AG|WPJA The Artistic Guild of the WPJA

Judges Comment: This image was a clear number 1 in this category. The little boy looking in from the left side of the frame is wonderful and the look on his face and his outfit is great. The sexy element on the stocking hiked up juxtaposed with the child really makes this. I love the lower angle taken from the child's height. I do wish the foot wasn't cut off and I wish the cabinets were straight. I probably would have corrected perspective a bit in Photoshop or Lightroom to have a straighter angle on the cabinets instead of having them askew. I might also suggest cropping down from the top just a bit. The toning is nicely done and all in all, it’s still a terrific image.

Judges Comment: Very dramatic moment of this bride getting ready. Her eyes are piercing and the jewels really make this image work. This is a really good example of Photoshop subtly helping this image. The tones are muted and done just right. The only things I would suggest here is to clone out the top right hand corner which is distracting and I may have made her eyes slightly whiter, reducing the visible blood vessels.

Judges Comment: Gesture, movement and the angle really contribute to making this an elegant image. I especially like the angle. While I like the dark tones, I might suggest a little brush work to just lighten the bride a hair more.

Judges Comment: Again, gesture is very strong. The eyes of the bride and the flowing veil work well and I love the Victorian-like look along with the green in the background. There are two things which bother me. I would have cloned out the blue chair in the foreground and the biggest issue I have are the closed eyes on the person holding the veil. If there was another frame I would have cloned open eyes from one frame into this one.

Judges Comment: There is something about this image that kept drawing me in for more. The composition is strong and the tonality really helps. The whole little scene going on behind the door is great and it is indeed hard to make an image like this work with 5 people, yet each person has their own role in the image. The texture of the wall adds and the only thing I might do differently is to crop down from the top, eliminating the upper left hand corner. The corner is clear from the bottom left and I don't think it adds to the image to have that triangle shape in the upper left.

Judges Comment: Nice emotion, nice composition and nicely toned. The expression on the bride’s face is great. The one thing that bothers me here is the hole in the wall above the bride. Having a clean background without the hole would improve this image and it is a two-minute Photoshop job to fix.

Judges Comment: I love the composition and love the soft white tone here. The bottom left and the bottom right hurt this image and the image would be much stronger if both corners were cleaned up.

Judges Comment: Sometimes you just can't beat humor, and humor and gesture make this image. This image is all about the dog’s eye. In the end, this image is still a great image but it does have some problems. The perspective should have been corrected at least a bit to straighten up some of the lines and the guy in the background really bothers me. I realize this is one of those rare moments and it is a shame that the guy had to walk in just when the dog looked up. If the eye of the dog was opened up just a hair using the Liquify tool and made to be a shade brighter white, that would help. I also would have probably lightened the dog’s midsection just a bit to make the dog even more pronounced.

Judges Comment: Really great moment with strong gesture, good color and very nice composition. I wish I could see the face of the women holding the flowers as it would be even stronger. I would have cleaned up the specular pink highlights on the lower front left. Usually these occur from using a skylight filter.

Judges Comment: Strong image with very nice composition. A refreshing take on tying the dress. The only thing I would suggest here is a little piece of string that protrudes from under the lower hand should be cloned out but otherwise it is really a very nice image.

Judges Comment: Great gesture and very nice composition make this a very nice graphic image. I love the bride being out of focus but would have liked to have seen more detail in the bride and toned down a bit as it would make the image even stronger.

Judges Comment: I love the angle and the reflection. I might have toned down the hot spot on her shoulder and opened up the background just a bit. All the elements here are needed but being dark makes it a bit busy and harder to read. If the darker areas were just a tad brighter, the image would be stronger.

Judges Comment: Very nice moment. The handbag and the car seat along with the moment really make this image. I looked at cropping this image and feel that it is significantly stronger if the left side is cropped right to the back of the head and the right side is cropped to eliminating the blurriness.

Judges Comment: I love what I presume is the father or grandfather looking at his daughter getting ready. What a great moment. Cropping down from the top and up from the bottom and cropping or cloning out the extreme right side helps this image a lot by drawing focus to the two people.

Judges Comment: Very nice framing and a nice moment. A tough shot to pull off and make it work. Cropping it on the sides and the top just a bit would make it quite a bit stronger. I would also remove the out of focus rainbow diffraction occurring on the right side.

Judges Comment: I love the fact that you see the men in the mirror and not in the image and I love that you see the women seated in the image and not in the mirror. Very nice touch. I wish the couch under the mirror did not have all the stuff on it as it adds clutter but still a very nice image.

Judges Comment: Very nice, clean, simple and elegant image. I would, however, eliminate the vignetting on the bottom corners and I think the image is much stronger cropping down from the top just below the valance in the curtains and on the right side eliminating the painting on the wall.

Judges Comment: Good composition and I like all the soft white. I think it is stronger with just a bit more detail in the whites and to bring down the background especially on the back right.

Judges Comment: Great moment and very nice color. This image would have placed higher up if the "no parking sign" were removed. This really hurts the image and it is so easy to remove. Also, I wish the feet on the women on the right were not cut off.

Judges Comment: Strong composition. The white space all around the mirror helps make this very strong. Eliminating the vignetting in the corners to keep the background and even tone helps this even more.