Tue Jul 06, 2010 1:21 am 
In the entry thread I stated the criteria for the judging.
1) how successfully the isolation was achieved: The primary thing was that eye grabbing quality which had to captivate attention. This could be achieved either by filling the rest of the frame with "dead space" or any other means. Some very creative means of accomplishing this were submitted.
2) creativity: There were no preconceived ideas for this. Some submissions, including the winner, achieved a sense of isolation as well as visual isolation.
3) technical image quality: This is a photography contest so technical quality must be a consideration. Not the primary issue, but really poor technical execution could be a significant detractor whereas excellent technical aspects can separate an image from the rest of the crowd. There were several images which I liked for subject matter but were poorly executed form a technical standpoint to such a degree that they fell out of contention.
Runners up in no particular order were as follow:
This picture of the Queen of England by Daniel McCarey. Great visual isolation plus the symbolic isolation behind the guards. A slight tilt of the head before triggering the shutter and this one would have been a real winner IMO. But the slightly obscured primary subject is a technical detractor.
Nope by Dennis Camp. I'm typically not a fan of this technique, but the spot of color effectively drew my attention to the guy's face who is also the only person looking straight at the camera.
Relax I[b] by Matthias Hauss. I don't usually like B/W but this one was surprisingly interesting to me.
Third place: This untitled image by Eric Dutordoir. Captivating subject and well executed.
Second Place: [b]Dual Tone by Dennis Camp. This image was IMO the best technical execution. Also relative to the examples in the original thread, it fit my ideas going into the competition of what I was looking for. The first place winner simply elicited more feeling.
And the Winner is: No Friends by chasp. Personally I don't do people nor B/W. So I was really suprised how much I like this image. The creativity put this one over the top for me. Taken from behind so we don't get to see the childs face (after all if he's smiling it would ruin the effect). The barrier provided by the fence and the child's grip on the links. Whether intended or not, the blown highlights actually add to the effect by making the people in the background fade out of sight. And of course the obvious use of DOF. Well done. The baton is officially handed off
