Winner Chosen - February 2010 - Admin's choice - Image of the month

[Marko]

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. I just wanted to point out that each month this is getting much harder. To my delight, the quality just keeps getting better and better

This month's choice Message delivered is by Michaelaw.

I chose this image for several reasons.

First off look at the great mood Michaelaw has created here. This is no accident; it's a product of Michael's attention to the the lighting. This mood helps create the story that 'makes' this shot. What IS the story? That's up to the viewer, it's helped by the title, but there is a story here. The bottle is without a classic paper message in it, it's empty save for some water. Who sent it, why? Maybe the beer bottle itself IS the message - "hey I'm on a bender; that's my message". Maybe the shot is really about the environment and Man's lack of concern over it. But there IS a story here, you just have to choose it for yourself.

Compositionally I like this very much. The curved patterned formations in the sand add interest to the shot. The diagonal slant of the bottle with specular edge highlights really give my eye something to cling to. The focus also works very well for me here and I'm digging the background blur. My eye is skillfully guided along the bottle toward the slanted water level collected at the bottom. At bottom of the bottle we see the sun's reflection and it grabs you.

Exposure is handled very well here with a good range of tones and excellent highlight control.

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 Michaelaw for creating this beautiful image!