Lovely lighting and composition. The sea and cloud lead the eye nicely toward the subject matter. I don't see any way to improve it. Well done.

Strong image Love the clouds  leading into the tower. Good overall subject placement

super image showing  great colour, composition and impact

A nice image. Good rodeo shots are hard to get because the background is always distracting. The painterly treatment works very well here and the darkening of the surrounds makes the subject stand out. My only constructive comment is that it might be cropped a tad too tight. But that's nit picking.

Great well caught action image. Would like to see it without the painting effect which I feel it spoils it.

yes Shona, it was a great morning.

Wonderful action shot, however I think spoilt by the treatment. Filters can be overpowering and in my opinion should only be used to compliment or subtly enhance the image

A delightful image, Shona. I love the composition and the softness and delicacy of the colour. Very well done!

Nice subtle colours and tones and good composition. I would like a sharper point to focus on nearer the centre of the image as my eye wanders around the extremities which are sharp. Still, very nice!

I love these, Shona, the softness of the colours and the composition is very pleasing. I can not even find anything to "nitpick".

A  good soft focus  flower image. The subject placement I have trouble with. Its been well exposed and focused  in the right places . Maybe darken the corners so your eye comes into the main subject.

love the concept, beautiful colours and lighting a very pleasing image.

Nice lighting and colour, Shona. I might prefer a tighter composition concentrating on the fernery on the right as I feel the left hand side and the area at the top of the image are not contributing much to the balance of the image.

Good exposure here has shown up all the green tones nicely but I find the image a little unbalanced with the ferns on the right and very little on the left.

I love our NZ bush but find it really difficult to photograph.It is hard to keep it simple.There are so many elements in this image making it very complicated. A lovely peaceful spot.

A well taken bush scene. Wouldn’t be out of place on any postcard or calendar.  Its has depth of interest, been well exposed and the focus is sharp through out the image.  Its been well framed.

lovely bush scene, with great colours that are well handled. Nice composition held together with that beautiful fern on the right. The bottom right portion of image would also make for a strong image as well.

So typically Aussie with nice counterpoint with the brightly coloured parrot.  I love the background trees but, oh for a longer lens?!

A beautiful photograph. I like the subtle tones of the trees contrasting with the bright red bird.  There's nothing more I could add to improve this image.  Well done!

Just a lovely image. The red bird on the branch does not distract me and in fact I feel it makes the image stronger

I love the gum trees'  soft colours, but find the superb bird distracting. Maybe some of the horizontal stick could be "taken out". It would not divide the image .

Well seen and very well taken.  The bird gives the image  impact

I love the concept of this image and the generally muted, monochromatic tonality, which adds greatly to the mood. Just a suspicion of disconnect, perhaps, with the man looking out of the image?

A powerfully constructed image.  I like it.  If I wanted to be a nit-picker, maybe something could be done about the clouds coming out of his head but I'm not sure what.

It took me a while to get the feel for this image. The face is quite striking and I find myself looking at the face rather than the surrounds. It is well done and different and there are two images in this composition but my view is the two would be better standing alone. They both have strong features. Some good Photoshop manipulation though

I do like this image, Shona.How would it look reversed? Our eye naturally goes L to R, I think you would be able to look into the image easier.Really nit picking tho,,,,,,,,

I feel that the lighting on the mans face would be more effective if the he was reversed and on the right of the image as the light is coming down the lake from the left.

nice concept,with good potential, but feel it is a little too soft. Just wondered if the face needed more strength. What about mono face, giving more tonal contrast to make the image stand out .

Bio:  I am married with 2 girls and am a grandmother of 2 boys.  I have my own business sewing leotards for dancing, gymnastic aerobics etc. 

I started photography by going to a night school class to learn how to improve my snapshots.  From there I went to Howick Camera Club and Pakuranga Camera Club.  As the Pakuranga Club was not very strong (and since closed) I am now with the Howick Camera Club.   I joined the camera club approx 4 years ago and to my surprise did reasonably well in the competitions.  I went on the committee 2 years ago and this year was elected President.  My main claim to fame is the image on the cover of the 2006 Camera Annual.  That was a huge thrill.

The cameras I own are a Canon 10D and a 5D.  I have a range of lenses between 14mm to 400mm and macro.  I love the digital system and am right into Photoshop.