Total judging points: 21
Judges Comments:
#1 This image is on-point with the intent of the assignment, and I like how the photographer framed it so as to show both elk, thus allowing a potential storyline to evolve. Is the bull courting the elk? Or rounding up an errant member of his harem? However, this photo does seem a bit underexposed; I’d like to see a little more brightness on the bull’s head and shoulders, especially. I’m also a little distracted by the roadside bank that was captured in the foreground, making it maybe a little too obvious that this was shot from the road as opposed to some remote location reached only after a grueling hike straight up the side of a craggy mountain with 50 pounds of camera gear on your back. Or something like that. But seriously, if the option had been there to start the foreground where the ground flattened out I think the image would have been stronger. I also am distracted by the vignetting, which was the first thing I noticed when I saw this image. I’m not sure if it was intentionally added in post, or if it might have been introduced organically by a filter rim that’s too thick or a lens hood that’s too long. If the vignette was intentional, it might have been more pleasing and less distracting if it were more subtle and applied uniformly around the entire perimeter of the image and not just in the corners.