Winner Chosen - September 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. I had LOTS of trouble choosing just 1 image. There will also be a couple honourable mentions that will be posted in the blog in a week's time.

This month's choice is Attention - LANDING by MoinMoin

I chose this image for several reasons:

The decisive moment - MoinMoin caught this bee in flight and this is no easy task. We see exactly where the bee is going and it's beautifully captured.

Simplicity - This shot is uncluttered and features only the essential elements which makes for an extremely focused image. I see no distracting elements.

Colour/Lighting - Love the minimal colour palette here; it makes the bright yellow flower really stand out. The backlighting on the flower is awesome.

Sharpness - The bee's target is very sharp and I like that. It's a beacon not only for the bee but for our eyes as well.

Composition - Totally works for me here and not an easy task with the bee in flight. The diagonal lines in the flower's stalk that lead to the central flower work very well to focus my eye to where the bee will land.

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 MoinMoin for capturing this decisive moment!