Went through 2 sets today. It took an extremely long time and it broke my heart to not advance so many, but I need to get to about 40-45 for semi finalists, and about 15 for finalists. It is getting harder and harder.
Some insight I want to give here:
With Portraits and Animals I am looking for the following things:
– Exceptional Technical Skill
– Emotional or otherwise engaging. If I can feel the energy the person is giving off, or feel like I know them- its a good pic. The little brunette girl with her arms folded is a great example.
– Something Different, something that tool creative energy.
– Sharpness in the eyes. (It isn’t always necessary, but if the portrait is the type that suggests the eyes should be sharp, they should be very sharp.
Many of the semi-finalists do at least one of these things very, very well.
Finalists will do 2 or more of these things very, very well. Contest winners typically do all of them very well.
Congratulations to everyone. Fantastic work, including the ones that didnt make it. There were nearly 1000 images in portraits so to make it to the top 40 or so is an accomplishment!
I’ll definitely vote for number 44 on portrait 🙂
#40 – The Rickshaw Driver is super interesting to me for some reason, very different, very artistic and creative. Its a great shot.
congratulations for the semiifinalist
my vote for animals is 26
#36 in the portraits for me. Not sure on the animals yet
I can’t believe that I am a semi finalist! I am so honored that you would consider my photo good enough for this contest.
I was going through the semi-finalists video and all I could think of was"God,these photos are amazing I’m sure mine’s not going to get picked".But when I saw it,I realised that I should stop being such a pesimist.Once again,thank you!
I love #26 in portraits! My vote is definitely for that one 🙂
# 13 in animal semi finalist is the same # 99 in Landscape nominees…
@ Cary- Yes, I changed the category for this image, Thanks!
There’s a photo here that has placed in another competition, should be eliminated
http://www.digitalphotocontest.hu/en/galeria
My vote is for number 26 in portraits
Once again, some amazing photos!!!
In the animal group I really like the dropping of the water from the birds leg in # 26 and the dog running in #24.
The portrait group I like two shots for the same reason the pain in the faces #45 and #12
32 and 39 in portraits, has a degree in photography, has a website, shoots mostly portraits
http://hallmark.edu/studentgallery/2011/burks_matthew/index.php
http://burksproductions.com/#1347287/Photography
http://www.flickr.com/photos/matthewburks/
I’m very honored to have made the semi-finals in 2 categories, but I am also very disappointed in how many pro’s have broken the rules here. They obviously have the means and equipment to already be considered professional and yet they want to take the opportunity away from someone just starting out or someone who will never be able to afford the equipment that they used to achieve these shots. Of course I got to the semi’s using a T2i a Tamron lens and no photography training at all, but I do believe with pro’s cheating it leaves fewer doors open for those of us who just want to know we are on the right track. Thanks Michael for doing all you can to make this a fair contest, it’s just too bad other’s can’t play fair.
Lots of monkey business in this competition. Rules broken by an image broker because of crash "photographic" vision.
Should let the world know…
Wow, all those photos are so inspiring! I’m really proud to see my image in this choice!