Winner Chosen - May 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 is from the series A Black & White Foray by Mad Aussie

I chose this image for several reasons:

First off, it's a WOW image. A lot of the 'wow' comes from the incredible sky and the way it's processed. It's darkish, somewhat ominous and sets an incredible mood. Had the sky been boring, this shot would not be the same, so good on Mad Aussie for noticing the amazing sky.

The tones in this image are very nicely rendered and the higher contrast used here works extremely well to my eye. It's very dramatic and makes me think of the Greek Myth involving Atlas. If I have one teeny niggle I'd have toned down the brighter rock just under the main boulder.

Leading lines - The rocks at lower left lead upward toward the big rock at center right which is the focal point of this image. This is NO accident and is the result of careful in-camera composition. In terms of overall composition - just friggen fab. Interesting foreground (jagged rocks) midground (boulder which is the focal point) and background (awesome sky) elements. The split between rocks and sky is also interesting and well thought out with 2/3rds sky and about 1/3rd rocks. Although we often have the discussion about the rule of thirds being a mere guideline...that rule is rocking this image

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 for creating this striking image!