National Geographic Photography Contest Winners - 2011

[flat-planedCrank]

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2012/01/national_...

[MikeGTi]

Some awesome photos in there.

[Robbie B]

Number one is absolutely ridiculous. Deserves to win by a country mile in my eyes.

[AndWhyNot]

Some great images - thanks for posting

[Malx]

Stunning, number one is astonishing.

[Gemm]

Yes, #1 wins by a huge margin. To be honest, if I was the one who took #2, I would have send it straight to the recycle bin, and probably #4 as well.

[RobDickinson]

No4 is fantastic, that would have been my choice for overall winner.

No1 is a great pic but no4 is much harder to get and more unusual (we see plenty of dragonfly pics, OK this is a great shot but..)

[longun]

There are some great images no doubt. I rate that owl shot up there as the best shot I saw last year. Can't for the life of me remember who posted it now.

[Gemm]

RobDickinson said:

No4 is fantastic, that would have been my choice for overall winner.

No1 is a great pic but no4 is much harder to get and more unusual (we see plenty of dragonfly pics, OK this is a great shot but..)

Are you sure?? It looks like one of my panning-shot-gone-wrong or I-messed-up-with-the-setting-and-got-the-shutter-speed-completely-wrong-but-got-an-interesting-effect-by-accident-anyway shot to me!

[RobDickinson]

Yes I'm sure! To freeze the action there would have been simplicity itself, plenty of light etc.

THe tog chose that outcome and pulled it off brilliantly. Right at the peak action time, no second chances there!

Its all about drama and movement.

[dxbtiger]

I am on the fence with number 4, I think he has lost me simply due to the pomposity of his description!

Some wonderful images in the rest though.

[Gemm]

dxbtiger said:

.....I think he has lost me simply due to the pomposity of his description!

lol, I just read it! What's he on??

[Fetchez la vache]

Gemm said:

dxbtiger said:

.....I think he has lost me simply due to the pomposity of his description!

lol, I just read it! What's he on??

Yep. I won't *completely* diss the shot, but must admit that I'd never in a million years send it to a competition. Sounds to me like an "artist" trying to justify why we should pay an entrance fee to see a bed she's slept in.

Personally I love the jelly fish, and the feel of the B&W monsoon I find totally absorbing. If I could get even close to that I'd be a happy man

[rottie102]

Is it wrong that I only REALLY like 5 and 14?

[LongQ]

3, 11 and 13 for me.

All of them seem to have some element of forethought and planning resulting in a well executed shot. (Although I have to wonder about the Shuttle launch image and how it was created.)

By comparison the dragonfly, good as it is, by the photographer's pown admission was a chance shot. I have no problem with that and it's great they were in position and prepared to adapt from what they were doing but it's not quite the same as the effort required to get the three I listed above.

I've always thought of Nat. Geo. pics as being, mainly, the result of planning and execution. It would be appropriate for their competition to major along the same lines.

[tim-b]

RobDickinson said:

Yes I'm sure! To freeze the action there would have been simplicity itself, plenty of light etc.

THe tog chose that outcome and pulled it off brilliantly. Right at the peak action time, no second chances there!

Its all about drama and movement.

This. It's hit the balance just right, in the artistic sense of anything added or taken away would spoil it. A beautiful and intriguing picture!