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Winner Chosen - August 2013 - Admin's choice - Image of the month
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 was a hard month as the nominations from different genres were of very high quality.
Congrats to Barefoot for capturing Elephant's Memory
I chose this image for a few reasons:
1 -Composition - I quite like the framing of the elephant in this scene. The curved trunk and the curved ear are wonderful shapes and my eye enjoys following them. My eye keeps following the trunk in search of the eye, but the eye is hidden. I find this intriguing, clever and unusual.
2- Bw processing - Wonderful black and white tones in this image! Skillful dodging and burning guide our eye to the top-central focal point of the image. Edges are dark and this helps the eye-guiding as well. In addition it (and the other dark tones with meat in them) add a fabulous mood to the image. A subtle light area toward the top of the trunk keeps our eye focused on that interesting area (close to the intersection of the cool shapes). Finally, the wonderful textures in the elephant's skin are well emphasized but not overdone imo.
3 - Sharpness and Decisive moment - The shutter was triggered at a fine moment to make this image. The shapes created in this image can change from second to second so tracking and good focus is also imperative. Shutter speed was well chosen to maintain sharpness on the trunk.
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 Barefoot for making this moody image!
- Please connect with me further 
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