Winner Chosen - January 2013 - Admin's choice - Image of the month

**Marko** · 02-08-2013, 11:52 AM

Hi members,

In case you are new around here this is where the Admin (me) chooses one excellent photo each month from all the photos nominated by other members during that month in the Member's monthly choice forum.

Just so it's clear, the photo I choose is not necessarily the best one of the month. I've come to realize it's not really logical to pit images from totally different genres against each other. That's why there are categories in photo contests.

My goal is to simply choose an excellent photo and talk about why I think it rocks.

This month's choice is Soaring Free by Mad Aussie

I chose this image for several reasons:

1 - Composition and timing -This is just a wonderful composition. The bird looks great in the foreground, the silhouetted hills and setting sun work well for me in the midground and a beautifully coloured sky makes the background pop. The placement of the bird against that solid sky is fab. The moment the shutter was clicked was well chosen. The clouds at the very top are a nice framing element.

2 - Exposure and post processing - Shooting into the setting sun like this is tricky indeed. The sun, sky and the bird are beautifully exposed here.

3 - Colour/Lighting - Fab colour in both the sky and in the bird's darker tones which compliment the sky. Really like the backlighting on the bird.

For all these reasons, this is my choice for image of the month. Since we all have opinions, some members may disagree with my choice. That's cool but THIS thread is not the place for debate over my pick, NOR is it the place to further critique the image. The purpose here is to suggest strong elements in the photo that we may learn from.

Congrats again Mad Aussie!