Total judging points: 23
Judge's Comments:
1. The photographer made good use of what sunlight there was during the challenge period to capture a very good of an oak branch in the final stages of color…Good focus with a mostly sharp foreground accented by a blurred background. There is one distracting light spot in the upper left. Good composition and a pleasing image.
2. The colors in this image are appealing, particularly the color contrast between the green and yellow pigments on some leaves. I think this image suffers, however, from not having an obvious point of interest. There are a lot of nice things to look at it here, but maybe too much for one photograph. And the background, while out of focus, is not out of focus enough to make the leaves in the foreground really stand out.
Two suggestions for improving this image: rather than try to capture so many leaves in one image, zoom in on just a few at a time – perhaps just a single cluster – and highlight the qualities of shape and color that make them appealing. And open up wider than f/8 to throw the background out of focus even more. (Zooming in with a telephoto would also help isolate the foreground leaves from the background more distinctly.)
Clearly, the photographer has a good eye for color and shape. Just a few technical adjustments would help the photographer better highlight those qualities in this scene that caught his or her attention.