of place. They come across as fun, lively and playful. Love the added prop (dog) jumping across the sand. Bravo!

Judges Comment: This unusual angle and soft toning caught our eye. We like the 'wide open' feel that this image gives off. Almost like the two have no limits and not a care in the world. We love the way the lips connect!

Judges Comment: The umbrellas force a quick entry point that takes you immediately to the couple's smiling faces. The splashing water is a good way to filter out the background but still give the image a sense of place. Small suggestion: try toning the entire image with the cool blue tones that present themselves on the far left side of the frame. Great image!

Judges Comment: Minimalist use of the landscape and the couple's simple forms in the foreground keep this image very clean and elegant. A change in camera angle, slightly higher or lower, would have alleviated the horizon merger. Beautiful!

Judges Comment: Engagement sessions are a great time to stretch your creativity and try out some conceptual ideas. We like the quirky nature and interesting location for this portrait. The image would have placed higher if a shallow depth of field was applied. We love the concept but the background is distracting.

Judges Comment: Another wonderful image that successfully relays unity. While the warm tones border a green tint, the overall burning is uneven. The shades of his shoulders go from dark to bright and the area to her right is too bright. We'd suggest toning everything down evenly and keeping the emphasis on his strong attitude.

Judges Comment: This a great example of using an overlay to tone down and focus an image. The bright shirt was neutralized by the additional layer and helps the viewer make eye contact with the subject. The overlay is nice but the technique used to remove part of the overlay is too strong. We'd suggest using a lower opacity and flow when erasing or painting back detail from the masked layer.

Judges Comment: The steam sets the stage for this sensual image. This photographer had a great shoot (see 5th place) and we'd like to mimic our comments about toning the entire image a cool blue.

Judges Comment: Strong graphics boost this image beyond the typical ‘hold hands’ shot. This would look great if you cropped down from the top to just below where the diagonal shadow begins. Nice composition!

Judges Comment: Nice use of off-camera strobe to separate this couple from the background. A slight crop from the left (almost to a square) would prevent your eye from being pulled to the dark left side of the frame. Also, their faces would pop even quicker if the highlighted area around their chests was toned down.

Judges Comment: We like the punchy, ring flash feel to this image. Overall, the image is flat, needs a good highlight and a boost in contrast. Great concept!

Judges Comment: The strap having fallen off her shoulder gives off a soothing, sensual and sexy vibe. While this is nice styling by the photographer, there are too many hot areas throughout the frame that compete for her attention.

Judges Comment: Kudos to this shooter for incorporating an action element in this frame. The image feels too constrained and might benefit from some breathing room around the entire frame. Nice timing and composition.

Judges Comment: This is a great camera angle and composition but the overlay/texture feels too strong and draws too much attention to itself. Back off the texture a bit and bam, sweet frame!

Judges Comment: Another conceptual image that takes advantage of some cool props and the night sky. This image is so darn close to being great. The middle stitch has a moment but they're just standing there on the left and right sides. Once you start a production like this, you owe it to yourself to carefully review the images then think about whether or not these images are going to come together in post.

Judges Comment: Existing artwork can make or break a photograph and this location only complements the couple. The vignette feels too heavy but otherwise a great capture.

Judges Comment: We really like this use of location but find that the couple gets a bit lost due to the black and white conversion. We'd like to see it in color with some more refined toning.

Judges Comment: The couple almost gets lost in the weeds but we like the shallow depth of field. The overlay is too heavy and makes the technique the focal point instead of the subject. Back off the textured layer by 15-25% and you'll be set!