Thirty-one images made the shortlist in our biggest photo competition yet.
A dramatic shot of a red-tailed black cockatoo under attack from another bird has won australianphotography.com's 'Birds' photo competition. The August competition drew just over 1130 entries, a new record for the monthly photo challenge. Photographer Jim Wilson says he took the winning shot while camping at Menindee Lakes in Outback NSW.
"The smaller bird took exception to the presence [of the cockatoo] and latched onto the Cockatoo's tail and harassed it until it left," Wilson noted in his entry.
This month's guest judge was professional landscape and wildlife photographer Darran Leal. Pointing out that birds are among the most challenging subjects to photograph, Leal not only applauded the winning image on its technical and creative skill but praised the photographer's split-second timing. "This is an outstanding image that any bird lover would enjoy on the wall. It offers a very specific and unique split second in time and is a great story image. It is well balanced, well processed and would look great as a big canvas!" Leal said.
Jim Wilson has won a $250 voucher towards a Deluxe Photobook from leading Australian photobook maker Momento.
As an indicator of the high standard of photograph's in this month's competition, Leal not only selected the winner but singled out an unprecedented six images for special commendation. "All of the commended images were very close to the winner," said Leal. "Judging has so many variables, so I tried to pick as many as I could. Still 20 more were very, very close!"
The "not so short" shortlist for the August 'Birds' competition comprised a record 31 images, published below. Also included are Darran Leal's comments on the winning and commended images.The theme for our next photo competition is Letters and Numbers. You can peruse the entries we've received so far, or submit one of your own images here.
ABOUT THE JUDGE: Darran Leal is the owner of World Photo Adventures, which offers photographic workshops and tours around the world. WPA is also a fully licensed Travel Agent specialising in travel services for photographers.
Winner: 'Red Tailed Black Cockatoo,' by Jim Wilson. "This is an outstanding image that any bird lover would enjoy on the wall. It offers a very specific and unique split second in time and is a great story image. It is well balanced, processed and would look great as a big canvas!" – Darran Leal.
Commended: 'Street,' by Joon Wei Ooi "In the digital era, our ability to offer eye catching creative images is endless. This image has a different slant to the traditional 'bird image' and offers very pleasing lines and shapes. Great shot Joon – it was very close." – Darran Leal.
Commended: 'The Raven,' by Peter Harris. "A great isolated subject that has been very well shot and processed. Many entries could have done better with better processing. Blacks are always more difficult, so I take my hat off to Peter for this beautiful result." – Darran Leal.
Commended: 'Flying Kingfisher,' by Graeme Guy. "A fantastic image with that correct 'captured in time' moment. A long telephoto lens has offered limited depth-of-field to isolate the subject. It also offered a good working distance." – Darran Leal.
Commended: 'The Darter & the Fish,' by Ann Eldridge. "A great image and the photographer took advantage of being 'Johnny on the spot'. The correct camera settings allowed Ann to capture the right moment and a unique image." – Darran Leal.
Commended: 'A Couple of Herons,' by Andrew. "Two battling herons is the result of either a food territorial fight, or a mating season fight. It is usually short and does no harm to either bird. Andrew was in the right place and had his settings correct to the action. The key being a fast shutter speed." – Darran Leal.
Commended: 'Young Osprey's First Landing,' by Colin McCloud. "A special moment in time for the bird and the photographer. For Colin, he could see the landing in the viewfinder, but did he get the shot? Modern technology to the rescue as he could see that he nailed it when he reviewed the shot on the LCD!" – Darran Leal.
'Australian Darter in Sydney Harbour,' by Gordon Tipene.
