This month’s theme is “Sporting Chances”.
Paul Kulessa was once again invited to Guest Judge for this theme. It’s his third time taking on this task, and we appreciate his feedback.
Paul considers himself a Photographic Artist, driven by a passion for the art form rather than a desire to make it a profession.
Over the years, Paul has explored diverse subjects, including people, vacation, and nature photography, with a particular affinity for capturing bugs and flowers. Since the turn of the millennium, Paul has developed an interest in fashion and beauty photography, primarily shooting models in studio and location settings to showcase their unique beauty and make them look their best.
His online presence serves as a platform to share his artistic expression.
The next theme for Algarve Plus for November will be: “Public Transport“, and our judge will be Mike Jefferies.
Selected & Published Images
Words of Wisdom
1st Place: 03 Where will the ball be? by Nigel Chapman
The story is well told by this image; even without the title, the viewer understands what is going on. I also find it very interesting that only three colours make up the image, very creative on the part of the image maker. The general rules of composition might say the image is centred, but in this case, being centred is what really makes this image for me.
2nd Place: 10 Padel Competitor by Glyn Parry
I do like this image. The exposure is good, the story is definitely there, and the framing is good for the event. I would have liked the top right background to have been more out of focus, but that is nitpicking. The fact that the green ball is in line to meet the paddle is wonderful.
3rd Place: 08 Hurry Up! by Ina Tanzer
I do like this image. Many things work; the surfer is well exposed, and the focus is sharp enough on her. She is positioned well with darker water behind her, not the white surf. I like that the tether from the surfboard to her ankle indicates that she is moving rapidly. The reflection is wonderful in the wet sand. If I were experimenting with the composition, I might try cropping some off the left side of the image to make it appear she has more room to run in front of her. That may or may not help, but I’d look at it.
4th Place: 01 So This Is The Plan by Sharon Johnson
The exposure looks to be right on for the time of day and the bright sunshine. We don’t get to choose the time of day for captures like this, so we have to do the best we can, and in this case, the image creators did very well. The storytelling is good with this image; I am getting that it is some sort of road race. Having the clipboard and the cars leads me to make this conclusion. I like the sky and Clouds included, and for the theme of this competition, I think this is a very good Image.
5th Place: 06 The Celebration by Daryl Gabin
I like many things in this image. I am guessing it is some kind of Frisbee completion event, since I see what looks like a Frisbee on the ground. The depth of field is well chosen, having the player sharp and the background much softer is really nice. Having the player frozen by a fast shutter speed is nice. It could also have been interesting if there were a little bit of subject blur to help show motion. That is a tough call when making images at these kinds of events.
All that said, this is a nice image.
Main Gallery
