What Makes An Award Image?
While rainbows might be considered cliché, present them in a package
that draws together design, colour and emotion – and like Roza
Marciniak, you could be earning a Silver with Distinction!On the one hand, judges are looking for
something new and different. On the other
hand, they will applaud a popular subject if it is
done extremely well or differently.
Rainbows are a good example.
Photographers love shooting rainbows, but
more often than not, rainbows happen in a
place or at an angle that isn't perfect for the
landscape below. It's rare to be setting up
a strong composition and have a rainbow
magically appear above.
I don't know if Roza Marciniak's entry is
a composite or not. Personally, I don't care
because, as a judge, all that interests me is
the final product. However, as an entrant,
we need to be aware that some judges are
less enthusiastic about composite images- although anecdotally, I'd suggest that
composites done extremely well will impress all
judges, no matter their persuasion!
So, whether a composite or not, Roza's
entry ticks lots of boxes. If a landscape can have
emotion, surely Roza has captured it with this
rainbow and her choice of colours and tonality.
There's lots happening within the image, but
Roza has carefully controlled the contrast,
presenting a soft, romanticised rendition. I
perceive it as being very femine, very soft, yet it
has a power of impact. How does she do this?
Let's analyse the tonality more carefully.
Note how the detail throughout the sky and
ocean – no awkward areas of white paper to
challenge our enjoyment. Note how the image
is darkened around the edges, to contain our
interest within its frames. And note how the
island has the darkest tones, attracting our eye
in a sea and sky of lighter tones.
Now the colours. Soft pastel yellows
dominate and even the sea is a yellowy-green.
Rather than lots of different colours, the image
has a simple colour palette and the hint of blue
in the sky contrasts against both the subtle
greys in the cloud and the strength of the
rainbow.
And the composition? It proves that putting
your subject in the middle isn't fatal to a
winning score, as long as it is appropriate to
the subject. And it's hard to imagine a perfect
rainbow like this being put off to the side.
Great image!
Peter Eastway is a past chairman of the AIPP Australian Professional Photography Awards and an experienced judge. However, his views are those of a
single judge and our awards system intentionally uses five judges to obtain a range of opinions. This article reflects Peter's opinion only.EDUCATION