Monthly #148 - Animal portraits Competition

Good afternoon all, many thanks for your entries to the Monthly Competition, and once again it has been a pleasure and privilege to view and comment on each entry. As usual, high quality, diversity of interpretations are the order of the day. Onto some comments:

Johnriley- Pumpkin- Well Hello there Pumpkin, you Beauty! Very pleased to meet you, what with being a lover of wildlife. Pops so wonderfully against that green background, awesome DOF and the central comp works a treat. I have seen a few of these over years, they are awe-inspiring birds. Wonder if there is something about these birds that make them so popular for bird shows and zoos. Love your eyes Pumpkin.

Paul142-Ben- Love the simplicity and PP of this, a no fuss focus on Ben that pops so nicely against all that black background. DOF good enough. Color rendition good too. Pity about the front paw being cut off. But pretty sure your sister-in-law will not fuss about that. Ben oozes friendliness and affection.

Dewsburya- I’m posing for you- Well hello there Rudolf, a busy time lying ahead of you come Christmas. (pardon my naming you, just a bad habit hey) He’s a beauty, and the photographer has done him justice here. Awesome DOF, from the spots on the fur to the wet looking nose. And do we not all prize such wonderful eye contact with a subject, especially animals.

Lubbyman – My Gardening Friend- My nemesis when it comes to photographing Garden birds, we have a few Robins down south of the equator, never a trusting bird, and will fly off at any approach. I usually have to use a 500mm lens to capture them. Beautiful image this, and as with others here, the DOF is stunning, kudos for getting that in a challenging environment and those leaves and shrubs. And yeah, the communication is well captured- I know you are there=Just waiting for you to disappear. Nice Bokeh for that delightful bird!

Simonmac- - Spike – A tremendous B/W offering, and despite that rendering, has retained some wonderful DOF of Spike’s fur, whiskers, eyebrows, nose and eyes. Such intensity in those eyes and seemingly typical cat disdain for such matters as a Camera. Sorry to hear about your loss, but sounds like there was a two-way benefit- for you and for Spike. Great Memorial shot of Spike!

MHOL190246 – A Red Fox – Great shot, with some “action”, a great moment captured, poise and intensity all too palapable. Color rendition is great and focus just where it should be- on the head.

NigelK- Wild Pony – Great use of the light on this one, excellent details on the pony too! Pops so nicely in its environment. Appealing autumn color palate all round! Nice one!

SSF1957 – Starr- well hello Starr, your owners pride rightly shines through here. An excellent portrait, wonderful light employed here, and some stunning details on the Dog. Especially like the presentation in B/W, that has given an almost translucent effect to the eye. Great job. Hope he/she was rewards with a doggie bone!

And onto the winners:
1st- SSF1957 – Starr- Well, a star model and excellent B/W.
2nd –Pumpkin – What a beautiful bird.
3rd – Simonmac ac- Spike- Another excellent B/W presentation.

HM to Dewsburya.

Thanks all, and over to SSF1957 for the next monthly challenge.

Good afternoon folk.
It has been pointed out to me that the image by Simonmac should be disqualified as it was taken in 2016. My Bad! I don't expect images to be outside the date range of the Monthly competition. In this case, I have modified the podium places accordingly.
My humble apologies for the oversight.

The New Podium places are:

1st- SSF1957 – Starr- Well, a star model and excellent B/W.
2nd –Pumpkin – What a beautiful bird.
3rd – Dewsburya- A delightful image of a young Rudolf!.

Oh Boy, completely messed this one up. Seems there are two other out-of-date submissions, including the replacement one on the podiium. One even mentioned that the image was taken last year, but perhaps the date of the scan was used for this challenge. I will accept that, in which case it is the other one that must be corrected. Duly corrected.

And (corrected) the winners:
1st- SSF1957 – Starr- Well, a star model and excellent B/W.
2nd –Pumpkin – What a beautiful bird.
3rd –Lubbyman- Another beautiful bird

Thanks all, and over to SSF1957 for the next monthly challenge.

Please accept my apologies Noel for submitting an image taken in July , and all the additional work it has caused you
Thank you for the kind comments in your critique
Well done to all the placed images

Thanks for an interesting competition and judging etc. Congrats to the winner and podium places

Michael

Thank you Noel for picking my image, always a surprise when you succeed !
Congratulations to all who entered the competition , submitting your images for scrutiny can be daunting as well as affirming.
Hope you all enjoy the new theme

Stephen

Oops! Sorry about that! But I am still grateful for the comment.

I should have gone to Specsavers!

All the best!