Wed Jun 06, 2018 12:20 am Honorable mentions, in no particular order:
Walter, what a badass shot. A tad busy and HDR, but I like the perspective a lot
Markus, the foggy view makes me feel like I had a few scotches already
Luxun, beautiful bokeh contrast but not sharp enough in the foreground object for my taste
Jola, I love the soft pastels in the background here
Alla, beautiful composition but flower not sharp; perhaps cropped too much? Great concept.
Szczepan, this is one ugly bird but beautifully rendered with sharp focus contrasted against the blurred background. Apologies to those who find the bird beautiful!
John de Freitas, a stunning image with great light and background out-of-focus colors. I find the bright spots below the flower, right, to be too distracting, but others may enjoy this feature.
Third Place: David Decroix, to my eye, the line of focus, composition, and colors are just right, though perhaps overall a bit busy
Second Place: Alla Gilbourd, Great contrast and use of colors to create an impressionist view beyond the window. This image could be a painting. The darker panels to the left took it a small notch down, for me.
First place: Aldeca, This is a stunning macro with beautiful execution of bokeh. Specific objects in the background can gain a lot of brightness when blurred, and be distracting to the foreground. But in this case, the blurred objects in the background highlight the foreground nicely, and the simplicity of the dandelion (?) appeals to me.
Aldeca, it's up to you!