Winner Chosen - March 2013 - 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. This month was another crazy hard month though as the nominations from different genres were of very high quality.

This month's choice is Pergola by Casil403

I chose this image for a few reasons:

1 - I find nothing wrong with this image. Usually when I analyze an image I can always spot areas (colour, contrast, distractions etc.) that could have been strengthened even if it's a teeny change. In this case, I see nothing that needs changing that doesn't fall under 'personal taste'.

2 - Composition and post processing - The composition here is awesome. Casil403 took a section of a pergola, photographed it and made it her own. It no longer resembles the original structure, and it doesn't need to. It has become a piece of photographic art in its own right. The square crop is an awesome choice here. Looking at the image long enough creates an illusion of movement.

3 - Colour and contrast - This image is very vibrant and sings loudly due to the bold blue against the white taken in good light. It's a very striking photograph.

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 Casil403!